The Attorney General of NSW, The Hon Greg Smith delivered this speech at the launch of the Legal Aid NSW Reconciliation Action Plan on Monday 11 February 2013.
I am delighted this afternoon to launch the first Legal Aid NSW Reconciliation Action Plan and I congratulate Legal Aid NSW on developing this impressive Plan.
I am particularly pleased to see legal organisations taking the lead in committing themselves to Reconciliation Action Plans. The Law Council of Australia released their RAP about 18 months ago, the Law Society NSW and the NSW Bar Association released their RAPs last year and I understand Community Legal Centres NSW are planning on releasing their RAP in the first part of this year.
Reconciliation Action Plans are particularly significant for the legal community. We have a responsibility to keep looking for strategies that assist to address the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system, particularly the over-representation of young Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal people are also vastly over-represented in the care and protection jurisdiction and particularly vulnerable to fines, tenancy issues, issues with Centrelink payments and other civil law issues. There are significant challenges for all of us involved in the legal system in NSW and we must strive to do better in order to improve the lives of Aboriginal people.
Legal Aid NSW is well placed to play its part in addressing many of these issues.
I believe this Reconciliation Action Plan will assist in co-ordinating and driving strategies related to the over-representation of Aboriginal people across all parts of our legal system. On top of this, having these strategies set out in a RAP raises the level of public accountability because Legal Aid NSW will be required to participate in Reconciliation Australia's reporting processes.
I am very pleased to see in this RAP the continuation and expansion of the wonderful Judge Bob Bellear Pathways to Legal Careers program.
As many of you know Judge Bob Bellear was appointed Australia’s first Aboriginal judge in 1996 and spent his life fighting for Aboriginal people with unfaltering dedication to social justice.
This Careers Program named in his honour has achieved tremendous success at Legal Aid NSW.
It has supported a small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people complete high school with financial support and practical work experience. It's supported these young people to undertake tertiary studies in law through cadetships and then employment. It's also provided these young people with opportunities to complete their College of Law requirements to attain their practising certificates and then enhance their practising expertise through the Career Development program in Legal Aid NSW.
I am delighted to see that the Legal Aid NSW RAP builds on this program by now providing additional support for Aboriginal staff to undertake professional development opportunities.
For the first time Legal Aid NSW will have a 'Chairperson’s Scholarship Award’ offering both study leave and financial assistance to Aboriginal staff to undertake professional development opportunities.
Along with setting out current initiatives Legal Aid's first RAP drives new partnerships and brings with it new challenges.
I am delighted to see that Legal Aid NSW will be working more closely with the ALS Prisoner Support Unit to enhance support for Aboriginal inmates. It will expand its family law early intervention services to a broader group of Aboriginal clients. And it will deliver practical cultural awareness skills training for private lawyers.
I’m pleased to see Legal Aid NSW has set itself an ambitious target to increase Aboriginal employment at Legal Aid NSW to 5.5% of total Legal Aid workforce. Legal Aid NSW is implementing a state wide mentoring program to support its growing numbers of Aboriginal staff.
This Plan is full of vision and good ideas.So now the hard work really begins.
In closing, I take this opportunity to wish Legal Aid NSW all the best in implementing the actions and realising the targets set out in its first RAP.
It seems a realistic plan with realistic targets and I look forward to hearing about your achievements along the way.
I hereby launch the Legal Aid NSW Reconciliation Action Plan 2013-2015. Thank you. Good luck.
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