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FUTURE DIRECTIONS: COURTS AND INDIGENOUS CULTURAL AWARENESS CONFERENCE 2002

12-14 June 2002, Alice Springs

To access Conference papers/reports: Please click on link to speaker's name (all papers are in rtf format unless otherwise indicated)

FINAL CONFERENCE REPORT

Conference convened by the AIJA’s National Indigenous Cultural Awareness Committee to:

Explore the effectiveness of past cultural awareness programmes conducted or sponsored by the AIJA from both an indigenous and judicial perspective; and

Examine ways of strengthening the judiciary’s understanding of indigenous issues and strengthening the ongoing relationship between the judiciary and the indigenous community, purusant to Recommendation 96 of the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

THURSDAY 13 JUNE 2002

8.30 am Welcome - Traditional Owners, AIJA President

Keynote Address: Mr Patrick Dodson, Chairperson, Lingiari Foundation

9.30 am Introduction/Overview of AIJA Programme and the Conference – Judge Mary Ann Yeats, Convenor AIJA National Indigenous Cultural Awareness Committee

9.45 am Existing programmes and initiatives: short overview from each jurisdiction.

Victoria

South Australia

Australian Capital Territory

10.30 am Morning Tea

11.00 am (Overview Continued)

Queensland - report - presentation

New South Wales

Western Australia - report - presentation (PowerPoint file)

Northern Territory

Tasmania

Family Court of Australia

Federal Court of Australia

1.00–2.00pm Lunch

2.00–3.30pm Workshop A: Future Directions for Cultural Awareness Programmes

Possible Issues:

Mentoring indigenous lawyers and law students
Role of indigenous ‘liaison’ officers within court administration
Recruitment and employment of indigenous people in courts – problems, barriers, how may they be addressed?
Getting judges involved in cultural awareness programmes
Organisational commitment (judicial and indigenous) to delivery of future programmes
Identification of relevant individuals and organisations in each state/territory - consultation with Aboriginal organisations
Community visits by judges/magistrates: what problems?
Do cultural exchanges raise unreasonable expectations of the approach judges/magistrates may take to Aboriginal offenders?
How should judges/magistrates become informed about cultural information and cultural factors concerning individual offences or offences generally?

2.00–3.30pm Workshop B: Addressing Judicial Reservations about Cultural Awareness programmes: How cultural awareness projects can deal with concerns such as the appearance of special treatment, concern about contact with potential witnesses/parties, concern about being involved in a "political agenda".

Working with the judiciary: an Aboriginal perspective: aspects of the judicial culture which Aboriginal employees find oppressive or offensive.

3.30–4.00pm Afternoon Tea

4.00–5.00pm Plenary Session: Results of workshop discussions.

FRIDAY 14 JUNE 2002

9.00 am Address to Conference: Mr William Tilmouth, General Manager, Tangentyere Council, Alice Springs

9.20 am Aboriginal courts in Australia and overseas - Advantages and Limitations

Judge LS ‘Tony’ Mandamin – Alberta, Canada

Judge Jim Rota – New Zealand

Magistrate Chris Vass – South Australia

Mr Andrew Jackomos – Victoria

Magistrate Doug Dick, New South Wales

Magistrate Cathy Deland, Alice Springs. (PowerPoint slides - community consultation visit) (courtesty AAM Conference)

10.15-10.45am Mr Tauto Sansbury, Chair, National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee.

3.15 –4.15pm Plenary Workshop : Strategies and Action Plans

An opportunity for participants to workshop strategies and action plans specific to their needs, using the results of the previous two days’ discussions.

Final Report, Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody – Recommendation 96:

"That judicial officers and persons who work in the court service and in the probation and parole services whose duties bring them into contact with Aboriginal people be encouraged to participate in appropriate training and development programmes, designed to explain contemporary Aboriginal society, customs and traditions. Such programmes should emphasise the historical and social factors which contribute to the disadvantaged position of many Aboriginal people today and the nature of relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities today.

The Commission further recommends that such persons should wherever possible, participate in discussion with members of the Aboriginal community in an informal way in order to improve cross-cultural understanding"

AIJA National Indigenous Cultural Awareness Committee:

Her Hon Judge Mary Ann Yeats, District Court of Western Australia (Convenor)
The Hon Justice Geoff Eames, Supreme Court of Victoria (Deputy Convenor)
The Hon Justice Virginia Bell, Supreme Court of NSW
Mr Colin Dillon, Queensland
The Hon Justice Bob French, Federal Court of Australia
The Hon Justice Peter Gray, Federal Court of Australia
Ms Annettee Hennessy, Magistrates' Court of Queensland
Mr Andrew Jackomos, Ministry of Justice, Victoria
The Hon Justice Ted Mullighan, Supreme Court of South Australia
The Hon Justice Colleen Moore, Family Court of Australia
is Hon Judge Michael Shanahan, District Court of Queensland