We are NATSILS, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services. We represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) around the country. We strive towards true justice for our communities built on community, culture and empowerment.
We advocate at the national and international level to reimagine the justice system, for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the justice system, and work to ensure that our people have equitable access to justice.
Our members have over 50 years’ experience in providing culturally safe legal help, community legal education, law reform and advocacy to our communities. Self-determination and cultural safety underpins everything we do.

NATSILS also works to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services are adequately funded and equipped to provide high quality and culturally safe legal assistance services.

What We Do

NATSILS advocates at the national and international level for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the justice system, for an end to injustices and for our people to have equitable access to justice.

We collaborate and coordinate with the legal assistance sector, national coalitions like Change the Record and the Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Bodies

NATSILS calls for law reform and policy change like the implementation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommendations and the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Pathways to Justice Inquiry so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People are treated safely, with humanity and with dignity.

We coordinate and support ATSILS to provide community controlled, representative, high quality and accountable legal services that are culturally safe. This includes by sharing best practice and facilitating coordinated approaches.

NATSILS is the national peak body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services who operate across Australia.

NATSILS members include:

Latest

NATSILS Media Release – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services condemn new Federal charity laws that threaten our self-determination and endanger the delivery of much needed legal services for our people

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services from around the country have banded together to condemn the Federal Government’s proposed new charity laws that pose a very serious threat to self-determination and risk the functioning of their already severely under-funded and under-resourced services.

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE: Children continue to be jailed in year since Attorneys-General failed to raise the age

Today marks one year since Australia’s top legal officers failed to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, despite being handed an expert report overwhelmingly recommending that all states and territories and the federal government change laws to keep children out of prison.

NATSILS Media Release – Punitive new N.T bail laws have already lead to spike in youth custody numbers

NATSILS is devastated but not surprised to learn that the N.T Government’s youth bail reforms are already having harmful and life-altering effects on our kids, with a week-on-week increase in youth in detention reported since the reforms were introduced in May.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: NATSILS welcomes the extension of the Disability Royal Commission

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) welcomes the extension of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

Lack of funding for Aboriginal Legal Services further entrenches our people into the justice system, and minimises the national crisis of deaths in custody

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS) is concerned that no additional funding for legal assistance services will set back Close the Gap efforts and further see our people disproportionately over-represented in the criminal legal system.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Family of Wayne Fella Morrison continue their calls for accountability and systemic change as coronial inquest continues

The coronial inquest into the death in custody of Wayne Fella Morrison resumes from 10:00am Tuesday 27th April at the Supreme Court of South Australia, Tarntanyangga/Victoria Square in Adelaide, S.A.