The next generation of First Nations legal professionals in New South Wales are being supported by a new Aboriginal legal career support program.
The Aboriginal Legal Career Pathways program, an initiative established by Legal Aid NSW and Macquarie University, aims to increase the skills and qualifications of the Aboriginal workforce in legal services across the state.
The new program aims to employ 200 Indigenous people across multiple intakes over the four years of its duration, with successful applicants receiving a nationally accredited qualification in legal services from a culturally safe and trauma-informed registered training organisation.
Legal Aid NSW chief executive Monique Hitter said the program is part of Legal Aid NSW's mission to boost Aboriginal employment as part of its Aboriginal Employment and Career Development Strategy and encourage diversity within the organisation more broadly.
"We are committed to a workplace that reflects the diversity of our clients more broadly, including Aboriginal, culturally and linguistically diverse and gender diverse people as well as those with a disability," she said.
Successful candidates will have their study costs paid for, including travel and accommodation, resources and equipment when they attend study blocks on campus at Macquarie University's Sydney Campus, and will also have the opportunity for further study through the university.
Macquarie University's Dean of Law School, Professor Lise Barry, said the law school will design a pathway into a law degree for participants, with the aim of improving Indigenous representation in the legal profession.
"Macquarie Law School is so excited to be part of this ground-breaking program," she said.
"We think this is a game-changer for Indigenous empowerment in law."
Employment opportunities will be offered to participants at Legal Aid NSW as a Legal Support Officer, Client Support Officer or LawAccess Information Officer, with the option to work full or part-time in Legal Aid NSW offices within their own community or for other offices across the state remotely from their hometown.
Project Manager Amanda Morgan said the program is ground-breaking because it is the first of its scale in New South Wales.
"Any Aboriginal person in New South Wales who has ever dreamed of a career in the legal sector will have secure employment in their own community, complete a Diploma and pursue pathways into university level qualifications in law, without having to worry about the typical structural and systematic barriers," she said.
The Yorta Yorta woman said the program has been designed as a stepping stone so that more First Nations peoples can attain a law degree.
"It is our hope that when our mob see family and community members enter and complete this program, they will realise that being a lawyer is within the realm of possibility for them," she said.
"We are about to meet cohorts of future Aboriginal lawyers."
Legal Aid NSW's director of Aboriginal Services, Yuin and Bidjigal woman Kimberley Wilson, said cultural sensitivity has been at forefront of mind when designing the Aboriginal Legal Career Pathways program.
"We strive to be a place where Aboriginal people want to work and where Aboriginal voices and cultures are valued, and this means we aim to actively engage in culturally safe practices and deliver culturally safe services to Aboriginal people and communities," she said.
"At Legal Aid NSW we are committed to being a culturally safe and genuinely inclusive organisation for all people and communities that work with and interact with us, where people feel valued, welcomed, respected and heard."
Successful candidates will commence their Aboriginal Legal Career Pathways program qualification in early 2023.
