Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT)

In 1970, Aboriginal activists and lawyers, including Paul Coe established the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney.[1] From its outset, it was staffed by volunteers who provided free legal advice and representation to the Aboriginal people of inner Sydney in response to rising incidences of harassment and indiscriminate arrests of Aboriginal people, abuse and intimidation.[2][3] J. H. Wooten, then a Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and later a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, assisted in establishing the service and writing grant applications for funding.[4]

In 1971, the service received government funding to provide a full-time solicitor, a field officer and a secretary, and the service was able to open a shop-front in Redfern. The Aboriginal Legal Service was formed into an unincorporated association. The involvement of Aboriginal people in both management and service delivery was critical to its acceptance among the community. The service elected to its board and employed as field officers leaders from diverse Aboriginal communities to ensure that the delivery of Aboriginal legal services was culturally appropriate.[5]

In 1991, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody report recommended that Aboriginal Legal Services engage in research in law reform as well as the provision of legal services.

In 2006, the six Aboriginal Legal Services located in NSW and ACT were amalgamated in response to the funding crisis initiated by the Howard government which had abolished the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 2003 and instead introduced a tender process for the provision of legal aid to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

M. Chapman, “Aboriginal Legal Service: A Black Perspective,” in D. Neal (ed.), On Tap, Not on Top: Legal Centres in Australia 1972–1982 (Legal Service Bulletin, Melbourne, 1984)