An inaugural First Nations Forum is being hosted by the Federal Court and Family Court of Australia in Brisbane today at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The forum, from 9am to 5pm, will bring together more than 80 key stakeholders from First Nations legal, community and support services as well as judges, registrars, court child experts and Indigenous family liaison officers.
FCFCOA will also launch a short film featuring Indigenous Family Liaison Officers, explaining their role and how they help families and work with community.
The forum is an opportunity for judges and court representatives to connect with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sector and community leaders to discuss current approaches to working with First Nations families in the context of relationship breakdown.
The Chief Justice of the FCFCOA, the Honourable Will Alstergren AO, said the First Nations Forum was about “the courts listening and engaging in a meaningful way to discuss how to build trust and improve access to justice for our First Nations people”.
“Today marks an opportunity to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to listening and learning from community, considering ways for the courts to be innovative and responsive, and to delivering tangible action that will better meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parties and children,” Chief Justice Alstergren said.
“Today, we have also launched a film that explains the role of our incredible Indigenous Family Liaison Officers. It is a much-needed resource and I encourage everyone to watch it and to share it.”
Guest speaker Thelma Schwartz, Principal Legal Officer at Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service (QIFVLS), and one of the 15 members of the First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence, welcomed the forum and the opportunity to participate.
“On behalf of QIFVLS, I am very pleased and honoured to participate in the courts’ First Nations Forum,” Thelma said.
“Organisations, such as QIFVLS and the FVPLS (a family violence prevention legal service) play an important function in delivering vital services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples impacted by domestic, family and sexual violence across Australia, especially in regional and remote areas.
“We also demonstrate important ways of working with, for and by our communities in providing holistic intersectional service responses not only in state courts but as well as our work supporting our clients accessing the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA).
“This is an important first step in discussing, creating, and shaping service system responses that are responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples accessing services in the FCFCOA.”
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