Jul 22, 2022
Senator Lidia Thorpe, the first
Aboriginal Australian to represent Victoria in the
federal Senate, spoke with Lawyers Weekly during the recent
Reconciliation Week about what broader Australia can learn from
Indigenous legal principles and how existing laws and legislative
processes can be alienating for First Nations people.
On this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy
speaks with Senator Thorpe, a DjabWurrung,
Gunnai, and Gunditjmara woman representing the Greens in the
Federal Parliament, about her personal and political interest in
the Indigenous experience in Australia’s legal system, what drives
her to advocate for change, and her perception of why there are
fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lawyers in Australia
relative to their numbers across the national population.
Senator Thorpe also details how she feels existing laws and
processes can be alienating for First Nations people and what
impact this can have, the importance of self-determination and
whether it can be attained in the near future, the benefits of
Indigenous legal principles and how they can be applied in modern
Australia, and how best lawyers of all stripes can use their
professional standing to push for and enact societal change.
If you like this episode, show your support by rating
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If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of
interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to
the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for
more insights!