22 December 2022 From everyone here at the ALS, we're wishing our clients, community and supporters a happy and safe holiday season. Our staff will be taking a short break over Christmas and New Year to rest and recharge. All ALS offices will be closed from 5pm Friday 23 December 2022. Our phone lines will be back open from 9am Tuesday 3 January...

The ALS 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner was held on 11 November 2022 at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth on Gadigal and Eora land. It was an honour to celebrate our legacy of resistance, resilience and solidarity with our founders and Elders, community, the legal fraternity, staff and supporters. Thank you to all who joined us for this great event, and a special thank...

1 December 2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children belong with their families and communities. They have the right to grow up safe and strong in their culture, with connections to Country. But right now, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice removes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their homes and families at 12 times the rate of their non-Indigenous...

23 May 2022 The NSW Government is currently calling for sector and community responses to its Family Is Culture legislative review discussion paper. Peak Aboriginal organisations AbSec and the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) have jointly published an  alternative briefing paper, outlining our serious concerns with the Government’s framing of the issues and sidelining of community-led reforms. We urge you to consider our...

8 April 2022 Douglas 'Mootijah' Shillingsworth died in custody following an ear infection – otitis media, a common health issue in Aboriginal communities. He was 44 years old, a proud Budjiti and Murrawarri man. A coronial inquest heard evidence about Mootijah’s untimely death in early April 2022. The Coroner will deliver findings at a later date. Mootijah leaves behind a large and...

14 February 2022 We are pleased to confirm the new ALS Board of Directors, following community elections in 2021 and an Annual General Meeting in January 2022 (which had been delayed due to COVID). The following people have been voted onto our Board for the period 2021-2024: Jason Allan (Northern Region) Avery Brown (Northern Region) Helen Brown (Northern Region) Robert Carroll (Western...

8 November 2021 On the second anniversary since the landmark Family Is Culture report, we have joined with Aboriginal child & family peak AbSec and children's rights advocate Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts to demand action. Family Is Culture revealed widespread deficiencies in the NSW child protection system. It uncovered an out-of-home care system that lacks accountability and maintains a resonance with historical practices of child removal used against...

This page was last updated 13 December 2021   The ALS is in the process of electing Company Members and Directors for the period 2021-2024.  Following community meetings in the Northern, Western and Central South Eastern Regions, ALS Company Members have been appointed. Directors will be confirmed shortly. Click on the links below to skip to information relevant to your region: Central...

21 September 2021 Dr Gary Foley is a founder of the Aboriginal Legal Service. To mark our 50th anniversary, we asked him to share his recollections of the racial justice movement in the 1970s and how the ALS began. Below is the conclusion of his essay, White Police and Black Power: The Origins of the Aboriginal Legal Service.  ⫸Missed parts 1-5? Start...