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The Australian National University
The Kimberley Aboriginal Justice Clinic is part of a collaboration between Kimberley Community Legal Services (‘KCLS’) in Western Australia and the ANU College of Law which aims to increase positive justice impacts by, for and with Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people in the Kimberley are striving for social, economic, legal and political advancement and over 90% of the Kimberley is determined Native Title land. However, barriers to justice include extreme disadvantage, gross under-resourcing of non-profit legal services in the region and enormous lacks relating to law and justice across the cultural interface. In this course student learning is driven by involvement in law in action justice work. The course is structured around students undertaking paralegal work at the KCLS Aboriginal Justice Clinic at the Law School. The clinic is incorporated real-time in the KCLS legal practice and students are supervised by KCLS lawyers. This is an immersive and challenging context for guided exploration about how law has been instrumentalized in relation to First Nations peoples, and the impacts. Also, whether and how laws, legal institutions and legal practice can become forces for empowerment. The course includes consideration of substantive areas of law, public policy, and critical Indigenous legal theories and presents principles and concepts which are pressed by First Nations peoples in pursuit of justice, rights and empowerment. The course emphasises the voices, lived experiences and authority of Aboriginal people of the Kimberley and engages and supports students in exploring how theory works in step with practice and reflection. Accordingly, students will complete a workshop program which incorporates familiarization with KCLS and the Hotdesk, key skills, self-care, cultural protocols, and the concepts of reflection, reflexivity, settler-colonialism, epistemic injustice and approaches to empowerment. Students also complete a minimum of 10 x 1 day (7 hour) paralegal sessions at the KCLS-ANU Hotdesk and assessments consisting of reflective case studies which critically explore readings and themes in the course, and a research paper related to themes in the course.
The proposed means of assessment for this course will provide students with at least two pieces of assessment, including one piece during the semester. This course is a JD capstone course and will include a research project in a professional practice context. More information about the means of assessment, including the relationship between the assessment and the learning outcomes of the course, will be available in the Class Summary and on the course WATTLE page. (null) [LO null]
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours. - Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week. Click here for the LLM Masters Program course list Work Integrated Learning Placements Clinical courses allow students to engage with real clients, real problems and real deadlines in a real-world environment. Placements are undertaken with Kimberley Community Legal Services (‘KCLS’). The course is structured around students undertaking paralegal work at the KCLS Aboriginal Justice Clinic based here in Canberra. The clinic is incorporated real-time in the KCLS legal practice and students are supervised by KCLS lawyers. Students explore law reform and social justice issues relevant to First Nations peoples, develop professional skills and get work experience. Other Information Enrolment is limited with selection based on a competitive process. Application information can be located on the ANU College of Law Website.
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course. Alternatively, this information will be published in the Program course list when known. Preliminary Reading Allan Ardill, 'Non-Indigenous Lawyers Writing About Indigenous People: Colonisation in practice' (2012) 37(2) Alternative Law Journal 107. Maggie Brady, ‘Law reforming lawyers and aboriginal social controls: The case of the Western Australian Aboriginal Communities Act’ (2013) 17(1) Australian Indigenous Law Review 38. Marcelle Burns, 'Towards growing Indigenous culturally competent legal professionals in Australia' (2013) 12(1) The International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives 226 Mick Dodson, ‘From 'Lore' to 'Law': Indigenous Rights and Australian Legal Systems’, (1995) 20 (1), Alternative Law Journal, 2 Kim Mahood, 'Kartiya are like Toyotas: White workers on Australia’s cultural frontier' (2012) 36 Griffith Review 43. Martin Nakata, 'The Cultural Interface' (2007) 36 Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 7 Nicole Watson, 'Indigenous People in Legal Education: Staring into a Mirror without Reflection' (2005) 6(8) Indigenous Law Bulletin 4 Irene Watson, 'Buried alive' (2002) 13(3) Law & Critique 253 Mandy Yap and Eunice Yu, ‘Community Wellbeing from the Ground Up: A Yawuru Example’ (2016), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Report 3/16 Peter Yu, ‘Reconciliation, Treaty Making and Nation Building’ (2018 ANU Reconciliation Lecture, ANU Canberra, 23 February 2018)