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The Indigenous Cultural Competency for Legal Academics Program (ICCLAP) aims to increase the inclusion of Indigenous cultural competency in legal education. This will improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student outcomes in law as well as developing Indigenous cultural competency in all students. This will lead to better legal service delivery for Indigenous communities in the long term.
ICCLAP is a cross institutional project involving five universities including the University of New England, University of Technology (Sydney), RMIT University, Australian National University, and Queensland University of Technology. The project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
Project Leader, Marcelle Burns, has been invited to speak at the Association of Continuing Legal Education conference in Vancouver in August 2017 (via Skype). Marcelle will talk about ICCLAP and initiatives in Australia to incorporate Indigenous cultural competency in legal education. This will be a great opportunity to share information and learn about the Canadian experience in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) ‘Calls to Action’ on Indigenous cultural competency for lawyers and law students.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was created as an independent commission in 2008 as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. This was the Canadian Government’s response to a class action by more than 86,000 Indian Residential School survivors across Canada whose experiences are similar to those of the Stolen Generations in Australia.
In 2015 the TRC issued 94 ‘Calls to Action’ which were intended to ‘redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation’. With respect to the administration of justice for survivors of Indian Residential Schools, the TRC found that there were very few criminal prosecutions against abusers of IRS residents, and significant barriers to civil litigation claims by survivors.
In particular the TRC found that the criminal prosecution of abusers in residential schools and the subsequent civil lawsuits were a difficult experience for Survivors, stating that:
"The courtroom experience was made worse by the fact that many lawyers did not have adequate cultural, historical, or psychological knowledge to deal with the painful memories that the Survivors were forced to reveal. The lack of sensitivity that lawyers often demonstrated in dealing with residential school survivors resulted, in some cases, in the survivors not receiving appropriate legal service. These experiences prove the need for lawyers to develop a greater understanding of Aboriginal history and culture as well as the multi-faceted legacy of residential schools." |
Based on these findings the TRC initiated ‘Calls to Action’ to improve the administration of justice for survivors of Indian Residential Schools. These include:
Many Canadian law schools and law societies have publicly embraced these two Calls to Action and are now working on implementing these initiatives. The Canadian example sets a strong precedent for the adoption of cultural competency in legal education in settler colonial states.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Department for Education and Training. The views in this project do not necessary reflect the views of the Australian Government Department for Education and Training.
CONTACT
Marcelle Burns
School of Law, University of New England
Phone: 02 6773 2686
Email: mburns7@une.edu.au or info@icclap.edu.au