News

By Warren Oakes, Catherine Ellis and Ben Friis-O’Toole

WHAT IS THE AURORA PROJECT?

What are you doing this summer?  Do you have a spare 5-6 weeks? An interest in Indigenous Australia? The Aurora Project is a chance to do something quite different. The Project assists  under-resourced Indigenous organisations, by providing them with volunteer legal, anthropology and some social science interns to assist with a range of work, from native title and policy, to general administration.

Three of us have just finished legal internships organised through Aurora, and have come back to uni with an enduring memory of a truly unique experience.

NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC), Sydney – Warren Oakes

The Aurora Project is not all about native title. At its heart is the goal to assist Indigenous communities, and its partner organisations include everything from the narrow focus of Native Title Representative Bodies to the more general, such as the Australian Human Rights Commission, making it perfect for those of all interests.

My motivation to join Aurora was not so much an interest in native title as wanting to use my legal skills to connect with Indigenous communities. At the time it seemed to me that, despite having done considerable work with local and foreign groups, any real understanding of our Indigenous people had evaded me.

So, when the call came to ask if I wanted to work under the Principal Solicitor at the NSWALC, I jumped at the opportunity.

The NSWALC is the governing body which assists local Aboriginal land councils (LALCs) with claiming and managing land falling under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. This legislation essentially allows LALCs to lay claim on unused or unoccupied Crown Land that is not needed for residential or essential public purposes. LALCs, which are made up of indigenous members and are spread across the state according to regions, are then able to use the land and associated profits to assist Indigenous and local communities. The NSWALC head office is situated in Parramatta.

Being an in-house legal intern for the State’s peak elected Aboriginal organisation was something fresh, and brought with it understandings that law school, and other career paths, cannot offer. Involvement in the legal arm of an organisation meant the work was both substantive and varied beyond anything I could have expected. I found myself combining facets of property, administrative, environmental and even legal profession law while working on everything from internal advice memos and writing factsheets to lodging applications at the land titles office. Moreover it wasn’t just legal matters that got a look into, with the Policy Unit and Commercial Unit regularly asking for assistance. This breadth of experience was invaluable in opening my eyes to the difficulties and troubles faced by LALCs.

Finally, while people may rave about the experiences of doing Aurora ‘on country’, completing a placement in the city certainly had its advantages. Being in the central office allows exposure to issues faced across a number of communities. It also eases the financial pressure for those taking time off work to volunteer for the placement and, as a penultimate year student, it reduced the stress when the time came round to apply for clerkships. NSWALC also has its own perks – aside from a great group of people, there were celebrations for NAIDOC week, presentations by guest artists and a stunning ferry trip down the Parramatta River that I’d highly recommend!

I would like to thank NSWALC and the Aurora team for giving me this opportunity, and I would highly recommend anyone interested to apply for the Aurora Project. The placement is a gateway to connecting with the Indigenous community and a fantastic way to apply those skills learnt in class to a real-world context.

Cape York Land Council (CYLC), Cairns, QLD – Catherine Ellis

This winter I spent nearly five weeks in Cairns, escaping the Sydney cold snap for the warmth and beauty of the tropics, and some really interesting work.

I was placed as an intern with the CYLC. The work was primarily related to the High Court litigation being run by the Land Council – the challenge to the declarations of the Lockhart, Stewart and Archer Rivers under the Wild River Act 2005 (Qld).

Two occasions particularly stand out from my time there – as I would never have had these experiences but through my placement. At the end of my first week, I stood in the Federal Court in Cairns while Justice Finn handed down a decision that recognised native title rights in the waters around the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait Island Regional Sea Claim has been running for nine years. The courtroom was packed and full of colour, with people crying, clapping and singing after his Honour left the bench.

My trip to Coen was quite different – in that it was less celebratory, and in a very different setting. A group of lawyers and the anthropologist were travelling up there for a meeting, and I was lucky enough to be given the spare seat on a tiny charter plane. We flew up and back to the middle of the Cape in the one day. The roads are sealed on either side of Coen, but not far beyond that. It was a big deal that they were sealed up to the airport – we were told how years ago it used to take two hours to drive the 20 km goat track.

Coen has two general stores, a hotel (the “Sexchange Hotel”), guest house, post office, police station, community centre and a Lutheran church. While we were there it was also hosting a handful of Australian soldiers (presumably training nearby) and some intrepid European tourists driving 4WDs up to the Tip (of the Cape).  Our meeting was catered by the Sexchange Hotel – not unlike meetings in Sydney, people are more likely to turn up if there’s food – and had a reasonable turn out. As excellent as the sandwiches were, there was no singing at this meeting. The strongest emotion expressed by Traditional Owners was frustration – with lawyers, with bureaucrats, with politicians.

The chance to travel with the lawyers from your host organisation is one of the hoped-for aspects of an Aurora internship. It’s certainly one of the attractions to working in native title more permanently – the need to go on country, and visit the communities who are involved in the claims. Many organisations realise the value of this experience to interns, and are generous, where possible, in making arrangements for them to join community visits taking place.

Living and working in Cairns was brilliant – it’s such a beautiful part of the world. I went snorkelling, visited rainforests, waterfalls, beaches – I saw sugarcane farms, endless Akubras, Queenslanders in white suits, XXXX signs everywhere. I didn’t see any crocodiles personally, although the rangers pulled one out of a canal not far from where I walked to work every day.  We also enjoyed the varied Cairns nightlife, from the table-dancing backpacker nightclubs to the classier cocktail bars by the water.

Talking to other interns who had been placed in different organisations and different cities, it’s clear that everybody’s experience has been completely different. Each of us has been involved in different work depending on the needs of the organisation at the time of placement.

The one thing that has come through clearly, however, is that no matter what we work we were doing, we have all learnt far more than we expected.

It was certainly a unique experience for me – it’s something I’m very grateful to have had the chance to do before graduating, as it has sparked a number of interests in areas of policy and legal practice that I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise. It’s definitely something I’d do again, if the chance arose.

I also encourage everyone to read more about the Wild Rivers legislation. The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee recently conducted an inquiry into the Wild Rivers (Environmental Management) Bill 2010 [No. 2] (Cth), which seeks to counter the effect of the declarations on Traditional Owners. The transcripts of hearings in Canberra and Cairns are a very good place to start.

The debate raises some fundamental questions of policy and process, particularly relating to the interaction between governments and Indigenous people, and will continue to be a significant issue for the Indigenous communities of Cape York.

My thanks to everyone at CYLC for their warm welcome, and including me in work I felt truly privileged to be part of, to the Aurora project for their support and to Gilbert+Tobin, who sponsored my placement.

Aurora & Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC), Geraldton WA - Ben Friis-O’Toole

Like Catherine, I also spent five weeks away from Sydney this winter. Whilst the beautiful Coral Coast in Western Australia’s Mid West was a great place to be based, it didn’t provide much of an escape from Sydney’s cold snap unfortunately!

My time at YMAC was an enjoyable and thoroughly worthwhile experience. The team of lawyers, anthropologists, community liaison officers and others made the interns very welcome, and provided a range of work and experiences over the internship. They also took care of the social side of things, with weekly trivia at the local pub always a good night!

In terms of native title work, the highlights of my time include interviewing local Indigenous people in relation to their connection to country, observing mediation run by the National Native Title Tribunal, and conducting legal research into various aspects of native title law. Getting out into the community and meeting some people, as part of the YMAC team during NAIDOC celebrations, was also a great experience.

Assisting at Working Group meetings and negotiations with mining companies, however, definitely stands out. It was fascinating to see how groups went about their business and the way in which they approached their negotiations, and I got a real insight into the difficulties associated with native title claims. I also saw firsthand the considerable skills and breadth of knowledge required of a native title claim lawyer. The opportunity to work towards achieving substantial outcomes for a claim group, whilst staying on country (about 500km northeast of Geraldon), was particularly rewarding, and a quick trip to the local pub was also an experience!

Outside the office, a couple of trips to the town of Kalbarri were great. The coastline is spectacular and an ideal place to watch the whales and dolphins, and trekking through the inland gorges at Nature’s Window in the Kalbarri National Park is amazing. A trip to the Abrolhos Islands, however, was undoubtedly the highlight. According to the Geraldton locals, the islands, atolls and coral reefs which make up the Abrolhos rival the Great Barrier Reef, and there’s definitely something to be said for that. They are a magnificent sight, and absolutely worth a visit. They also have a fascinating history, including the famous story of the wreck of the Batavia.

Whilst on a personal level the internship was a very interesting and valuable experience, it was also great to have been able to help out in an under-resourced NTRB, and put a bit of time and effort into Indigenous Australia. I was fortunate to have been funded by Allens Arthur Robinson, in connection with the firm’s pro bono work and Reconciliation Action Plan, but I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in native title and has the means, to undertake an Aurora Project internship in regional Australia.

In my view it is genuinely important work that organisations such as YMAC do, and it was a privilege to have had the opportunity to spend my winter holiday working at YMAC.

Applications for Aurora Project Summer 2010/2011 internships are now open

www.auroraproject.com.au