Gunditjmara man Ashley Morris has been appointed as Victoria Legal Aid's inaugural executive director of First Nations services.
The announcement comes in the wake of recommendations around the legal system from the Yoorrook Justice System, and with Treaty negotiations between the First Peoples' Assembly and the state government to officially be inaugurated this week.
The creation of a stand-alone First Nations directorate for the first time at Victoria Legal Aid "elevates First Nations leadership while providing clear governance mechanisms for all our First Nations projects and initiatives," a statement said.
On X, Victoria Legal Aid said Mr Morris would "provide leadership on service design and delivery that prioritises culture, acknowledges trauma and supports healing, addresses racism and promotes cultural safety, aligned with the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs enablers of Self-Determination".
His previous work in the director First Nations role included work on service design and delivery, Victoria Legal Aid said, which prioritised culture, acknowledges trauma and supports healing, as well as addressing racism and promoting cultural safety which is aligned with the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework.
We are pleased to announce Gunditjmara man Ashley Morris has been appointed as our inaugural Executive Director, First Nations Services. https://t.co/auYt4xIpgV pic.twitter.com/0c4uBWHcyx
— Victoria Legal Aid (@VicLegalAid) November 15, 2024
Before working at legal aid, Mr Morris, who comes from Traralgon, was manager of Koori Services and Programs at the Children's Court of Victoria, where he oversaw the development of the court's self-determination plan, as well as an expansion of Koori services and programs.
Before that, he worked at the Broadmeadows Children's Court, leading the development and implementation of Marram-Ngala Ganbu Koori Family Hearing Day—an Australian first, culturally informed hearing day in child protection amongst Indigenous communities.
"Our role is to get people in the door and get rid of all your anxieties before you get up to the Bar table and be able to truly engage in the process," he told the Yoorrook Justice Commission in 2022 of the work of Marram-Ngala Ganbu.
"Whereas the old court was: sit in the foyer, be ignored for three hours, go sit in the first row while two people talk about you as a family to someone sitting up on a wall who just ignores you. Being able to walk through them two doors there and be able to sit up at the Bar table before the decision maker and say, 'I'm Ashley Morris and I'm the father', is more than enough to get things moving."
Mr Morris began his role on Monday.
