The Justice and Equity Centre’s First Nations legal trainee program funds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law graduates to train in civil and criminal law

The Justice and Equity Centre (JEC, formerly the Public Interest Advocacy Centre) funds a unique program allowing two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law graduates to train over two years through its ongoing Shopfront Youth Legal Centre program in civil and criminal law, cultivating the next generation of social justice lawyers. Five Aboriginal graduates have participated since 2021.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are underrepresented in the legal profession but, sadly, over-represented in legal systems. The JEC Aboriginal Social Justice Graduate Program provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law graduates with the qualifications, skills, confidence and relationships that are the foundation for a successful social justice legal career.

JEC has employed Stephanie Everson, a member of the Amaroo mob from Forbes, and Oliver Williams, a descendant of the Wiradjuri Kooris, both Aboriginal social justice graduates.

Oliver and Stephanie completed a year at the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre before commencing the second year of their two-year program at the JEC. At the Shopfront, they provided paralegal support to lawyers representing vulnerable young people in the criminal legal system. They gained experience taking evidence from clients, drafting submissions for court, corresponding with police and prosecutors and appearing in smaller procedural hearings.

The JEC program also funded their Graduate Diplomas of Legal Practice, their admission fees and the hours at the Shopfront counted toward their practical legal training requirements. By the end of their first year, they both became qualified solicitors in NSW. Throughout their time at the Shopfront, the JEC provided supervision and support to the graduates, including paying them a living stipend enabling them to better balance their work and study.

Both Oliver and Stephanie are working as solicitors with the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). They have used their program experience to secure positions that are likely to impact positively on the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involved with the criminal legal system.

With Oliver’s permission, we would like to share some of the words he wrote as he finished up with the JEC’s Social Justice Graduate Program:

“The program was strongly experiential and career building. These opportunities are things that my Aboriginal Grandfather would have only dreamt of having access to,” Oliver said.

“The program nurtures participants into the legal profession. Both the profession and the Aboriginal Community are then gifted with a newly minted First Nations lawyer. My family is proud, and I am so thankful for the privilege of meeting so many people, sharing my story and hearing others,” he said.

During the last round of recruitment, the JEC had more well-qualified candidates than ever before and there are increasing numbers of interested and well-qualified First Nations law students keen to participate in the Program.

For more information or to donate to support the JEC’s First Nations legal programs, contact Stephenie Cahalan via scahalan@jec.org.au.

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