SEAAJSL / VALS Annual General Meeting Communique
On Friday the 20th of December 2019 the South Eastern Australian Aboriginal Justice Services Limited (trading as the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service) held their Annual General Meeting. Below is a communique of the outcomes of the meeting. SEAAJSL | VALS Annual General Meeting Communique
Notice of VALS Annual General Meeting
The Board of Directors of South East Australian Aboriginal Justice Service Limited (SEAAJSL), trading as the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, invites its members to attend the 2019 Annual General Meeting. Date: Friday 20th of December, 2019 Time: 10.30am -12.00pm Location: Aunty Bunta Community Room, 273 High Street Preston, VIC, 3072/ Nominations for vacant Board of […]
Media Release – VALS Submission to CCYP Inquiry – Our Youth, Our Way
VALS welcomes to the opportunity to provide feedback to the Inquiry of the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP), Our Youth Our Way, into over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the youth justice system. Despite numerous inquiries and reviews of the youth justice system in recent years, repeated […]
Media Release – Police pursuit policy must be limited to avoid more deaths
Two years after the tragic death of Raymond Noel Lindsay Thomas during a police pursuit on 25 June 2017, a Direction Hearing yesterday before Coroner John Olle raised questions about inconsistencies in the evidence, including when police officers commenced the pursuit, and the speed their vehicle was travelling at. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) […]
Media Release – Inquest to probe police pursuit death
Raymond Noel Lindsay Thomas, a 29-year-old Gunnai, Gunditjmara, and Wiradjuri man, tragically passed away on 25 June 2017, after sustaining injuries during a police pursuit near his home. More than two years after his death, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (‘VALS’) is representing Raymond’s family at a coronial hearing on 17 October 2019. Full statement […]
Media Release – VALS Submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission on Committal Proceedings.
VALS believes that committal proceedings are an essential component of the criminal process, because of their critical function in ensuring the right to a fair trial. Cross-examination of witnesses at this early stage in the proceedings provides a vital opportunity to facilitate disclosure and test the prosecution’s case. In light of entrenched systemic racism in […]
Media Release – VALS and Robinson Gill Lawyers Joint Media Release: “Significant Supreme Court Win for Victim of Police Brutality”
This is a joint-statement signed by Nerita Waight, Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) and Jeremy King, Principal Lawyer on behalf of Robinson Gill Lawyers, in response to this morning’s Supreme Court Judgment of Her Honour Justice Richards. Today, Her Honour found that in April 2015 Eathan Cruse was assaulted and […]
Media Release – ”Tireless advocacy by the Day family leads to decriminalisation of public drunkeness.”
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) welcomes the announcement of the Attorney-General to decriminalise public drunkenness and replace it with a health-based response. A full media statement can be located below.Media Release Media contact:Patrick Warner ([email protected]) and Isabel Robinson ([email protected])
Lack Of Funding Forces Aboriginal Children’s Legal Service To Close
A culturally appropriate legal service specifically established to give Aboriginal children in Victoria a voice in their legal proceedings will be forced to close its doors on Friday 28 September 2018 after no ongoing funding has come forward from State or Commonwealth governments. VALS understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children move in and […]
MEDIA RELEASE : Royal Commission on Family Violence
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service call on Daniel Andrews’ Government to reaffirm its commitment to implementing all of the Family Violence Royal Commission recommendations, particularly as it relates to recommendation 146. Media Release