Archive for the Publications Category

This submission was prepared in response to the Australian Government’s draft National Report to the United Nation’s (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), who are listed in the submission. The UPR offers the Australian Government a unique opportunity

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) offers the Australian Government a unique opportunity to take stock of its progress in the area of human rights and identify areas for improvement. The joint Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), who are

ALSWA Submission to the Commonwealth Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs – July 2009 This submission focuses on the access of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in WA to legal representation and justice. This access is limited by the lack of a State-wide interpreter service

ALSWA Submission to the WA Attorney General – June 2009 This submission outlines the success of the Aboriginal Community Courts in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Norseman based on interviews with multiple stakeholders including court coordinators, Magistrates, ALSWA staff and prosecutors. The submission calls for an extension of community courts

ALSWA Submission to the WA Department of the Attorney General – May 2008 In the criminal justice system, people are often stranded after being transported to court and receiving a non-custodial sentence or bail or upon their release from prison. In this submission, ALSWA raised concerns about

ALSWA Submission to the Community Development and Justice Standing Committee of the WA Legislative Assembly – April 2010 In this submission, ALSWA calls on the Western Australian Government to reform its approach to criminal justice by engaging in Justice Reinvestment initiatives aimed at reducing offending, rather than

ALSWA Submission to the Commonwealth Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee – April 2010 This submission encourages the Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee (‘the Committee’) to extend its role to specifically consider and address Australia’s international obligations in relation to the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Intervention of the Indigenous Peoples Organisation of Australia at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – April 2010 This intervention and report concerns the alarmingly high and ever increasing rates of incarceration of Indigenous children and youth in Australia and around the world. It notes the legacy

Intervention of the Indigenous Peoples Organisation of Australia at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – April 2010 This intervention elaborates on the history and impacts of the legal fictions of the Doctrines of Discovery in the USA and Terra Nullius in Australia on Indigenous peoples. It