Celebrating 50 years

The 1950s – early 1970s was a pivotal time in the advancement of civil rights in Australia and elsewhere in the world. Throughout this period Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander leaders activated their communities and agitated for changes to laws, government policies and discriminatory attitudes that had oppressed their communities since the beginning of colonisation.

The following key political events, legislative changes & community organisations were crucial to advancing justice for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people during this time.

• 1965-1971 – Repeal of ‘Protectionist’ legislation in Queensland
• 1965 – Right to Vote in Queensland
• 1967 – 1967 Referendum
• 1968 – Brisbane Tribal Council
• 1971 – The first Aboriginal Legal Service established in Redfern
• 1972 – The forced control over wages and savings of Aboriginal people living on reserves in Queensland ceased
• 1972 – Aboriginal Tent Embassy

ATSILS (QLD) was born out of a community response to the injustice that Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people were experiencing from the police, in the courts and throughout broader society.

The late 1960s to the early 1970s was a time that saw Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities organise key movements and establish vital community-based organisations to progress the human and legal rights of their people. These early grass roots organisations laid the foundation for the establishment of Aboriginal legal services and Aboriginal health services all around the country.

In Brisbane, one such organisation was the Brisbane Tribal Council (established in 1968). ‘Brisbane Blacks’ were the driving force behind this organisation, and they worked  tirelessly to liberate their communities from oppressive policies and discriminatory attitudes. It was through their unwavering pursuit of justice that the seeds for the foundation of ATSILS were planted in 1972.

December 1972: ATSILS opens its first office in George St, Brisbane.

Brisbane Tribal Council and volunteer members of the legal profession laid the foundation for the establishment of ATSILS (QLD) in late 1972.

In February 1972, Brisbane Tribal Council along with members of the legal profession formed an interim legal committee to compile a submission for federal funding to establish a legal service.

In November 1972 a federal grant of $25,000 was received for ATSILS (QLD) to deliver legal services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the state.

December 1972, ATSILS officially opens the doors of its first office in George St, Brisbane.

The success of ATSILS in the early stages led to the organisation being incorporated as a company in 1974.

ATSILS became the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Corporation (QEA) for Legal Services.

The success of the Brisbane based (QEA) service model soon paved the way for other independent community-controlled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services to be established in various regions of the state.

As other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services were formed, the service delivery area of QEA became confined to the south-eastern corner of Queensland.

1975 to 1993 was an important period of advocacy and law reform in Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities increasingly demonstrated against the oppressive treatment of their people and key protests brought global attention to their plight.

Grass roots organisations advocated for reforms to laws that discriminated against and disadvantaged their communities.

Governments introduced long overdue legislation that progressed the legal and human rights of our people, and the justice system honoured the truth by dispelling the myth of ‘terra nullius’ in 1992.

During 1996 and 1997 a review of the service was undertaken – giving birth to the “Stretton Report”. This Report recommended various changes to the monitoring of administration and financial responsibilities of the organisation, and the provision of key services to clients.

The recommendations were embraced by the QEA Board of the time and implemented by the executive team.

This implementation enhanced the governance structure of QEA, strengthened the organisation’s service delivery capability relative to community needs, and paved the way for the future expansion of the service.

The following key events were crucial to advancing justice for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people during this time.

• 1997 – Bringing Them Home Report
• 1998 – Sorry Day
• 2005 – The National Sorry Day Committee renamed Sorry Day as a National Day of Healing society to achieve reconciliation.
• 2006 – Murri Courts in Queensland established
• 2007 – UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• 2008 – The National Apology to the Stolen Generations
• 2008 – Closing the Gap
• 2009 – Australian Government pledged its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• 2010 – Queensland Constitutional Recognition 
• 2016 – Stolen Wages Class Action
• 2017 – Uluru Statement from the Heart
• 2019 – Queensland’s Human Rights Act 2019

The late 1990s saw the QEA expand its service delivery footprint and establish offices in Beenleigh and Maroochydore.

The Court Support Officer (CSO) role was also introduced into the QEA service delivery model in the late 1990s.

The CSO role was critical to the improved service delivery to clients. CSOs are identified positions and are usually local people with strong ties to the communities in which they live and work. The CSOs facilitates more effective communication between clients and lawyers and are key to enhancing access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the state. CSOs remain the front-line of our connection to community & country.

The late 1990s – late 2000s was a period of  great expansion of the service. From 3 QEA offices in 1999, the service grew to 17 offices across the state by 2008 when it began operating as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd. In recent years ATSILS has continued to expand and as of December 2022, we have 25 offices across Queensland.

ATSILS growth and development would not have been possible without the support of our communities – as well as the dedicated services of countless board and staff members throughout the decades. We are also indebted to the earlier pioneering work of various sister organisations which we have since been able to build upon including:

• Wakka Wakka at Murgon;
• Bidjara at Charleville;
• “QEC” at Rockhampton;
• “SEQ” at Toowoomba;
• Tharpuntoo and Njiku Jowan at Cairns;
• West QLD at Mount Isa; and
• The district services at Ipswich, Mackay and Townsville.

Responding further to the need of ensuring a professional and accountable service, a new organisation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD South) Ltd) was incorporated under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 2005 further enhancing the governance structure and prudence of the organisation.

This coincided with a tendering process by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, which saw the new organisation take on the service delivery for the entirety of Southern Queensland and expand its footprint to 17 offices across the region.

2005 also saw the formal introduction of family and civil law services – addressing a huge area of previously unmet legal need in communities.

After another successful tendering process in 2008, the organisation was re-named the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd and assumed responsibility for service delivery to all of mainland Queensland (with the exception of the Northern Peninsular Area and the Torres Strait Islands).

From the 1st of October 2011 the Organisation became completely state-wide, as it assumed the service delivery role in the Torres Strait Islands and Northern Peninsular Area.

The aim of the Throughcare Program delivered by ATSILS across Queensland is to support prisoners and youth detainees (pre and post release) to address their offending behaviour. This includes supporting clients to transition successfully back into the community and support the changes needed in their lives that can greatly reduce the prospects of them returning to prison.

Ultimately the goal of the Throughcare program is to help our clients turn their lives around and in so doing, create safer communities. The Throughcare Program has continued to grow and has recently expanded to include several new positions in targeted locations across the state dedicated to family and domestic violence prevention, mental health and diverting high risk youth away from the justice system.

Throughcare Officers focus on assisting several targeted clients (who are considered to be a high risk of re-offending) through intensive case-management. Our officers work closely with their clients and where available, collaborate with Correctional Facility or Youth Detention Centre staff, other stakeholders, clients’ families and community members.

For those starting the Program: during their period in custody we will talk with them about their future plans. They may also be referred to other agencies – as assisting clients often requires a ‘team effort’ from a tailored network of partners identified as critical to their specific case. We will seek the client’s specific views as to what they think will most likely assist them in terms of addressing their offending behaviour and making a successful transition back into the community.

Post-release from prison or youth detention, our Throughcare Officers will continue to provide assistance to clients to keep them on track with their transition back into community. This might include introductions and/or referrals to other agencies, assistance with employment and/or housing applications depending on the case management plan relevant to the client.

After a 50-year long commitment to funding ATSILS though the Indigenous Legal Assistance Program (ILAP),  the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department decided that from July 1 – 2020 the ILAP model would be abolished and that ATSILS funding would be mainstreamed into a single national mechanism managed through State Governments.

After 10 successful years of delivering legal services to the region, ATSILS made the difficult decision in 2021 not to tender for ongoing service delivery to the Torres Strait Islands and Northern Peninsula Area regions due to operational and contractual challenges. Service delivery was transition to an alternative provider in July 2021.

In August 2022, the Queensland Government, First Nations people, and non-Indigenous Queenslanders participated in the signing of the Queensland’s Path to Treaty Commitment. The Commitment signifies a collective pledge to be courageous and curious, to be open to hearing the truth of our state’s history, and to collaborate in readiness for negotiating treaties.

The next steps, outlined in the Queensland Government Response to the recommendations of the Treaty Advancement Committee report (PDF), include legislating an independent First Nations Treaty Institute and Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry. Local and regional truth-telling and research will take place over the next 12 to 18 months to provide a firm foundation for a path for government, First Nations and the broader community to prepare for treaty-making.

For more information on Path to Treaty click here.