Thursday, 21 August 2008
Legal education for Indigenous Australians
Three courses aimed at training Indigenous people for paralegal work have just been reaccredited, and Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner hopes that more training organisations will begin delivering the
courses across Australia.
Commissioner Tom Calma said the National Indigenous Legal Advocacy Courses (NILAC) developed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by building their capacity to work in legal environments and increasing their understanding of human and legal rights protection systems. The courses also provide a pathway to further study options, including law courses.
“NILAC is the only course of its kind in Australia which provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with the competency and skills to work in a white man’s legal environment,” Commissioner Calma said.
Developed after the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody called for improvements in legal skills, capacity and training opportunities for Indigenous people, the course has been completed by 100s of Indigenous people in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia.
“One of the interesting features of the course is that modules can be adapted from the syllabus to suit the needs of the organisation requesting it,” Mr Calma said.
“In 2008, HREOC, with funding support from the federal Attorney General’s Department, developed one such module on family violence prevention for paralegal education workers across Australia.
“Those who successfully completed the family violence training received a certificate which gave them credit towards the Diploma.”
Gina Keating, the program coordinator from Tropical North Queensland Institute of TAFE (TNQIT), agrees that the flexibility makes for a more relevant program.
“The course delivered in Cape York was tailored to local needs and made into a working project which culminated in the development of handbooks for each of the community justice groups which participated in the training,” Keating said.
NILAC is available to Indigenous students across Australia through various accredited training organisations. A Certificate III, Certificate IV and a Diploma are available. The program was originally developed in 1997 as the National Indigenous Legal Studies Courses.
Call HREOC on (02) 9284 9600 or E-mail nilac@humanrights.gov.au to find out where the course is being run in each state.
Media contact: Louise McDermott (02) 9284 9851 or 0419 258 597
