ALRM Newsletter March/April 2016 Edition 44€¦ · ALRM Newsletter March/April 2016 Edition 44 . On the 19th of November 2015, the SA Government ... nr East terrace & Merghiny Drive,

ALRM Newsletter

March/April 2016 Edition 44

On the 19th of November

2015, the SA Government

announced it would estab-

lish an $11 million Stolen

Generations Reparation

Scheme.

The Government announced that the

Stolen Generations Reparation Scheme

would involve a fund of up to $6 million

for ex gratia payments for those mem-

bers of our state’s community removed

from their families, and whose usual

place of residence was South Australia

at the time of the separation.

Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation

Minister, Kyam Maher said, at the an-

nouncement, “Today we launch a repa-

rations scheme enabling us to compen-

sate South Australian members of the

Stolen Generations without the need

for litigation, and taking into account

the loss of documents, witnesses, and

memories over time”.

ALRM hopes that this scheme will allow

members of our Stolen Generations to

tell their stories, which the 1997 Bring-

ing Them Home report found was a

critical part of a healing process.

It is still early days, but it is understood

that individual reparation payments

will be recommended by an

‘independent assessor’.

ALRM understand that the assessor’s

primary role will be to determine

whether an applicant is eligible for an

ex gratia payment, and if so, assess

what level of harm has been caused.

Part of the whole process, will be this

assessor being able to hear the person-

al stories of Stolen Generations, and

yarn with family members and any

people connected with the removal.

It is believed that based on the asses-

sor’s recommendations, the Minister

will then decide the exact amount of

the payment.

INDIVIDUAL REPARATION

The Stolen Generations Reparation

Scheme would involve a fund of up to

$6 million for ex gratia payments for

those individuals of the SA community

removed from their families.

This scheme will allow for individual

payments of up to $50,000.

Unfortunately we do not yet know cri-

teria the Government will use to work

out who receives this money or work

out how much money each person will

receive.

The Stolen Generations Rep-

aration Scheme will begin

on 31st March 2016, and

the application process will

remain open for 12

months ONLY.

2

WHOLE OF COMMUNIT Y REPARATION

The Government has also indicated that a separate $5 mil-

lion fund will be established for whole-of-community repa-

rations, which will be finalised in consultation with our

Aboriginal leaders and community.

We believe the whole-of-community reparations might

include places of memorial, education scholarships, pro-

grams, counselling, support services, and exhibitions telling

the stories of the Stolen Generations.

Excerpt from The Apology, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd [13 February 2008].

ALRM can HELP with this application

If you’re not sure if you’re eligible?

If you've been waiting, like many, then it's now TIME to come back in to see

our mob.

You need to get a 'move on' to work out if you want to pursue other legal rem-

edies or apply to this Scheme.

We will ONLY have 12 months from 31 March 2016 to lodge applications.

Call ALRM (free call) 1800 643 222 or (08) 8113 3777 and

arrange to come in to yarn about all the options.

WHERE TO FIND OUR MOB:

ADELAIDE

Adelaide Office, 325 King William Street,

Adelaide.

1800 643 222 (free) or (08) 8113 3777.

CEDUNA

Cnr East terrace & Merghiny Drive, Ceduna

(08) 8113 3799 or (08) 8113 3790

MURRAY BRIDGE

27 Beatty Terrace,

Murray Bridge

(08) 8113 3766

PORT AUGUSTA

12 Church Street, Pt. Augusta.

(08) 8113 3788.

3

The South Australian Govern-

ment has a new initiative to al-

low the community to have a say

in what projects will be funded,

Fund My Community which com-

menced on the 11th of April and

will close on the 16th of May 2016.

The Aboriginal Financial Counselling Service (AFCS) has submitted a project Financial

Counselling Literacy, the project utilises the skills of one of our volunteer qualified Fi-

nancial Counsellors to develop and present financial literacy workshops to young Abo-

riginal mothers and families, which is adaptable to the clients needs and abilities, recog-

nising that they come from Culturally and Linguistic Diverse Communities (CALD).

The project has developed from a current pilot scheme through ALRM's partnerships

with the Northern Adelaide Senior College, Elizabeth Centrelink and Marni Waindi Abo-

riginal Community Ctr. AFCS need your help and wants our community to register and

login to vote (http://yoursay.sa.gov.au/fmc_rounds/fund-my-community/

fmc_ideas/216). We strongly encourage all Aboriginal people from across South Austral-

ia to register and log on to support this project and continue to raise the voice of Abo-

riginal people throughout the State.

There is limited time left so register and login, if you experience any issues and difficul-

ties then just check out our step-by-step instructions at the bottom on this page and

continued on the right. Alternatively, check out our Facebook page (https://

www.facebook.com/Aboriginal-Legal-Rights-Movement-ALRM-149474497030/?fref=ts)

for links and a more detailed set of instructions for registration.

Register and login to have your say on how to spend $1 million to decide which projects will get funding between 11 April and 16 May 2016

Keep an eye out for our Chief Executive

Officer Cheryl Axleby who has recently hit

the road and is travelling across South

Australia visiting regional and remote

communities.

The CEO Roadshow has been informing

our community about the Stolen Genera-

tions Reparations Scheme and on the

request from the ALRM Board has been

discussing the ICE epidemic.

So far, the Roadshow has visited Port Au-

gusta on the 1st of April which included a

BBQ feed cooked by our staff at the Port

Augusta ALRM Office.

Check out when the Roadshow is coming

to an area near you:

The Aboriginal Financial Counselling Service—Financial

Counselling Literacy Project on Fund My Community.

4

Step 1: Click on the link to the Financial

Counselling Literacy Project (http://

yoursay.sa.gov.au/fmc_rounds/fund-my

-community/fmc_ideas/216)

Step 2: Click on the Log In or Register

tabs (http://yoursay.sa.gov.au/)

**PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU CAN LOG IN

OR REGISTER USING A FACEBOOK OR

TWITTER ACCOUNT, IF YOU DO NOT

HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT THEN

REGISTER USING YOUR EMAIL AD-

DRESS**

Step 3: Click to register with an email

address or a social media account.

Step 4: Register your email address and fill in the required fields (http://yoursay.sa.gov.au/users/sign_up). Step 5: Once all required fields are com-plete, click ‘Complete registration’ button. Step 6: After clicking Complete registra-

tion’, you should receive a confirmation

email to the email address you regis-

tered with.

Step 7: Log in to your email account and

click on the ‘confirm my account’ link.

Step 8: Once you have clicked the

‘confirm my account’ button, you should

be redirected to the yourSAy home page.

Step 9: Scroll down to find the Fund My

Community tab and click on the button.

Step 10: Once you are on the Fund My

Community page, click ‘Browse Projects’

button.

Step 11: Once you are in the ‘Browse

Projects’ page, you can click on the pro-

jects you wish to add to your plan up to

$700,000 to $1 million.

Step 12: You may want to enter a key-

word search, such as ‘Aboriginal’, which

will give you a list of all proposed pro-

jects for Aboriginal people. Please click

on Financial Counselling Literacy.

Step 13: Once you’ve clicked on the Fi-

nancial Counselling Literacy project, click

on the ‘Add to my Plan’ button. This will

add this project to your plan.

Step 14: Once you’ve added Financial

Counselling Literacy project, you should

be redirected to the My Plan page.

Step 15: Once on the My Plan page, it

will tell you that your ‘Plan is incom-

plete’ – for your plan to be completed

you must meet three requirements:

1) Allocate between $700,000 and $1

million

2) Include at least one small, one me-

dium and one large project; and

3) Include projects from at least four

different categories (population

groups that will benefit)

Step 16: Click the ‘Browse Projects’

button to add more projects until you’ve

reached between $700,000 and $1 mil-

lion.

Step 17: Once you’ve added all your

projects and have satisfied the three

requirements:

1) Allocate between $700,000 and $1

million

2) Include at least one small, one me-

dium and one large project; and

3) Include projects from at least four

different categories (population

groups that will benefit)

The My Plan page should have a

‘Submit’ button displayed.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU MAY RE-

MOVE ANY PROJECT BEFORE SUBMIT-

TING, ONCE SUBMITTED THEN YOU

WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE ANY

CHANGES TO YOUR PLAN**

Step 18: Submit your plan by clicking

the ‘Submit’ button.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL NEED

TO SUBMIT YOUR PLAN BEFORE 5PM

MONDAY 16TH OF MAY 2016

FOR IT TO BE CONSIDERED** 5 5

After 8 long years, the Aboriginal Financial Counselling Service (formerly LISP—Low Income Support

Program), Tim Spurdens has said goodbye to ALRM.

As our Financial Counsellor, Tim has helped many Aboriginal community members with their financial

issues. Tim has contributed to providing quality financial counselling services during his time with

ALRM.

ALRM will miss Tim’s quality of work for the Aboriginal community and wish him all the very best in

the future. We are honoured to have had Tim as a part of our team and on behalf of our clients and

colleagues we say thanks for all your hard work.

The Money Man himself, Financial Counsellor Tim Spurdens on the right, in action.

6

A strong and proud Ngarrindjeri woman,

Melissa Clarke comes to the AVS State Coordi-

nator position with a wealth of valuable

knowledge and experience.

Melissa began her career within SAPOL for 14

years before venturing into Child Protection at

the Office of the Guardian of Children.

Dwayne Coulthard Melissa Clarke

My name is Dwayne Coulthard, I am a proud Adnya-

mathanha and Kokatha man currently studying in

my final year of a Bachelor of Laws degree at the

University of Adelaide. I have recently joined the

dedicated team at ALRM as the Community Legal

Education Officer in March.

This job offers a great opportunity to make an posi-

tive contribution within Aboriginal communities

across the state and to empower our communities

through knowledge. The work of Community Legal

Education is important in addressing the over-

representation of Aboriginal people within the

criminal justice system.

7

On the 15th of April 1991, the Final Report from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was handed down. Now 25 years later, we look at how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go.

We’re putting the call out to our com-

munity to volunteer as part of the Abo-

riginal Visitors Scheme (AVS).

The aim of the AVS is to provide all Abo-

riginal and Torres Strait Islander people

with after-hours comfort, care and sup-

port when arrested and detained in po-

lice custody. AVS Visitors also assist

SAPOL in their duty of care and help

bridge communication between each.

AVS Visitors are available across the

state.

The AVS was established as a result of

the Royal Commission into Aboriginal

Deaths in Custody recommendations

(1991). ‘In consultation with Aboriginal

Communities and their organisations,

cell visitor schemes (or schemes serving

similar purpose) should be introduced to

service Police watch houses.’

When visiting a detainee the AVS Role

is to:

Access and observe detainee’s com-

fort and needs—i.e. medical attention,

legal counselling, family support

Liaise with and access local communi-

ty agencies that can provide assistance

to the detainee—i.e. Housing, Finan-

cial Counselling

Bridge communication (relations with

police) whilst supporting SAPOL with

their duty of care responsibilities

Immediately report any issues of con-

cern, need for medical attention, wel-

fare or other services to the attention

of the Officer in Charge and follow up.

Visitors Desirables:

Experience working with people in

both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal

communities

Knowledge of community health ser-

vices

Confident in dealing with Police Offic-

ers and ensuring their duty of care

responsibilities

Strong ability in dealing with conflict

resolution.

Visitor Essential Requirements:

Confident, empathetic people person,

with great listening skills

Must be 18 years or older

Willing to work after hours

Respond to police call outs to attend

at local police holding cells

Current drivers license (own transport

required)

Mobile phone

Current Police clearance

Please note this is a volunteer position,

however remuneration applies.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people are encourage to apply.

The AVS is funded by the Department of

Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation.

Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Inc. is

the Managing Host for the Metropolitan,

Southern and Country regions of South

Australia, and is responsible for the day-

to-day operations of the scheme, offer-

ing Legal Services for all Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people.

Contact AVS State Coordinator Melissa

Clarke—[email protected] OR

Assistant Coordinator Salome Hapuku—

[email protected]

Contact (08) 8113 3777 for a yarn about

this opportunity or for further infor-

mation.

8

Are you passionate and looking to make a REAL difference in our community? Look no further, AVS NEEDS YOU

Tarpari Wellbeing Day in Port Pirie

9

We’re always looking for new stories, ideas and suggestions regarding our newsletter so

if you have any feedback please contact our Community Legal Education Officer Dwayne

Coulthard ([email protected] or 08 8113 3777).

If you have a story idea, upcoming events, job, scholarship and volunteer opportunities

you think the South Australian Aboriginal community should know about then give

Dwayne Coulthard a call on 8113 3777 or email—[email protected].

A solicitor from our Port Augusta office talking about

ALRM with Port Pirie community members

Our AVS Visitor in Port Pirie and artist,

Cedric Varcoe giving the ALRM a helping

hand at the event.

AVS State Coordinator Melissa Clarke and

solicitor from our Port Augusta office making

The Dusty Feet Mob performing at the

Tarpari Wellbeing Day

A group shot of some of the current participants in the ILSMP and support staff from all three SA

Universities alongside the Honourable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Chris Kourakis.

ALRM was proud to host the 2016 launch

of the Indigenous Law Students Mentor-

ing Program at our head office on the 7th

of April for the third consecutive year.

The Mentoring Program is currently in its

eleventh year and is designed to support

Aboriginal law students from across all

three tertiary institutions in South Aus-

tralia by providing mentorship from law-

yers within the legal profession.

The program enables Aboriginal law stu-

dents to thrive to build their confidence

and establish strong connections and

relationships with those within the legal

profession. The Mentoring Program has

been embraced by the Aboriginal law

students, the three law schools and the

legal profession, highlighted by the

attendees which included the Honoura-

ble Justice Anne Bampton who is the

current Chair of the Indigenous Law Stu-

dents Mentoring Program Management

Committee, the former Chair the Hon-

ourable Justice John Sulan, the Honoura-

ble Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Chris Kourakis and His Honour Chief

Judge of the District Court Geoffrey

Muecke, whose present at the Launch

reinforce the legal professions commit-

ment to increasing Aboriginal represen-

tation within the legal fraternity. The

Mentoring Program has gone from

strength to strength, ensuring that Abo-

riginal law students get the most out of

their study while also looking toward

their future career pathway.

The Indigenous Law Students Mentoring

Program currently has 17 Aboriginal law

students from the University of Adelaide,

Flinders University and UniSA who are

actively engaged with a mentor, along

with 16 potential students for this year

whom we anticipate with join their peers

in accessing this valuable program. Cur-

rently, the Mentoring Program will see

four Aboriginal law students graduate

this year who have all been involved in

the program.

We are proud to be involved and to host

the launch of the Indigenous Law Stu-

dents Mentoring Program for 2016. We

wish all the Aboriginal law students the

very best with their studies, congratula-

tions to those graduating and to those

nearing the end of their law degree. Our

future is looking bright as we continue to

build a strong pathway to success for

Aboriginal people within the legal profes-

sion.

10

Dealing with your legal matters can be very stressful for clients, but we’re com-

mitted to doing our best to serve the community, so here is a few hints and tips

to help:

Don’t be a stranger! Remember that ALRM is here for you but we cannot

help if you don’t come and see us, we’re just a phone call away and it’s free

within SA—call us on 1800 643 222.

Don’t skip Court! If you don’t go, then your lawyer won’t know! Make

sure you know what date and time you need to be a court, if there are any

issues then get in contact with your lawyer and explain to them the any

problem with you attending court as soon as possible.

Keep us in the Loop! Remember to let ALRM know when you move house.

We cannot help you to the best of our abilities without your current ad-

dress and contact information.

REMEMBER, if you are locked up and cannot get in touch with your law-

yer then ask to speak to an Aboriginal Field Officer or ask about the Abo-

riginal Visitors Scheme (AVS)

Let ALRM help you, just come by one of our offices or give us a call on our free

number 1800 643 222.

ALRM’s dedicated staff are here to help Aboriginal people but sometimes this can be difficult. Here is what you can do to help us help you...

11

Here’s are some important dates that are coming up:

Sunday 1 May 2016—Anniversary of the 1946 Pilbara Aboriginal Stockmen’s strike

Thursday 26 May 2016—National Sorry Day

Friday 27 May to 3 June 2016—National Reconciliation Week

Friday 27 May 2016—Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum

Saturday 28 May 2016—Anniversary of the Corroborree Bridge Walk

Sunday 29 May 2016—Anniversary of the Torres Strait Islander flag

Friday 3 June 2016—Mabo Day

Sunday 3 July to July 10 2016—NAIDOC Week.

Tuesday 12 July 2016—Anniversary of the Australian Aboriginal flag

Keep an eye out for more information closer to the date of the event on our Facebook

page (https://www.facebook.com/Aboriginal-Legal-Rights-Movement-ALRM-

149474497030/?fref=ts).

12

Find your way to Thomas

13

MINYA ONES PUZZLE PAGES

14

15

Adelaide

312-325 King William Street

Adelaide SA 5000

Ph: (08) 8113 3777

Free: 1800 643 222

Fax: (08) 8211 76 18

Em: [email protected]

Murray Bridge

27 Beatty Tce, Murray Bridge

5253

Ph: (08) 8113 3766

Fax: (08) 8531 1015

Port Augusta

12 Church St, Pt Augusta 5700

Ph: (08) 81133788

Fax: (08) 8642 4650

Ceduna

Cn. East Tce & Merghiny Dr,

Ceduna 5690

Ph: (08) 8113 3799

Fax: (08) 8625 3093

DO

Ask why you are being ar-

rested.

Give your name, address

and date of birth.

Ask Police for a phone, con-

tact ALRM & seek advice.

Apply for bail.

DON'T

Resist arrest.

Be abusive.

Sign, give a statement or an-

swer any questions.

Plead guilty, even if Police

tell you to.

REMEMBER

If you are arrested by Police,

then you are within your rights

to request a telephone call BE-

FORE a Police interview takes

place.

You can call a ALRM Field

Officer 24 hours a day, 7

days a week on our FREE

number: 1800 643 222