Media - NATSILS

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NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: “Jail has never once helped a child”: Day of sadness as NT pushes ahead with attack on vulnerable children

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) says the passage of new laws lowering the age of legal responsibility will increase crime and cause permanent harm to vulnerable children.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Aboriginal Legal Services warn against national ‘child jail crisis’

NATSILS is bracing for a dramatic increase in child incarceration around the nation, as multiple governments shift back to failed, punitive policies and abandon commitments under Closing the Gap.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Insufficient funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services will fail to close gap between need and help available

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) says the funding announced for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services today means no new services or representation will be possible.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Legal experts warn new NT Government’s punitive agenda will backfire and increase crime

The peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services has congratulated the incoming Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro for the Country Liberal Party’s clear victory, but warned that she is already on a path to make crime worse in the Northern Territory.

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE: Condemning the state sanctioned abuse and mass incarceration of First Nations children with disability

In the wake of horrific footage emerging of guards in an adult watch house in QLD violently forcing an Aboriginal child with disability into solitary confinement, The First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN), NATSILS (including QLD ATSILS) and SNAICC call for the end of solitary confinement and the over-incarceration of Aboriginal kids with disability.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Aboriginal legal services vindicated by government review recommending significant funding increase

After months of sounding the alarm on a funding crisis, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services are vindicated today by the findings of an independent review of the legal assistance sector commissioned by government.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Budget treats First Nations justice as an afterthought

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services across the country will have to continue getting by on a shoestring after the Federal Budget failed to provide meaningful relief. 

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: State governments turn away from Closing the Gap and blindly implement failed ‘anti-violence’ strategies that increase violence

Responding to the announcement of a new youth curfew in Alice Springs, continued fearmongering and even threats of a new “intervention”, the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) says state governments around Australia have proven themselves incapable of a basic history lesson.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Small increase to ATSILS funding will help keep the lights on, but won’t stop all service freezes

Issued in partnership with National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement South Australia, Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.

NATSILS MEDIA RELEASE: Emergency funding needed to prevent imminent service freezes: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services

Issued in partnership with National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement South Australia, Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.