Image: CEO of NSW/ACT Aboriginal Legal Service Karly Warner. Photo: Supplied.
By ERIN MODARO
Warning: This article mentions the names of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
On Wednesday the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS) held an emergency meeting in the midst of what Chair Karly Warner has called a “funding crisis” that threatens to freeze essential legal services.
Chair of NATSILS and CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Karly Warner has said that the nation wide legal service is on the “brink of collapse” following years of underfunding and an unprecedented demand for services.
The meeting was called as NATSILS is requesting $250 million of emergency funding from the government to keep essential services running.
“We are facing an unprecedented crisis caused by the systemic undervaluing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services by government,” Warner said.
Loved ones of First Nations peoples who have died in custody spoke to the importance of keeping essential legal services afloat.
Uncle Percy Lovett, partner of Veronica Nelson who died while in custody in a Victorian prison, was set to speak and attended the meeting.
In 2023, Veronica Nelson died after she was repeatedly denied medical attention while behind held in detention after being arrested for shoplifting. Victorian Coroner Simon McGregor slammed corrections officers and labelled Nelson’s treatment as “cruel and degrading”.
Nelson’s grieving family was left with the task of investigating the circumstances of her death, and bring those involved to justice. Lovett enlisted the help of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services for culturally appropriate help in navigating Australia’s legal system, and ensuring justice for Veronica was served.
Makayla Reynolds, sister of Nathan Reynolds who died on the floor of a prison after suffering an asthma attack, spoke about the help that the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) provided her family.
Reynolds explained why it is crucial to have culturally sensitive legal services available to families in her situation.
“We had legal services from all over Australia make contact with us because they [saw] a civil claim potentially come out of Nathan’s death, and they wanted to jump on board and take on Nathan’s coronial inquest,” Makayla explained.
“ALS did not, obviously, treat us like that” she said.
Matthew Cash, whose sister Narisha ‘Nish’ Cash died after a significant delay in emergency services when she called triple zero in 2020, spoke on his experience of needing help with her case.
“I’m in Queensland” Cash said. “I didn’t know who to turn to for aid, or to even help.”
“There was a lot of issues that happen through the emergency services that fell through the gaps” he said.
“So for my family, it was very devastating… we didn’t know who to talk to.” Cash and his family got aid from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to assist with his sister’s case.
Currently, ATSILS in NSW and the ACT have said they will have to freeze services across 13 regional courts if no emergency funding is given.
“We know that when culturally safe legal support isn’t available, the result is more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody, more families torn apart and more intergenerational trauma,” Warner said.
Over-demand for legal services
CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Nerita Waight said that with an average of 38.5 Aboriginal people arrested in Victoria per day, demand for legal services is at an all-time high.
She explained the high arrest numbers result in a “flow on demand for our legal services because not often when they contact us it’s just a criminal matter,” Waight said.
“They often flow into what are other service areas including family and civil.”
Waight explained that legal services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is often complex and takes a large amount of time and resources for lawyers.
“We see our clients have high rates of disability, high rates of mental health, high rates of homelessness, and all these issues have to be addressed as well as any holistic legal response,” she said.
Warner reported that national demand for legal services has increased by up to 100% since 2018. While the reasons for an increase in demand are complex, Warner said successive governments pushing a “law and order agenda” is a driving factor.
In Victoria, Warner said that “record investment in policing has resulted in an 18% rise in demand for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service over just 6 months”.
September 2022 statistics from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveal an increase on both adults and young people currently in prison. The bureau does note legislation meaning it’s mandatory for police officer to ask offenders if they identity as Aboriginal might have had an effect on the numbers.
Aboriginal adults make up 29.3% of the adult penal population in NSW. In 2023, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain the most incarcerated people by population per capita globally.
Just heard that the Aboriginal Legal Service in NSW is about to freeze services in more than 12 courts for lack of funding. #auslaw #auspol Whether you are for or against the Voice, can we at least agree that we might reduce the ridiculous incarceration rate by funding properly…
— Emmanuel (@EKerkyasharian) May 3, 2023
“We’re not seeing any reduction in service demand. We’re not seeing any less complex clients. Everything is continuing. What isn’t is increased funding to support that demand,” Waight said.
Attorney General gives statement to Aboriginal Legal Service
The Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney and Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus were invited to the meeting. Both Ministers gave their apologies that they couldn’t attend.
Dreyfus submitted a statement that Warner read at the meeting.
“I note with concern your advice about the imminent service delivery freezes and closures across some ATSILS. I emphatically support the role of ATSILS in providing accessible, culturally appropriate legal and non legal services and programmes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who remain disproportionately represented at all points of contact within the justice system,” the statement reads.
Dreyfus said an independent review of the national legal assistance partnership will be commencing this year, which he said will “include an assessment of unmet legal need and demand in all areas including across disadvantaged groups in regional, rural and remote Australia”.
ATSILS are calling on the government to provide:
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$54 million ‘ATSILS Workforce Continuity Fund’ to be delivered over the next six months to immediately fund additional external support where ALS lawyers are unable to reach clients and to start recruitment for new permanent staff.
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Additional $196 million is necessary over FY2023-24 & FY24-25 simply to maintain current levels of service and prevent freezes in certain locations.
