Editors --- "Indigenous Women Lawyers: Charmaine Smith; Neva Collings; Dr Irene Watson; Dr Larissa Behrendt; Marie Andrews; Camille Dobson; Barbara Bond; Julie Perkins and Loretta Kelly" [1999] IndigLawB 98; (1999) 4(25) Indigenous Law Bulletin 26

Indigenous Women Lawyers

Charmaine Smith

I am a descendant of the Kaurna people from Point Pearce in South Australia. I’ve just completed my law degree and currently work at the Equal Opportunity Commission. My areas of interest are criminal justice and prisoners’ rights. The number of Aboriginal deaths in custody have more than doubled in the last decade. This is a shocking statistic. Judges have traditionally been 'out of touch' with the prison context. Hopefully more Aboriginal lawyers means a higher awareness of these and other issues during the sentencing process.

Neva Collings

I’m not sure what tribe my people are from, but I know it’s some place in QLD. I first learned I was Aboriginal when I was about 12. More recently, I’ve learned that some time late last century Mr Arthur Lloyd, a Welsh man who looked a lot like Colonel Sanders, married an Aboriginal woman called Elizabeth. Her daughter, whom I know as ‘Mary Ann Dixon’, ended up in Bomaderry.

I graduated from Sydney University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Economics/Laws, and worked for Mick Dodson, the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 1993 to 1998. I then coordinated the Indigenous Law Centre for eighteen months and today find myself in the Top End doing a ‘stint’ of legal research for the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, an organisation of the Mirrar people. I am also Vice President of Ngalaya, the NSW Association of Indigenous lawyers.

Dr Irene Watson

I am from the Tanganekald and Meintangk peoples, the first peoples of the Coorong and south-east region of South Australia. I graduated in law from Adelaide University in 1985, and completed a PhD in law in 1999. My PhD discusses the continuing sovereignty of Aboriginal laws. I work for the greater recognition and continuing future of Aboriginal laws.

Dr Larissa Behrendt

After completing my law degree, I divided my time between teaching law and practising. I also undertook Masters and Doctorate studies at Harvard University. This gave me time to write on the legal issues that concern me most, especially the rights of indigenous women and the protection of indigenous property rights. It also gave me an opportunity for comparative studies in Canada. I am currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University and in my work here I am exploring the way in which stereotypes of Aboriginal people held by the wider Australian community impact on the (lack of) protection of indigenous rights in Australia.

Marie Andrews

I am a Bardi woman from the Kimberley region of WA. I obtained my law degree from the University of Melbourne in 1994 and later taught the inaugural course ‘ Indigenous peoples and the law’ as a Visiting Fellow. I was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in Victoria and was recently admitted to the NSW Supreme Court. I am currently practicing as a rural women’s outreach solicitor for the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre (‘NRCLC’)in Lismore, NSW. The Centre has recently produced a video ‘Sharon’s Story’, in which I advise young Aboriginal women of their legal rights in relation to domestic violence and sexual assault. The video was a special project of Mabourah Dubay, the Aboriginal Women’s Advisory Committee to the NRCL.

Camille Dobson

I went to the University of Adelaide and graduated with a double degree in Arts and Laws in April 1996. I was admitted as a practitioner of the South Australian Supreme Court in April 1997. Since graduating, have worked as a tutor in law through the Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme at the University of Adelaide. I then worked at the Legal Aid Commission for a period of time giving legal advice in all areas of law but mostly in the area of Family Law. After about one year I left the Commission and began working at the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement’s Native Title Unit where I have been for almost two years. My position is a Legal Officer and I currently manage eight native title claims covering an area from Port Lincoln on the coast to Lake Eyre in the north. I was born in Alice Springs, Northern Territory and moved to Adelaide to study and work. I am from the Eastern Arrernte people from central and eastern Alice Springs.

Barbara Bond

My name is Barbara Bond and I am employed with Kamilaroi Aboriginal Legal Service as a prison liaison officer. I have a welfare background working extensively with inmates at correctional centres and their families, and am involved in many community activities including youth and women’s issues. I am the first Aboriginal person to graduate with a law degree from the University of New England, Armidale and hope to be admitted to the bar shortly. My preference is to remain working in country areas.

Julie Perkins

I graduated from law school at Southern Cross University (Lismore) in September 1998. I currently manage Many Rivers Aboriginal Legal Service, a peak organisation in law & justice. My goal is to be an advocate for changing unjust laws and policies within the criminal justice system. In the future I’d like to be involved in the areas of corporations and employment law, legal education and awareness of the rights and responsibilities of Aboriginal corporations.

Loretta Kelly

I was accidentally sent some information about studying law at UNSW. It was the summer of ‘90/’91 and I was staying with my Aunty Brenda at Bowraville (mid-north coast NSW). So I flew down to the big city. I came back home after graduating from UNSW in May 1997. I’ve had some good jobs, made some enemies and found some great friends. Eight years later, I’m living on my traditional land at Corindi, Aunty Brenda sometimes stays at my place and I’m still at Uni (although this time I’m lecturing)!