25Th Anniversary of the Indigenous Law Centre Keynote Speech

25TH Anniversary OF THE Indigenous Law CenTre KeynoTE SPeecH 12 December 2006 Megan Davis∗ Friends of the Indigenous Law Centre, continue to undertake research in pressing areas such as access to justice and legal needs, delivery of legal services I welcome you all here today to join with us in celebrating and stolen trust funds and wages. 25 years of the Indigenous Law Centre and the Indigenous Law Bulletin. Under my Directorship, the Centre will continue to contribute to analysis of the law as it affects Indigenous lives. My core For those of you who don’t know me, I am returning to UNSW vision for the Centre is about addressing unfinished business. Law School after four years as a Senior Research Fellow with We will focus upon an examination of how Indigenous the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning. peoples fit within the institutions of Australian democracy, and work towards answering the question of how we can we I am honoured to be celebrating this milestone as the new make our public institutions more inclusive of Indigenous Director of the Indigenous Law Centre, particularly given voices and experiences. that these are challenging times for Indigenous Australia. In that respect, we begin our new research agenda with the The rapid pace of policy changes and law reform at a federal 40th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum in 2007. We will level has shocked many people in our communities this also have a specific research project focusing on Indigenous year. The changes have occurred in many different areas of women. The starting point for this project will be the Indigenous people’s lives: from amendments to sentencing Australian Research Council grant I received this year to laws and Aboriginal corporations laws, to changes to land examine why Aboriginal women in Canada fare better than rights and education policies. In every area, it seems that we Aboriginal women in Australia. have had only small windows of opportunity and minimal resources to respond or even comprehend what impact these We will also continue the excellent work of the ILC as laid changes will have on our communities. down by Garth Nettheim, Mick Dodson and Sarah Pritchard in research and advocacy in international human rights law That is what is so important about the role of Tom Calma – particularly at the United Nations. This work has been at HREOC, and of Martin Nakata and Larissa Behrendt at crucial in the past and will continue to be so in the future. Jumbunna, and indeed, everyone at the Indigenous Law We must continue to call our government to account for its Centre at UNSW. failure to fulfil its obligations to Indigenous peoples under international human rights law. The Indigenous Law Centre has a long and distinguished history of responding to changes in law and public policy, I certainly hope that all of this work will involve collaboration and has effectively contributed to national debate on with other Law Centres at UNSW and other faculties, other Indigenous legal issues over the course of its 25 years- universities and also with government departments. particularly through the contributions of Garth Nettheim and Mick Dodson. I think it is appropriate as Director to take this opportunity this evening to acknowledge the role of the UNSW law school In fact, under the guardianship of the Centre Coordinator in Indigenous law and legal education. The Indigenous Law Tony Westmore, the past two years has seen the Centre Centre has played and will continue to play a significant (2007) 11(1) AILR 1 role in demonstrating the law school’s commitment to social The crucial element was this: Mum worked hard to provide justice. The law school already participates in the successful us with a critical lens in which to view the two Australias in Pre-Law Program with Nura Gili under the guidance of which we as Indigenous children lived – and she prepared us Sue Green and also has an Indigenous Legal Education to be articulate in both of the very different worlds that we Committee chaired by Professor Jill Hunter. I also wish to would have to traverse in modern Australia. note that since my appointment as director I have benefited from overwhelming support from the staff within the law And it is crucial that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school – in particular, from the Dean and from Deborah students today are taught to master the art of walking Healey. between the two worlds. Education is the key to the future well-being of our people and For those Indigenous children who don’t grow up with a our communities. As such, commitment to social justice for parent as their primary champion, it is important that we Indigenous Australians and to the education of Indigenous provide role models for them to look up to, to ask questions law students is vital. It is all too easy for Indigenous law of, and to emulate. students to feel isolated and intimidated and fall behind. Of late there have been many varied discussions nationally Deborah Healey and I have already begun discussions about about Indigenous education and the appropriate learning matching our current and future Indigenous law students environments that enable Indigenous students to succeed. with long term mentors, particularly individuals within the legal profession, to give every Indigenous law student the And in that respect I think it is fitting that both Larissa and best possible chance at success. But we all know that success my Mum are here tonight. For me, one of the key contributors in education is more than just mentoring. And I believe that to my education has been the strong presence of role models the Law school provides that multi-dimensional approach in my life. Larissa Behrendt has been a generous friend and that will benefit our Indigenous law students. mentor since I met her in 2000. Another mentor to me as a young Aboriginal lawyer is Dr Sarah Pritchard. Sarah taught The narrative of social justice and the effective learning me a great deal about the mechanics of the United Nations environment that my Mum built for me is something that I and international law, and about life in general – and she has also recognise as present in the UNSW Faculty of Law – and always been a patient and empathetic friend. that is why I am so thrilled to be a part of it and contribute to it as Director of the ILC. And of course, my Ma. The beautiful invitation for this wonderful celebration provided a brief overview of my work On a personal note, I would like to thank my Mum, Pinball experience to date as an introduction to my Directorship. and my little brother John and his beautiful wife Katie who Like many Indigenous family stories, my story has had its have flown down from Queensland to celebrate with us fair share of sadness. But despite the trauma that my four tonight. I would also like to thank my wonderful partner and siblings and I experienced in our lives Mum provided us best friend James who is a great support to me and whose with a stable and happy household and early on she instilled parents too have travelled a long distance to be here tonight. in us a respect and love of learning. But in our home Mum espoused the importance of the routine of learning above Thank you all for coming tonight and celebrating 25 years of all else. the Indigenous Law Centre. Most importantly, Mum had real expectations of my siblings and me. And we respected her and worked hard to meet those Endnotes expectations. Interestingly, it was not an overtly Indigenous * Megan Davis BA LLB (UQ) GDLP LLM (ANU) is the Director of the narrative that dominated our household – it was a narrative Indigenous Law Centre. of social justice. Mum taught us to gain insight into the great human themes: of suffering, of forgiveness, of justice and of injustice. 2 Vol 11 No 1, 2007 COMMEN TARY.

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