Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients

We have partnered with Macquarie University and TAFE NSW to implement and evaluate a program to support the employment of additional skilled and credentialled Aboriginal staff by building the capacity and credentials of Aboriginal candidates.

Under our Aboriginal Employment and Career Development Strategy 2019–2023 we are committed to increasing our Aboriginal workforce to 11% of our total workforce.

This year we expanded our Aboriginal Field Officer Program with two new positions created in our Newcastle office. Aboriginal Field Officers have been operating in Dubbo, Port Macquarie, Walgett and Bourke for many years and are a vital link between offices and the Aboriginal communities that they service.

Aboriginal Field Officers also help increase the cultural competency of offices by bringing knowledge of the local Aboriginal community and culture to their positions. Both the Newcastle and Hunter region represent significant Aboriginal populations with complex legal needs. The two new positions are a significant step in the expansion of the program and represent our commitment to increasing the cultural safety of our organisation.

We announced that we were developing an Aboriginal Cultural Safety Framework at the inaugural Legal Aid NSW Conference in April 2021. The Aboriginal Services Branch developed and launched the framework in May 2022.

The framework builds upon our commitment to provide the best quality services to Aboriginal clients and is the next step in a journey that has seen us providing Aboriginal cultural awareness, Aboriginal cultural competency and practice area specific training for over 10 years. The framework provides us with the tools we need to ensure our services are culturally inclusive and diverse for our clients and our workplace is culturally inclusive and diverse for our Aboriginal colleagues.

Aboriginal cultural safety is a shared journey of respect and understanding and implementing the framework is the responsibility of all staff at Legal Aid NSW. Critical components of the Aboriginal Cultural Safety Framework include learning and self-reflection, as well as a recognition that nobody can ever be an expert in another’s culture, but everyone can learn the tools to practise cultural safety.

• Achieve our goal of an 11% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce under the Aboriginal Employment and Career Development Strategy 2019–2023.
• Implement the Aboriginal Cultural Safety Framework to ensure cultural safety for our Aboriginal client base and our Aboriginal workforce.
• Continue the expansion of the Aboriginal Field Officer Program to connect our offices with their local communities and ensure those communities receive high quality, culturally inclusive and diverse legal representation.