Media Releases
21/11/2017
Doctors, lawyers, experts unite in call to raise the age of criminal responsibility
Following Universal Children’s Day, doctors, lawyers, health and human rights experts from across Australia are calling for the age when children can be held criminally liable to be raised to at least 14 years so that primary school aged children are not entangled in the criminal justice system.
17/11/2017
NATSILS Media Release-Royal Commission (NT) Final Report
Today the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory (‘the Royal Commission’) handed down its final Report, containing recommendations to reform the youth justice and care and protection systems in the Northern Territory following significant individual and systemic failures. The Report details systemic failings of Northern Territory’s youth justice and care and protection systems ... Read More
25/10/2017
NATSILS calls for a new national approach for youth justice ahead of Royal Commission final report
The findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory will soon be handed down on 17 November and it’s time for Australia to act.
20/09/2017
The UN set to hear about the “tsunami” of high incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, highlights in her Country Report high incarceration rates, child removal, racism and abuse of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids in custody as some of the most troubling parts of her trip to Australia earlier this year. The Special Rapporteur will table her report before the ... Read More
04/07/2017
NATSILS calls for national action following reports from the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre
Following an article in the Canberra Times highlighting a litany of systemic human rights abuses against children over six years inside the Bimberi kid’s prison, NATSILS calls on the Prime Minister to act immediately to stop our kids being mistreated.
09/05/2017
Budget 2017-18 recognises the need to restore funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, but there is still a long way to go
NATSILS welcomes the Federal Government’s decision to overturn $16.7 million in cuts over the forward estimates to ATSILS; however, warns against Government action stopping there.
28/04/2017
End of Mission Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
End of Mission Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, on her visit to Australia, 3 April 2017.
24/04/2017
NATSILS welcome the Government’s decision to overturn planned cuts to the ATSILS
NATSILS congratulate the Government on their decision to overturn $16.7 million in cuts over the forward estimates to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) and $39 million in cuts to Community Legal Centres. The announcement was made by the Attorney-General Senator the Hon George Brandis QC and Senator Michaelia Cash earlier today.
07/02/2017
A Government Sanctioned Shake-Up to Youth Justice
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service expresses deep concern regarding Monday’s announcement by the Victorian Government to change the management of the Youth Justice System from the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Justice and Regulation.
16/11/2016
Australian Productivity Commission’s Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Key Indicators 2016 Report is a call for action
The Australian Productivity Commission’s Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Key Indicators 2016 Report adds crucial data to the building momentum for change in Australia’s dealings with its First Nations.Cheryl Axleby, Co-Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) said that it was deeply concerning that in the quarter of a century since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths ... Read More
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