Justice should be upheld for all of those who seek legal support, particularly those from First Nations communities.

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Access to justice means not only getting a good outcome but also getting safe and appropriate legal support when and where you need it.

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VALS, alongside Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) and the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV), want to strengthen the skills of Victorian lawyers so that they can provide culturally capable legal support to First Nations peoples who need it.

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The training package, which will be rolled out to Victorian lawyers soon, will look to build:

• knowledge of history of First Nations people, ongoing impacts of colonisation and the role of the law in Indigenous dispossession
• skills like how to support clients to build their understanding of their matter, how to address non-legal needs (like housing) and how to create culturally safe environments
• enabling attitudes like respect and recognition of First Nations peoples, humility, empathy and care, and commitment to client empowerment.

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We hope that, by completing this training, Victorian lawyers will be better equipped to offer culturally capable and respectful legal support and therefore will better uphold justice for First Nations communities.

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This project is an Australia-first initiative to outline the key knowledge, skills and attitudes that lawyers need to do a better job for our mob. As VALS is leading the project, the work is First Nations led too.

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The need for this framework and training arose from the coronial inquest into the tragic and preventable death of Veronica Marie Nelson, a proud Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman, at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in 2020. Coroner Simon McGregor found that Ms Nelson’s legal representation was inadequate and recommended that cultural awareness education and training become mandatory for Victorian lawyers.

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In February and April this year, the team at VALS were excited to yarn with mob in Ravenhall and Dame Phyllis Frost about their experiences with legal support and to hear more about what First Nations people in prison want from their lawyers.

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The 56 First Nations women and men in prison that we spoke with wanted lawyers who:

• prioritise cultural safety, such as through understanding how a client relates to their culture or having meetings in culturally safe spaces
• are empathetic and respectful
• value their clients’ experiences, understand their clients’ stories and strengths
• speak clearly, tell clients what to expect
• provide consistent and timely support
• know about other helpful services to refer their clients on to
• explain legal options to the client and support them to make an informed decision
• don’t make assumptions about clients or their culture
• understand that clients’ families are affected in their matter too. 

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We also heard that the people we spoke to wanted to feel trusted, cared for, understood, respected and like they could be themselves without judgement.

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The generosity of these First Nations men and women who have been through the criminal legal system was invaluable in helping us design our framework and the training that flows from it. The framework is on the VALS website, free for anyone to access.

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If you are concerned about the legal representation and advice you have received, please contact VALS.

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VALS expresses its deep gratitude to those lived experience experts at Ravenhall and the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre who participated in the yarns for this project.