Family Court judges visit remote Indigenous communities in Central Australia

More than 80 judges have travelled to the Central Australian desert to spend three days listening and learning from remote Aboriginal communities.

Traditionally, the Federal Circuit and Family Court’s annual conference has been held in major cities.

But this year it has been moved it to the outback to give judges a chance to hear of the challenges faced by regional families.

The group has spent time in Alice Springs and the Aboriginal communities of Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) and Ntaria (Hermannsburg).

Central Arrernte elder Aunty Nora Hayes Wheeler hoped the visit would break down barriers between the courts and her community, which has had a complicated relationship with the justice system.

“Normally, just people saying ‘judges’ would scare people,” she said.

Listening and learning

The Federal Circuit and Family Court – which is a civil court – hears family law and child support cases, as well as others, including migration matters.

Chief Justice Will Alstergren said many of his judges had never left the east coast and that the trip to outback Australia had already been deeply impactful.

“To see some of the poorest people in Australia and most disadvantaged, reminds us … that we have a duty to all Australians to serve and to support them properly,” he said.

The Chief Justice said the court had been working to break down barriers and employed more than 10 Indigenous family liaison officers to help First Nations people engage with the system.

But he said conversations with community members had revealed a huge need to make the court even more accessible.

“I think [the trip has highlighted] access to justice, generally — education, making sure we’re telling people what we expect of them and how we can help them,” Chief Justice Alstergren said.

“Also how we can be more relevant to them … if it’s a language problem, cultural problems … so we can adapt our expectations.

‘Wary of the courts’

Only a small number of Indigenous families have engaged with the family court throughout the years.

Judge Matthew Myers – who was the first Indigenous Australian to be appointed to a Federal Court – said that was because many Indigenous people were not aware of the court’s role in communities.

He clarified the court allowed families to apply to care for children if their parents could not, which could keep kids on country and within kinship networks and eliminate the need for involvement from police of child protection authorities.

But Judge Myers said many Indigenous people had a complicated relationship with the justice system, which could dissuade them from engaging with the family court.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been wary of the courts, have been scared to go near a court, because any time they’ve historically gone near a court they’ve been incarcerated or there’s been things like deaths in custody,” he said.