PIACBulletin16 - Public Interest Advocacy Centre

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Our Strong Women – Indigenous Women, Law and Leadership Project At a celebration in Darwin on 12 August 2002 the National Network of Indigenous Women’s Legal Services (NNIWLS) launched its national advocacy training program, Our Strong Women Indigenous Women, Law and Leadership The program is a joint project of NNIWLS and PIAC and is funded by the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women under the National Women’s Development Program Carolyn Grenville, Training Co-ordinator PIAC’s training co-ordinator, Carolyn Grenville, has been working closely with the NNIWLS to present a series of twoday workshops for Indigenous women in nine locations around Australia During this year, Carolyn has conducted workshops with women in Darwin, Broome, Port Augusta, Kalgoorlie, Townsville and Brisbane The training aims to enhance community leadership skills amongst Indigenous women and promote their status and interests at a community, regional, state and national level It also seeks to change policies and improve the quality and delivery of services to Indigenous communities Participants learn about systems of government, challenging government decisions, effective campaigning and community representation In addition, they learn media, negotiation and lobbying skills The Darwin workshop saw Indigenous women travel from Katherine and Alice Springs as well as Darwin For the Broome workshop, Indigenous women came from across the Kimberley and the Pilbara and many participants travelled long distances from Kununarra and Fitzroy Crossing All workshops, which attracted capacity attendance, have produced advocacy action plans initiated and designed by participants for working towards achieving specific objectives Participants Photos show participants at the Broome and Darwin workshops of the Our Strong Women, Indigenous Women, Law and Leadership program, August 2002 — Photos: Carolyn Grenville have reported that the workshops have made them feel empowered, have increased their knowledge across a range of activities and enabled them to use the new networks and skills for concrete purposes For example, women who attended the workshop in Broome have committed to establish the first Pilbara- Kimberley Aboriginal Women’s Network and women in Darwin have undertaken to work on ensuring that Indigenous women have a stronger voice in the Northern Territory and to achieve a specialist legal service for Indigenous women in Darwin Port Augusta women mapped out plans to work for a new counselling and healing centre in town * p 11 10 PIAC Bulletin No 16 • December 2002
The Indigenous Justice Project – One Year On Shahzad Rind, Solicitor The Indigenous Justice Project was initiated by PIAC in 2001, with financial support from PILCH member firm, Allens Arthur Robinson The project aims to: • strengthen PIAC’s links with Indigenous organisations; • identify public interest issues which impact on Indigenous people and communities; and • conduct litigation, policy work and training on behalf of and for indigenous clients In November last year, I was employed as the project’s inaugural solicitor I had previously worked as a solicitor with the Aboriginal Legal Service, primarily in criminal law, and with ATSIC, in the area of commercial law My first year at PIAC has been packed with a variety of new challenges I have worked with Indigenous clients, particularly in the area of race discrimination and visited numerous Indigenous organisations to assess the needs of Indigenous communities In addition, I have worked on PIAC’s Stolen Generations project and with PIAC’s Utility Consumers <strong>Advocacy</strong> Project (UCAP) to design a scheme which will resolve non-payment of accounts by Indigenous clients at the ‘Block’ in Redfern and manage future payment arrangements in consultation with the ‘Block’ residents, community organisations and Energy Australia I also have presented aspects of PIAC’s training course, Work the System and lectured law students at Tranby Aboriginal College on the legal system, public interest litigation and stolen generations litigation While working at PIAC I have become an executive member of Ngalaya Aboriginal Corporation, a non-profit organisation committed to assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people interested in a legal career at all stages of their education and professional development I am also a member of the NSW Law Society Indigenous Lawyers Taskforce which aims to increase the numbers of Indigenous lawyers within the legal profession and I participate in the UTS mentoring program which seeks to prepare Indigenous law students for the realities of legal practice My first year at PIAC has exposed me to an incredible array of work and people and issues On both a professional and personal level, I have gained an insight into areas of law which can bring about a positive change to some of the legal issues which impact on the indigenous community in NSW, particularly in areas not traditionally undertaken by the Aboriginal Legal Service which tends to focus more on criminal and family law Our Strong Women continued from p 10 Workshops in 2003 Further workshops are planned for February 2003 in Hobart and Melbourne A workshop will also be held in NSW and the possibility of a workshop in Canberra is also being explored Indigenous women interested in the project should contact: • Our Strong Women project coordinator Libby Carney, Indigenous Legal Worker, Aboriginal Women’s Outreach Project at the Top End Women’s Legal Service in Darwin on 08 8941 9989, or Importantly, PIAC is an autonomous organisation and can assist Indigenous clients in seeking redress across a broad range of legal issues, using a variety of strategies I hope to continue to build our links with the Indigenous communities in NSW and to learn from each other and share our experiences of the legal system in providing an informed and professional service to the community I wish to acknowledge the kind support of all PIAC staff and Allens Arthur Robinson, specifically David Robb, Francene Kanaar and Phillip Cornwell Postscript: Following a review of the Indigenous Justice Project, we are delighted to announce that Allens Arthur Robinson have confirmed that they will renew their funding of the Project for a further two years Shaz Rind will continue on in the position as PIAC’s Indigenous Solicitor # • Carolyn Grenville at PIAC on 02 9299 7833, who will put you in touch with your local workshop organiser Postscript Our Strong Women project coordinator Libby Carney has just reported that one of the Our Strong Women – Indigenous Women, Law & Leadership graduates, Dianne Borella, has successfully been elected to sit on the Yilli Reung ATSIC Regional Council for Darwin Libby writes: “Dianne decided to nominate for the ATSIC elections during the OSW course We identified a need for more Indigenous women to run for council and she has, and she did it” # PIAC Bulletin No 16 • December 2002 11
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