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Media Releases

Please direct all media enquiries to the ALS media team on 0427 346 017 or [email protected]

1 Dec 2022

Community organisations issue mayday call on child protection

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE  Issued in partnership with AbSec Thursday 1 December 2022, 1:30 p.m.   More than 40 community organisations, legal centres and human rights defenders have penned an open letter urging the next NSW Parliament to reform the child protection system, saying it is actively harming Aboriginal children. The letter comes a day after the latest Closing the Gap report revealed...

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29 Nov 2022

Huge victory for the people of NSW as millions worth of COVID fines withdrawn – now Government must cancel the rest

MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday 29 November 2022, 5:00 p.m.   Today’s cancellation of 33,000 COVID fines is a huge victory for the people of New South Wales. The Aboriginal Legal Service commended Revenue NSW for its quick decision to withdraw the fines after the NSW Government conceded in the Supreme Court that two fines were invalid – putting the legality of thousands more...

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10 Nov 2022

Family Is Culture Bill has passed, but AbSec and ALS are calling for more

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE  Issued in partnership with AbSec Thursday 10 November 2022   The state’s peak organisations for Aboriginal children, families and legal services have cautiously welcomed the passage of a bill to reform the NSW child protection system but much more is needed. The Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Family is Culture) Bill 2022 seeks to implement 13...

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2 Nov 2022

NSW Government fails to embrace courageous recommendations that could save Aboriginal lives

MEDIA RELEASE Wednesday 2 November 2022   The Aboriginal Legal Service has expressed disappointment in the NSW Government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry into the Coroner’s Court. The Select Committee on the coronial jurisdiction in NSW issued 35 recommendations in May. On Tuesday, the Government gave its response, supporting only 15 of those recommendations and noting the rest. “The parliamentary inquiry put...

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25 Oct 2022

Independent review into Australia’s pandemic response is extra proof that COVID fines must go

MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday 25 October 2022, 8:00 am   The Aboriginal Legal Service has re-issued its call for COVID fines to be cancelled following the release of a damning independent review into Australia’s response to the pandemic. The review is highly critical of the unequal impact of COVID policies on disadvantaged people, accusing governments and law enforcement of overreach by enforcing rules...

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20 Oct 2022

NSW not facilitating prison inspections by UN Committee

STATEMENT OF CONCERN Issued in partnership with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Community Legal Centres NSW, Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), Amnesty International Australia, First People's Disability Network Australia (FPDNA) and Change the Record Wednesday 19 October, 2022   We are concerned about reports that the NSW Government is refusing to allow the visiting United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or...

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1 Sep 2022

Government frozen on Ice Inquiry response for two and a half years

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE  Issued in partnership with the Law Society of NSW and the NSW Bar Association Thursday 1 September 2022   The NSW Government’s enduring neglect in failing to respond to the multi-million dollar Ice Inquiry is condemning drug users to ongoing legal and health impacts while the damage to communities continues. President of the Law Society of NSW Joanne van...

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11 Aug 2022

More than 63,000 community members, lawyers and advocates call on New South Wales to #RaiseTheAge

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE  Issued in partnership with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) Thursday 11 August, 2022   A petition calling for the age of legal responsibility to be raised to at least 14 will be delivered today to NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman, Labor representative Michael Daley MP, and Greens representative Sue Higginson MLC. The petition demands an end to the...

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21 Jul 2022

Coroner to deliver findings into death in custody of Douglas ‘Mootijah’ Shillingsworth

MEDIA ALERT When: 9:30 am, Friday 22 July 2022 Where: Lidcombe Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court Complex What: A smoking ceremony will take place at the court followed by delivery of coronial inquest findings by Deputy State Coroner, Joan Baptie. Roughly 30 minutes after court is adjourned, Ruby Dykes (Mootijah’s cousin and senior next of kin) will deliver a brief statement for media...

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