Judges travel to Kimberley for Notre Dame cultural program aimed at ‘understanding challenges faced’

High-profile State and Federal judges travelled to the Kimberley recently to take part in a cultural program designed to improve understanding of challenges faced by Aboriginal people in the region.

Hosted by University of Notre Dame, the program was joined by 26 judges — four from the Federal Court of Australia, three from WA’s Supreme Court and 19 from the District Court — and took place over three days in Broome and Derby.

The participants participated in panel discussions with members of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council and community legal services, a walking tour hosted by local Nyikina man Edwin Lee Mulligan of significant cultural and historical sites in Derby, a dinner with elders from the Pandanus Park Community and a meeting with Aboriginal Interpreters WA.

District Court of Western Australia chief judge Julie Wager said the program has been very useful in exposing judges to the issues faced by Aboriginal people in the Kimberley.

“We have too many Aboriginal people in the court system, be they victims, witnesses, litigants or offenders and we need to make sure that the court is a culturally secure place,” she said.

“Victims need to feel safe and not feel threatened when they come to court and this program really helped us to be aware of the issues they may face.”

Program organiser and translational research fellow at UNDA’s Nulungu Research Institute Gillian Kennedy said the program is an opportunity for “true reconciliation and healing”.

“It’s important that Aboriginal people have these opportunities to sit down on country and be able to speak openly and frankly to members of the judiciary about how the justice system interacts with their daily lives,” Ms Kennedy said.

“It is also a chance for the judges to ask questions and talk about ways to overcome some of the challenges they’ve experience when dealing with Aboriginal people in their own courtrooms, such as ensuring that people with limited English understand the process they are involved in.”

According to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Hall, the communication difficulties was something that needed to be address in the courts.

“We want the courts to be places where they feel they are understood . . . to feel that the court room is not a hostile place, but somewhere they can be listened to and can get a fair hearing.”

“This is an area where they needs to be constant improvement.”

This is the third immersion program to be hosted by Notre Dame, the first being held in 2016 in Fremantle and Pinjarra and the second, held in 2019 in Bidyadanga community.

The program has received funding from the WA Crime Statistics and Research to be used to evaluate the impacts of cross-cultural programs on judicial and court practices and policies.