First Nations justice
Media and commentary relating to our collaborative work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations to promote the rights of First Nations peoples.
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NIT: Facing uncomfortable truths is a chance for repair
An opinion piece about truth-telling from Towards Truth’s Sally Treveton, published in the National Indigenous Times.
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Government must address alarming numbers of Aboriginal young people locked up on remand
Legal experts say failure by successive governments to support young people and meet Closing the Gap targets has resulted in an alarming number of young people – and a record proportion of Aboriginal young people – held on remand in NSW. Young people are held on remand when they do not get bail and are…
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SMH: Police visited Megan’s home 153 times in less than two years. Now she is fighting back.
Our major test case against NSW Police was covered in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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2SER: The fight to protect Indigenous fishing rights in NSW
Towards Truth’s Sally Treveton appeared on 2SER Breakfast to discuss Aboriginal fishing rights.
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Telling the Truth about Living on Country
Towards Truth has published research into how fishing and housing law and policies have impacted Aboriginal people.
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Aboriginal and legal groups horrified at secret plan to throw more children in jail
A coalition of Aboriginal and legal organisations says a secret proposal to tighten NSW bail laws for children would make NSW regional communities more dangerous. Multiple government sources have indicated off the record that a proposal to introduce punitive law and order measures – including changes to bail laws that will result in more children…
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ABC News: Report finds NSW Police suspect lists led to ‘gross over-representation’ of Indigenous people
We worked tirelessly to defeat the STMP, which unlawfully targeted First Nations people.
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NSW Police are not closing the gap
A report by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) into the NSW Police policing and engagement with Aboriginal people and communities is critical of the force’s failure to take seriously its obligations to Close the Gap and reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system. Jonathon Hunyor, CEO of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, joined…
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Closing the Gap targets would lead to ‘competing duties’: NSW Police Commissioner
The report also confirmed Aboriginal people continue to be significantly over-represented in the application of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan (STMP). Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has called for reform on the “harmful” STMP programme, including stopping its use on children and youths. PIAC argue once a person is placed on the STMP, they are…
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NSW Police urged to do more in Closing the Gap
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre said in a statement that the LECC’s report ’emphasises that NSW Police need to do more to reduce the stark overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system.’ The LECC’s review highlighted Aboriginal people are overrepresented in the use of Suspect Target Management Plans, a tool deployed…
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Response to the referendum for a Voice to Parliament
Our resolve to work with First Nations people to achieve justice remains unwavering.
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Police must act to close the gap: LECC report highlights discriminatory policing
A new report from police oversight body the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) emphasises that NSW Police need to do more to reduce the stark overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system. The NSW Police Force Aboriginal Strategic Direction 2018-2023 monitoring report highlights several areas where NSW Police have failed to…
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Uncovering the truth of our legal history
Towards Truth emerged after First Nations participants at the Uluru Dialogues spoke about the need for Australians to know their history. It responds to the call for Truth made in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. A partnership between the UNSW’s Indigenous Law Centre, led by Scientia Professor Megan Davis, and the Public Interest Advocacy…
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Joint letter to Queensland Government regarding suspension of Human Rights Act
PIAC joined Change The Record and more than 180 human rights and legal experts, social justice organisations and First Nations community groups in signing an open letter condemning the Queensland government for overriding the state’s Human Rights Act in order to detain children in state police watch houses indefinitely. Dear Premier Palaszczuk and Minister Ryan,…
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Reconciliation in Action
The recent launch of the website Towards Truth is another step in our nation’s journey to understanding. To understanding the full history of the colonisation of this continent. And just as importantly, to understanding the intergenerational impacts of successive laws and policies on Aboriginal communities, families and individuals. Laws and policies that were targeted and…
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Groundbreaking website to empower First Nations truth telling in Australia
Towards Truth is the first attempt to document and analyse the vast catalogue of laws and government policies that have impacted the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since colonisation Towards Truth will empower First Nations-led truth telling and help all Australians understand our shared history The Towards Truth website is a partnership…
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2SER: Making sense of the Yes pamphlet
With the Voice referendum approaching, the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns have lodged their pamphlets with the Australian Electoral Commission. A copy of each will be delivered to Australian households before the referendum. The Yes pamphlet says a vote for their campaign is a vote for recognition, listening and better results. It argues that the Voice…
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New website launched to drive national truth-telling
A new website aimed at empowering Truth-telling in Australia – Towards Truth – was launched Monday morning. Organisers of the site describe it as the first attempt to document and analyse the vast catalogue of laws and government policies that have impacted the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since colonisation Towards Truth is…
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We all know about the stolen generations. We didn’t always hear about those who opposed the law at the time
[Towards Truth] aims to document all the laws and policies that have affected First Nations people since white colonisation, is a collaboration between the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre led by Cobble Cobble woman Professor Megan Davis. “This project is the first of its kind in Australia,” Davis says. “It’s…
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Towards Truth launched to support First Nations truth telling
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and UNSW Indigenous Law Centre (ILC) are thrilled to launch Towards Truth, a powerful tool to support First Nations-led truth telling in Australia. Created in response to the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart, Towards Truth shows how laws and policies have affected First Nations people since 1788. Introducing Towards…
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Aboriginal imprisonment rates through the roof
… The Aboriginal Legal Service ACT/NSW (ALS) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have released a joint statement saying the “Government cannot ignore the growing crisis of the imprisonment of Aboriginal people in NSW.” “The increasing number of Aboriginal people in custody shows a disturbing lack of progress in Closing the Gap in NSW,”…
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PIAC receives AbSec’s ‘Walking Together’ award
We were honoured to receive this award, recognising the contribution of a non-Aboriginal agency in partnership with the community.
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Information sessions to understand the Voice
PIAC is offering information sessions to help people understand the proposal for a First Nations Voice to parliament and the historic referendum to be held later this year. Our one-hour session covers: The place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Constitution, including the significance of the 1967 referendum. The momentum for…
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Voice to Parliament is choice of possibility and hope
Opinion piece from PIAC CEO Jonathan Hunyor. ‘Every day presents infinite reasons to believe that change can’t happen, infinite reasons to give up’, says African American activist Sonya Tinsley-Hook. But she tells herself ‘Sonya, you have to pick your team’. And for Tinsley-Hook, there are two teams. On one side, the cynics who say that…
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2SER: Celebrating Reconciliation Week and Supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart
27 May to 3 June is National Reconciliation Week marking the twin anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum (changing the constitution to allow government to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the census) and the Mabo case of 1992, which rejected the terra nullius argument and paved the way for Native Title. Ngemba man,…
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Over-representation of Aboriginal people in New South Wales prisons “highest on record”
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) (ALS) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have released new data showing a “growing crisis of the imprisonment of Aboriginal people” in New South Wales which the government “cannot ignore”. New figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) released on Tuesday show the proportion of…
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Proportion of Aboriginal inmates in NSW hit a record 29.7% in February
The proportion of Aboriginal people in prisons across New South Wales has reached a record high, prompting an urgent call from key groups for governments to end the “overpolicing” of Indigenous communities. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) figures revealed Aboriginal people accounted for a record 29.7% of the state’s adult prison…
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‘Growing crisis’: Record level of Aboriginal people in NSW prisons, new data reveals
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), are ramping up their calls for reform to the way Aboriginal people are policed, in light of new figures released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) showing the proportion of Aboriginal people in prison is the highest on record. …
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First Nations Cadetships aim to boost Indigenous lawyer numbers
A Wiradjuri man from Cowra is one of three cadets who participated in the NSW government’s inaugural First Nations Cadetship program which has helped him launch his legal career. Oliver John Williams recently completed his cadetship at the Seniors Rights Service and is now in his fourth year of a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal…
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Paul Ramsay Foundation boosts the Raise the Age campaign
The NSW campaign to Raise the Age has received a significant boost, thanks to a generous commitment of campaigning and financial support from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Raise the Age is a national campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years of age. The NSW campaign involves a…