D'Eatough, Tauri --- "A Day in the Life of an Aboriginal Legal Service Lawyer" [2002] IndigLawB 25; (2002) 5(16) Indigenous Law Bulletin 17
A Day in the Life of an Aboriginal Legal Service Lawyer
by Tauri D’Eatough
‘Go hard’ was the advice I received on my first day as a solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service. It has become a maxim in my routine work representing a cross-section of Indigenous people in the courts most days of the week. The imperative to advocate strongly on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients has not altered since that first day. The majority of my clients are Aboriginal people, both juveniles and adults. Most are distressed and afraid, particularly at the thought of imprisonment. They are often confused about the workings of the criminal justice system.
I spent my first year as a lawyer working for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. My clients were government agencies, and I had little contact with the human face of prosecution. Client instructions were invariably issued in written form. The process of representation was essentially underpinned by a high degree of certainty, the absence of emotional pressure and the knowledge that the resources were there to proceed with relative ease.
My work as a criminal lawyer for the Aboriginal Legal Service stands in stark contrast. The client is very much a human being, my instructions are entirely oral and the influences upon my caseload are unpredictable and emotionally challenging. There is also a limit to the nature and extent of legal representation available to the client, and a consistent need to monitor the outlay of resources.
The abiding purpose of an Aboriginal Legal Service is to promote the legal interests of Indigenous people. In providing effective legal representation to Indigenous people, the starting point must be a deep regard for the uniqueness of their circumstances in Australian society. From this foundation must come a willingness to work efficiently with limited resources to meet a high level of demand, and a capacity to work with clients to provide a quality service. These guiding principles are sorely challenged by daily reality. There are rarely sufficient hours in the day to meet the demands of court lists, contested hearings, client interviews, custody visits and telephone attendances.
On any given day of the working week, the definition of ‘solicitor’ may also be stretched to encompass the functions of ‘social worker’, ‘psychologist’, and ‘family mediator’. A narrow interpretation of the function of a solicitor is likely to be unworkable, as clients do not think in discrete professional boxes. For example, representing a juvenile client may involve conciliation with parents and extended family members concerning issues such as the level of support for youth justice conferencing, and the client’s financial, educational and living arrangements. It is also necessary to engage proactively with agencies such as Department of Housing, Centrelink, medical practitioners and other service providers, on behalf of clients and/or their carers. These functions are generally outside formal professional practice. A significant amount of time and expertise is required to provide the legal representation itself, without addressing these related aspects of the client’s circumstances.
My role as a lawyer at the Aboriginal Legal Service is distinguished from the majority of my peers in that I am a person of Aboriginal descent. I was institutionalised for much of my early life, including by order of the Children’s Court while a juvenile. My history reflects a patterns of economic disadvantage, family breakdown and custodial intervention that characterise the lives of many Aboriginal people. In endeavouring at times to ‘win the unwinnable’ in court, I am particularly aware of the legacy of past practices and continuing ignorance. The imperative to ‘go hard’ is based on a complex set of factors, not least of which is the fact that a client of an Aboriginal Legal Service is entitled to a standard of legal representation commensurate with their unique needs.
Tauri D’Eatough is a solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service, Wollongong and a member of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. Tauri is also a champion pro-am surfer, and a member of the Royal Volunteer Coast Patrol.