Efforts to lift First Nations JP numbers grow

When Rick Welsh contacted the NSW Government about appointing more Indigenous people as Justices of the Peace, he expected a reply in three days. He received an answer in just 45 minutes. 

It just so happened the Department of Communities and Justice was in the middle of a conversation on how to engage Indigenous communities to become JPs. “The stats at that point showed there were about 65,000 JPs and only 22 identified as Indigenous,” says Welsh. “So we started to do some work around engagement and the ways to best engage Aboriginal People.” 

Welsh, a Murrawarri man and former cultural coordinator of  an Aboriginal suicide prevention service, and Helena Confrey, from the DCJ, started working directly with the community, organising workshops, first in Moree, Tamworth and Armidale. This was later expanded to Redfern, Port Macquarie and Broken Hill.  

“So the project’s been [going] really well”,  says Welsh. One year later, the number of Aboriginal Justices of Peace had  had grown to around 750. “We’ve got some good numbers and good results,” he explains.  

The Justice of Peace Project started with the goal of expanding its outreach to wherever it was needed—not only in the cities but also in small, remote, and isolated communities. 

Welsh highlights the ease of working with the Aboriginal Land Council, whose infrastructure is thoroughly organised, from the large centres to the remote communities, in a way that helps implementation. It’s given the project access to regional meetings and a way to pass their message directly to people. 

At a meeting in Broken Hill, representatives from 10 different councils were present, giving them a chance to reach communities  along the border with South Australia. 

“We were able to [contact] the Aboriginal people out there, so we now know there’s going to be [Justices of the Peace] in some of those smaller communities, and still, there’s going to be follow-up workshops,” Welsh says. 

For Welsh and Confrey, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. A DCJ tent at  the Koori Knockout rugby league event  resulted in 121 people being signed up from  across the state. “Obviously, we tapped into a need in the Aboriginal Community,” Confrey says. “We heard quite a few stories about the lack of Indigenous People in the area they could access.”  

The first time Confrey and her team went to Moree, they heard from the community about issues of cultural insensitivity and racism from non-Indigenous JPs, stories that emphasised the distrust and concerns of First Nations people for the legal system. The day her team arrived in Moree, there were 59 JPs, none of whom identified as Aboriginal. Today, there are 78 Aboriginal JPs in the area. 

The success reflects the support from local magistrates and the New South Wales Local Court. Confrey names Magistrate Mark Douglass, who did the first group oath-taking, and Magistrate Fiona Toose, as being particularly helpful. 

“The NSW Local Court has been fantastic in helping us with the project for Indigenous People to be able to take office,” Welsh says. “There’s been a consensus when all [oath-takers] are in one area, to try and have the ceremony on the same day so they can all be sworn in together.”  

 Welsh points out how Aboriginal People don’t see courthouses as friendly places, so this project aims to change that perception while streamlining and simplifying access to justice. “Having Aboriginal JPs is going to minimise any of that racist stuff going on when we have Aboriginal People able to access and seek support services of other Aboriginal people”, Welsh concludes. 

The first round of feedback 

“Our unit was constantly approached for JP assistance that we couldn’t provide,” says Jacqueline French, one of the Justices of Peace from Moree. French started working for the Aboriginal Client Community Service Officers (ACCSO) nine years ago and saw first-hand the necessity of Aboriginal Justices of Peace. “The Moree community were challenged with just being able to access a JP. In the absence of accredited court registry staff to refer people to, we often had to refer our clients and community members to the JP situated in the local post office.” 

French points out issues with lack of trust, clients demanding a service that is culturally sensitive to their reality and how its absence raises confidentiality and privacy problems. “The difference I have seen since the rollout of the JP project is the number of Aboriginal people accessing the registry court space for JP services because there are now several Aboriginal JPs situated in different areas of town that people have easier access to”, French concludes. “There is also a growing appreciation for the extension of service reach for community.” 

Kylie Taylor mirrors the sentiment. She works for NSW Health in Tamworth and became a JP in November 2024. “I felt like mobs were always asking on social media about where to find a JP or who (was) a JP they knew and would feel comfortable going to – and that wasn’t many,” she says.  

Taylor  outlines the community’s issues before this project when there were only three Aboriginal Justices of Peace as far as she knew. It was hard to find one when needed, and there was a lack of accessibility knowledge about how to become a JP. She notes that, before the project, she thought that minor fines and infringements prevented them from becoming one. 

And has she noticed the difference since November? “I’ve definitely seen differences; when mob ask on Facebook now, I am able to help out or refer to someone who might be closer or more trusted to them”, she answers. “I think we’ve also helped lift the profile of JPs for everyone, not just the Aboriginal community – there was a lot of interest here in Tamworth, and now we have about 50 extra JPs thanks to this program.” 

Expansion, obstacles and support 

Confrey is now looking at the future. The positive feedback from Moree means there is now a push for the program to expand to other parts of the state. They have been working to service the demand, but as the team grows, there will be an opportunity to focus on a strategic plan.

“Our end goal would be to become self-sufficient, and one of the ways that we could look to do that is to support the creation of a JP Association,” Confrey says. She points out the other associations in New South Wales, such as the Northern Federation of Justices of Peace in Tamworth, the NSW Justices Association, and the Tweed Valley JPs. 

These groups have a board of directors and a dedicated marketing team and connect all Justices of Peace, involve them further in the community, and share news and changes in legislation that can impact them. 

“The goal is to try and form an Association of Aboriginal People JPs to support each other and share the knowledge.” 

But to connect everyone, you need a vast and dedicated community that stretches to every corner of the state. Welsh notes how the oath itself is an obstacle for First Nations People. He proposed updating the oath of office to be more inclusive of Aboriginal People and people who are not monarchists, similar to what Victoria did 10 years ago.