State and Federal Judges swapped their courtrooms for the red dirt of the Kimberley last week, taking part in a three-day cultural immersion program designed to improve their understanding of the issues and challenges faced by Aboriginal people in the region.
The program was hosted by the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) and was attended by 26 Judges, including four from the Federal Court of Australia, three from WA’s Supreme Court and 19 from the District Court.
Program organiser and Translational Research Fellow at UNDA’s Nulungu Research Institute, Gillian Kennedy, said Aboriginal people were disproportionately impacted by the legal system, which was why it was so important for their voices to be heard by those who hold positions of power over their lives.
“For true reconciliation and healing, it’s important that Aboriginal people have these opportunities to sit down on country and be able to speak openly and frankly with members of the judiciary about how the justice system interacts with their daily lives,” Ms Kennedy said.
“It is also a chance for the Judges to ask questions and talk about ways to overcome some of the challenges they’ve experienced when dealing with Aboriginal people in their own courtrooms, such as ensuring that people with limited English understand the process they are involved in.”
The three-day program began last Wednesday with a Welcome to Country and formal dinner on the grounds of Notre Dame’s Broome campus, followed by a panel discussion with members of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council.
On Thursday, the Judges travelled to Derby where they were taken on a walking tour of significant historical and cultural sites, hosted by local Nyikina man Edwin Lee Mulligan. That evening, the group attended a dinner in Willare with elders from the Pandanus Park community.
Friday saw the Judges return to Broome where they held meetings with Aboriginal Interpreters WA and on Saturday panel discussions took place with community legal services and other service providers from the community.
Chief Judge of the District Court of Western Australia, Judge Julie Wager, said the trip had been of great value to the Judges who now have a better understanding of some of the complexities of Aboriginal culture, history, and language.
“We have too many Aboriginal people in the Court system, be they victims, witnesses, litigants or offenders and we need to make sure that the Court is a culturally secure place,” Chief Judge Wager said.
“Victims need to feel safe and not feel threatened when they come to Court and this program has really helped us to be aware of the issues they may face.”
Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council Chair and Co-Chair of Indigenous Studies at Notre Dame’s Nulungu Institute of Research, Professor Anne Poelina, said a theme running through this year’s program had been the concept of “First Law”.
“First Law refers to Aboriginal laws that come from the Creator and the Land and are passed down through our ancestral stories and are therefore sacred,” Professor Poelina said.
“Aboriginal people successfully governed themselves using this system of laws for thousands of years before white settlement. So it is important for Judges to have an understanding of how this system operates and intersects with the Australian laws of today.”
The immersion program is the third hosted by Notre Dame. The first was held in 2016 in Fremantle and Pinjarra, with local Noongar elders at the request of former WA Chief Justice Wayne Martin. A second event was held in 2019 in the remote Bidyadanga community on Karajarri country.
The current program was developed in partnership with staff from the Nulungu Research Institute, Custodians of the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River), Aboriginal Interpreting WA, Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation and several other organisations and individuals who contributed to the sessions in Broome and Derby.
The program has received funding from the WA Crime Statistics and Research (WACSAR), which will be used to evaluate the impact of these cross-cultural programs on judicial and court practices and policies over the coming months.
