Encouraging law students to work with regional and Aboriginal communities

THE NEED TO THINK OUTSIDE CITY COMMERCIAL PRACTICE: ENCOURAGING LAW STUDENTS TO WORK WITH REGIONAL AND ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

DR DAVID PLATER, CHLOE WINTER, CHARLOTTE ORDYNSKI AND CAYLEIGH STOCK1

The legal profession in both private and public practice, despite reports of an oversupply of law graduates, has difficulty in recruiting and retaining lawyers and legal professionals in rural, regional and remote (RRR) areas,2 including in South Australia.3 Many RRR law firms and community legal agencies (including those working with Aboriginal communities) continuously struggle to find suitable lawyers to fill vacancies when they arise and are impeded by the drain of corporate knowledge caused by a constant staff turnover.4 Law students generally consider RRR legal work to be somehow ‘inferior’ to city commercial practice.5 Students are typically unaware of the nature, diversity and quality of rural and regional practice. Students are also often unaware about the value of working with Aboriginal communities.

On 15-16 July, 2021, as part of an Adelaide Law School initiative to address these issues, eight diverse Law School students; Chloe Winter, Mitchell Dunn, Arissa Robles-Rangel, Christina Akele, Charlotte Ordynski, Izak Coombe, Jack Woolford and Cayleigh Stock, joined a trip to Port Pirie and Port Augusta led by Dr Mark Giancaspro,6 Nadia Hess7 and Dr David Plater.8 The aim of the trip was for students to hear firsthand about working with regional and Aboriginal communities and to encourage students to think beyond city commercial practice and consider working with RRR and/or Aboriginal communities.9

This trip proved eye opening. As one student, Charlotte, summarised:

The trip provided more than the opportunity to network with our peers and legal professionals, but the ability to see a future of legal practice beyond the typical corporate pathway, and see the ability to make a difference and be a meaningful part of a community.

THE PROBLEMS

There are regular reports of the oversupply of law graduates in Australia and the difficulty in finding employment.10 There are even reports of law graduates ‘so desperate to kickstart their careers they’re willing to pay big bucks to land their first job’.11 The former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, advised: ‘I think too many kids do law.’12 One law student even said: ‘It is near impossible just to get an unpaid clerkship.’13

However, such negative perceptions do not convey the whole picture.14 As early as 2009, a Senate Report noted the lack of lawyers willing to work in RRR areas as a ‘fundamental problem’.15 Both community legal services, as well as RRR private practices, struggle to attract and retain staff.16 There is an acute shortage of lawyers in regional and rural Australia,17 including those working with Aboriginal communities.18 Aboriginal legal services also face challenges regarding their

ability to attract and retain staff.19 These trends are likely to only intensify over coming years as a large proportion of the senior legal practitioners in RRR areas have indicated an intention to retire,20 compounded by many junior lawyers who have indicated an intention to make RRR practice a short-term career option only.21

Addressing issues around the attraction and retention of lawyers in RRR areas is important for two reasons: first, having legal practitioners living and working within RRR communities is essential to sustainable, healthy communities.22 ‘Once a community loses its doctor, lawyer, accountant, it becomes difficult to sustain a vibrant, healthy community.’23 Secondly, lawyers living in these communities play a vital role to facilitate access to justice for the local community. In addition, lawyers are important to RRR areas as they carry out a large amount of legal aid work, more than their city counterparts. They also undertake significant pro bono and voluntary work within their communities.24

The shortage of lawyers outside of the city is adverse in terms of access to justice for a significant proportion of Australia’s population,25 especially Aboriginal communities.26 There are concerns regarding the considerable levels of unmet legal need – civil, criminal and family – in RRR communities.27 Legal practitioners in these areas undertake a considerable amount of vital legal aid, pro bono work and voluntary community work, and a decrease in the availability of these services is likely to restrict access to justice in these areas even further.28 These issues are compounded for Aboriginal communities which are more likely to experience multiple, intersecting legal problems, including elevated legal need in areas of, among others, crime, civil, government, child protection, tenancy, discrimination, social security, credit and consumer issues, and family law and family violence.29 These ‘acute’ access to justice issues for Aboriginal communities are ‘heightened in RRR areas where service gaps are particularly severe’.30 The access to justice gaps in RRR communities are also telling for victims of family violence.31 ‘It has been acknowledged that better access to legal services and remedies can play an important role in alleviating economic and social disadvantage.’32

These concerns also arise in South Australia. Morry Bailes, a leading local lawyer, has observed:

There is a legal black hole in regional and rural South Australia. It’s a problem facing the entire country. About 30% of people live outside a major Australian city… Yet only 10.5% of the legal profession work in these regions. Little wonder we have a crisis in our justice system for rural and regional residents. These statistics… paint a truly disturbing picture of the difficulty regional people have in accessing lawyers or even recognising that they have a legal problem.33

The typical Law School course does not actively prepare or promote law students to work with RRR34 or Aboriginal communities. There is often a perception amongst law students that RRR legal work is ‘inferior’ to city commercial practice.35 Such perceptions of the quality and breadth of RRR legal work are unjustified,36 but are widely held. As one Brisbane law student in a study remarked: ‘There’s kind of a top tier or nothing approach which is incredibly frustrating …’.37 Another law student referred to students’ ‘fixation on the big glass building in the city …’ and their own belief that ‘the city sets the pace of legal life.’38 As a young lawyer has observed, city practice is typically the ‘most commonly marketed avenue presented to [students] at university and any other options have an unnecessary and unspoken stigma attached ... there is a common misconception that anything other than a corporate role in a top tier city firm is not considered real legal work.’39 These comments are also applicable in a South Australian context.

Indeed, law students are largely unaware that working with RRR communities or Aboriginal communities is a viable, diverse and worthwhile employment option as a 2012 Queensland study found.40 Whilst there are challenges such as distance and travel,41 there are many benefits in rural and regional legal practice, notably the diversity and breadth of the work and quality of the lifestyle.42

As Paul Boylan, a leading Port Pirie lawyer, has said: You get much more responsibility, much earlier than you otherwise would. I had one lawyer who by the second anniversary of her admission to the Bar and starting to practise law, she’d been the instructing solicitor on two appeals to the Full Court of the Family Court, two to the Full Federal Court and she’d been instructing in the High Court as well. That’s unheard-of in the city.43

There is a need to encourage law students to think of life outside city commercial practice and learn about the quality and breadth of both regional life and legal practice.44

THE TRIP

The law student engagement trip was funded by a one off Faculty of Professions teaching grant.

On 15 July, 2021, the trip was made very welcome by the ALRM and Umeewarra Radio in Port Augusta and heard from Charlie Jackson and other local Elders and members of Aboriginal communities and Rachel Lane and other lawyers from the ALRM. The session highlighted to the students the value and importance of working with Aboriginal communities and crucially ‘making a difference’. Chloe Winter took part in an interview on Umeewarra Radio about working with Aboriginal communities. Chloe said: ‘It was very valuable to get to interact with members of a community on a deeper, less superficial level, and have genuine conversation about the need for change with those who know it firsthand.’

Cayleigh described this as a powerful and invaluable session in which everyone took part and was not an experience that could have been replicated over Zoom. ‘The informal round table discussion was key to the upfront discussion with the Elders who shared cultural practices and moving first-hand experiences of generational trauma.’

Charlotte elaborated on this session:

Speaking to Charlie Jackson and the other Elders was an eye opening and powerful experience. The stories he shared with us really highlighted the major disconnect between Aboriginal Law and Western Law. Charlie described

Western Law as having judges, barristers and solicitors but noted that Aboriginal Law has this too, it just doesn’t look the same as it does for Western Law. This was something I had probably rather naively, never considered before and made me question what more can be done to reconcile these two systems of law to operate more harmoniously, rather than one at the expense of another. It was an absolute honour and privilege to have spoken to Charlie and I would love for more students to have this incredible opportunity.

In the evening, the students joined an extended dinner in Port Pirie with local lawyers and the Hon Geoff Brock, the local State MP, and the Deputy Mayor. The quality of regional legal work and lifestyles were highlighted. As Cayleigh said: ‘This dinner continued to highlight the immense value of working within regional communities and the vast opportunities available for young lawyers who are willing to commit.’

On 16 July, the students explored Port Pirie before an extended meeting with Mr Brock MP, to hear about working and living in Port Pirie. Cayleigh noted: ‘His passion and commitment to the community was clear, with locals stopping by to have a chat on the street highlighting Mr Brock MP as first and foremost a community member.’

Students then took part in an interview with the Port Pirie newspaper. Charlotte Ordynski took part in an ABC Radio interview.45 The students were then hosted by Paul Boylan and John Voumand, leading local lawyers, to learn more about the nature and width of RRR legal practice. The students also heard about the role and ongoing work and regional consultation of SALRI.

THE THEMES

The trip proved very successful. Chloe summarised the value of the trip and its wider application:

It was a rare experience, not just in the context of the information learnt, and connections made with locals and legal professionals located in the area, but also in the realisation of the immense breadth of legal work available outside of major cities. Regional areas have a lot of valuable experience to offer to young professionals. Perhaps my greatest realisation following the trip was that there are many options to be considered outside of the traditional path we are encouraged to follow after graduation. I had not imagined practicing regionally prior to the trip or think I would gain so much personally from the experience. Life after Law School is a daunting prospect at the best of times, especially with the “unprecedented” pandemic and competition for graduate positions. The opportunity to go on this trip was important, in helping us remember why we wanted to study law, and our ability to make a difference after all.

The Adelaide Law School and the eight law students would like to thank all who contributed to the trip’s success.46 It is hoped to be the start of an ongoing program. There is no one ‘magic bullet’ to address the problems in attracting and retaining lawyers in RRR areas.47 However, the need to promote RRR practice as a positive long-term career option should be highlighted. There is a need to encourage law students to consider working with regional and Aboriginal communities and to think beyond city commercial practice. B

Endnotes 1 Dr David Plater is the Deputy Director of the

South Australian Law Reform Institute (SALRI) based at the Adelaide Law School. Chloe Winter is in her final year of a Bachelor of Commerce, and her penultimate year of a Bachelor of Laws at the

University of Adelaide. Charlotte Ordynski is in her fifth year of studying Law and has completed a Bachelor of Criminology. Cayleigh Stock is in her second year of studying Law and is also studying a Bachelor of International Relations. 2 Trish Mundy, ‘Attracting and Retaining Lawyers: a Problem for Rural, Regional and Remote

Communities’ (2009) 34(1) Alternative Law Journal 32. 3 Morry Bailes, ‘Incentives Needed to Encourage

Lawyers to “Go Bush”’, In Daily (online, 31 October 2019), https://indaily.com.au/ opinion/2019/10/31/incentives-needed-toencourage-lawyers-to-go-bush/. 4 Law Council of Australia and Law Institute of

Victoria, Report into the Rural, Regional and Remote

Areas Lawyers Survey (July 2009) 5-6, 21; Trish

Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year Law

Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and

Regional Practice within the Law School Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 2; Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project:

Final Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR)

Australians (2018) 3, 32-33, 37-38. 5 Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year

Law Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School

Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 4-6. 6 Dr Mark ‘Matt’ Giancaspro is a Lecturer at the

Adelaide Law School. ‘Matt’ is a native of Port

Pirie and passionate about encouraging law students to work in regional communities. 7 Nadia Hess is a PhD student at the Adelaide Law

School and is from Port Lincoln. Nadia is also passionate about encouraging law students to work in regional communities. 8 The trip was joined in conjunction with a regional

SALRI consultation trip by Brooke Washusen,

Holly Nicholls and Anita Brunacci. 9 Christian Cominos, ‘Law Students Encouraged to

Come Work in the Country’, The Recorder (online, 20 July 2017), <https://www.portpirierecorder. com.au/story/7348581/the-need-for-lawyers/>;

Shari Hams, ‘Law Students Learn about Injustices for Aboriginal People in SA’s Court System’, ABC

News (online, 29 August 2021), <https://www. abc.net.au/news/2021-07-30/law-students-learninjustices-aboriginal-people-face/100336256>. 10 See, for example, Liz Burke, ‘Desperate Law

Graduates are Apparently Prepared to Pay for their Jobs’, Lawyers Weekly, 3 September 2015,

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/ careers/desperate-law-graduates-areapparently-prepared-to-pay-for-their-jobs/ news-story/3ec2472a2b46780632061664b

9491d2e; Michael Douglas and Nicholas Van

Hattem, ‘Australia’s Law Graduate Glut’ (2016) 41(2) Alternative Law Journal 118; Felicity Nelson,

‘New Law Schools May Leave Grads Stranded’,

Lawyers Weekly (online), 29 September 2015; Marie

Iskander, ‘The Deserving and the Under-Served: a

Comment on the Oversupply of Law Graduates,

Diversity in the Legal Profession and Access to

Legal Representation’ (2017) 5(1) Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity 66, 67; Angela Melville,

‘It is the worst time in living history to be a law graduate: or is it? Does Australia have too many

Law Graduates?’ (2017) 51(2) The Law Teacher 203; Emma Ryan, ‘Frustration Grows over

Unis “Cashing In” on Law Grad Oversupply’,

Lawyers Weekly, 19 February 2018, https://

www.lawyersweekly.com.au/sme-law/22768frustration-grows-over-unis-cashing-in-on-

law-grad-oversupply. 11 Liz Burke, ‘Desperate Law Graduates are

Apparently Prepared to Pay for their Jobs’, news. co.au, 3 September 2015, https://www.news.

com.au/finance/work/careers/desperatelaw-graduates-are-apparently-prepared-topay-for-their-jobs/news-story/3ec2472a2b467

80632061664b9491d2e. 12 Louise Yaxley, ‘Don’t Study Law Unless You

Really Want to be a Lawyer, Malcom Turnbull

Says’, ABC News (online, 2 February 2018),

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-02/ malcolm-turnbull-says-too-many-kids-do-

law/9387508. 13 Marie Iskander, ‘The Deserving and the Under-

Served: a Comment on the Oversupply of Law

Graduates, Diversity in the Legal Profession and Access to Legal Representation’ (2017) 5(1)

Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity 66, 73.

14 See Ibid. 15 Parliament of Australia, Legal and Constitutional

Affairs References Committee, Access to Justice (December 2009) [2.104]. 16 Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR)

Australians (2018) 3, 32-33, 37-38. For particular issues in recruiting and retaining staff in the community sector, see: at 37; Michael Cain and Suzie Forell, ‘Recruitment and Retention of Community Sector Lawyers: Regional differences Within New South Wales’ (2014) 16(1) Deakin Law Review 265. These themes have also emerged in anecdotal feedback to Dr Mark

‘Matt’ Giancaspro and Nadia Hess as well as to

SALRI on its regular regional consultation trips, as supported by wider research, notably the Law

Council of Australia. See also Law Institute of Victoria and the Law Council of Australia,

Rural, Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers Survey (Law Council of Australia, 2009); Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final Report Part 1:

Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) Australians (2018). 17 See, for example, Law Council of Australia and

Law Institute of Victoria, Report into the Rural,

Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers Survey (July 2009) 5-6, 21; Damien Carrick, ‘Lawyer Drought’, ABC

Law Report, 14 July 2009, https://www.abc.

net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/

lawyer-drought/3071010; Trish Mundy,

‘Attracting and Retaining Lawyers: a Problem for

Rural, Regional and Remote Communities’ (2009) 34(1) Alternative Law Journal 32; Trish Mundy,

‘A HECS Rebate? Ways to Attract and Retain

Graduate Lawyers in Rural, Regional and Remote

Communities’ (2010) 35(2) Alternative Law Journal 99; Suzie Forell, Michael Cain and Abigail Gray,

Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers in Regional,

Rural and Remote New South Wales (Law and Justice

Foundation of NSW, September 2010); Natalie

O’Brien, ‘Plea Goes Out For Lawyers, To Be

Sure’, Sydney Morning Herald (online, 3 July 2011);

Louise Fitzroy, ‘Regional Lawyer Shortage Could

Jeopardise Access to Justice Says Law Council’,

ABC Rural, 5 November 2015; Law Council of

Australia, The Justice Project: Final Report Part 1:

Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) Australians (2018) 3, 32-33, 37-38. 18 Melanie Schwartz and Chris Cunneen, ‘Working

Cheaper, Working Harder: Inequity in Funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal

Services’, (2009) 7 Indigenous Law Bulletin 10, 19;

Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander

People (2018) 39; Law Council of Australia, The

Justice Project: Final Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and

Remote (RRR) Australians (2018) 37. 19 Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

People (2018) 39. 20 Law Institute of Victoria and the Law Council of

Australia, Rural, Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers

Survey (Law Council of Australia, 2009) 5, 11, 14, 21. 21 Law Institute of Victoria and the Law Council of

Australia, Rural, Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers

Survey (July 2009) 6, 21; Damien Carrick, ‘Lawyer

Drought’, ABC Law Report, 14 July 2009, https://

www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/

lawreport/lawyer-drought/3071010. 22 Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year

Law Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School

Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 2. 23 Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR)

Australians (2018) 42. 24 See, for example, Ibid 3, 28-29, 31, 35, 40-41;

Law Institute of Victoria and the Law Council of

Australia, Rural, Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers

Survey (July 2009) 16-17; Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year Law Students’ “Imagined”

Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 2. 25 See generally Law Council of Australia, The Justice

Project: Final Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) Australians (2018). 26 Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

People (2018) 4, 39, 42-43. 27 Maria Karras et al, Law and Justice Foundation of

New South Wales, On the Edge of Justice: The Legal

Needs of People with a Mental Illness in NSW (2006) 110-113; Law Council of Australia, The Justice

Project: Final Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) Australians (2018) 3, 24-42. 28 Law Institute of Victoria and the Law Council of

Australia, Rural, Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers

Survey (Law Council of Australia, 2009) 16-17, 21. 29 Chris Cunneen, Fiona Allison and Melanie

Schwartz, ‘Access to Justice for Aboriginal People in the Northern Territory’ (2014) 49(2) Australian

Journal of Social Issues 219. 30 Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

People (2018) 4. 31 Law Council of Australia, The Justice Project: Final

Report Part 1: People Who Experience Family Violence (2018) 46-47. Law Council of Australia, The Justice

Project: Final Report Part 1: Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) Australians (2018) 39. 32 Chris Cunneen, Fiona Allison and Melanie

Schwartz, ‘Access to Justice for Aboriginal People in the Northern Territory’ (2014) 49(2) Australian

Journal of Social Issues 219, 220. 33 Morry Bailes, ‘Incentives Needed to Encourage

Lawyers to “Go Bush”’, In Daily (online, 31 October 2019), https://indaily.com.au/ opinion/2019/10/31/incentives-needed-toencourage-lawyers-to-go-bush/. 34 See Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year

Law Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School

Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1; Amanda Kennedy et al, ‘Educating

Law Students for Rural and Regional Practice:

Embedding Place Based Perspectives in Law

Curricula’ (2014) 24(1) Legal Education Review 6. 35 Amanda Kennedy et al, ‘Educating Law Students for Rural and Regional Practice: Embedding Place

Based Perspectives in Law Curricula’ (2014) 24(1)

Legal Education Review 6, 12-13. 36 Amanda Kennedy et al, ‘Educating Law Students for Rural and Regional Practice: Embedding Place

Based Perspectives in Law Curricula’ (2014) 24(1)

Legal Education Review 6, 13. 37 Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year

Law Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School

Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 4. 38 Ibid. 39 K McFarlane, ‘Attracting Graduates to Regional and Rural Australia: A Personal Experience’ (Paper presented at the National Rural/ Regional

Law and Justice Conference, Warrnambool,

Victoria, 19-21 November 2010) 2. 40 Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year

Law Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School

Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 4-6. 41 Amanda Kennedy et al, ‘Educating Law Students for Rural and Regional Practice: Embedding Place

Based Perspectives in Law Curricula’ (2014) 24(1)

Legal Education Review 6, 11-12. 42 Damien Carrick, ‘Lawyer Drought’, ABC Law

Report, 14 July 2009, https://www.abc.net.au/

radionational/programs/lawreport/lawyer-

drought/3071010.; Paul Brazier, Elizabeth

Lehmann, ‘Cassandra Banks and Sally Davies,

‘The Perks of Going Rural’, Law Society Journal, 1

December 2014, https://lsj.com.au/articles/ the-perks-of-going-rural/. 43 Damien Carrick, ‘Lawyer Drought’, ABC Law

Report, 14 July 2009, https://www.abc.net.au/ radionational/programs/lawreport/lawyerdrought/3071010. 44 Louise Fitzroy, ‘Regional Lawyer Shortage Could

Jeopardise Access to Justice says Law Council’,

ABC Rural, 5 November 2015, https://www. abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-11-05/rural-andregional-lawyer-shortage-threatens-access-tojustice/6915136. 45 Shari Hams, ‘Law Students Learn about Injustices for Aboriginal People in SA’s Court System’, ABC

News (online, 29 August 2021), <https://www. abc.net.au/news/2021-07-30/law-students-learninjustices-aboriginal-people-face/100336256>.

Brooke Washusen of SALRI was also interviewed on the local ‘Golden Oldies’ radio morning show. 46 The trips’ participants would like to express their thanks for the support of the Faculty of

Professions; Paul Boylan and his colleagues; John

Voumand; Rachel Lane, the ALRM and its Port

Augusta staff; the Hon Geoff Brock MP; the

Deputy Mayor of Port Pirie, Alan Zubrinich;

Holly Nicholls, Brooke Washusen and Anita

Brunacci of SALRI and Dean ‘Elvis’ Vegas of the

Ellen Hotel. A particular thanks to Charlie Jackson and the Elders and members of the Port Augusta

Aboriginal communities and Umeewarra Radio for their generous and insightful input. 47 Trish Mundy, ‘“Placing” the Other: Final Year

Law Students’ “Imagined” Experience of Rural and Regional Practice within the Law School

Context’ (2012) International Journal of Rural Law and Policy 1, 6.