Rethinking Indigenous Access to Civil Law Justice

This project, Rethinking Indigenous Access to Civil Law Justice, follows on from our earlier research: Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP).  

The Rethinking Indigenous Access to Civil Law Justice project aims to enhance Indigenous access to justice in five areas of civil and family law:

• housing (tenancy)
• race discrimination
• social security
• child protection
• credit and debt (and associated consumer issues)

Legal problems in these areas have been identified in the ILNP as causing significant problems for Indigenous people. They are also generally not aware of or asserting or defending their rights when these types of problems arise. This is attributed to and represents problems related to access to justice. 

Access to justice is almost always understood as the use of legal responses to a legal dispute or problem through mainstream institutions and frameworks. We are exploring how well this definition works for Indigenous people to deliver effective justice outcomes in the above areas of law. We are investigating whether a new definition of access to justice is required that better reflects Indigenous perspectives and needs, and if so, what this might look like. 

The questions we are seeking answers to include: 

• How do Indigenous people define ‘justice’ and the best methods of attaining it?
• Do we need to adapt mainstream civil and family law justice systems to better reflect Indigenous definitions of access to justice? If so, what adaptations do we need to make? What key Indigenous-specific frameworks and principles might inform this adaptation?
• What effective alternative justice models have already been introduced in civil and family law areas that might be further expanded? Are there models introduced into the criminal justice system that might also be borrowed from or adapted for use in civil and family law settings?
• Do Indigenous people, in fact, prefer to access ‘justice’ outside of mainstream legal systems and frameworks altogether (for instance, through political protest or reform)? If so, what form might this take?

 Research findings that respond to these questions are intended to inform policy change that will improve Indigenous access to justice in civil law. This should increase the recognition of rights and deliver better justice - and social justice - outcomes for Indigenous people. It should help to reduce the criminalisation and lift levels of Indigenous social inclusion.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Reference Group

 We are being guided in this work by a Reference Group, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander membership. Each representative has knowledge and expertise related to one or more of the above five areas of law.

Membership includes representation from:

• National Legal Aid
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services
• National Association of Community Legal Centres
• National Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services Forum
• Peak child protection bodies
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Travelling to communities

To answer the above questions we travelled to 12 remote, rural and urban communities across QLD, WA and NSW. In these communities, we spoke with Indigenous community members and stakeholder organisations (including service providers, government and community-based organisations). 

Case studies

We are also looking in detail at examples of strategies or initiatives located around Australia that will provide important insights into Indigenous definitions of access to justice. Each of these case studies will focus on one of the five priority areas of law listed above.