Content warning: we will be discussing issues that will potentially include references to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who have deceased, trauma, violence, abuse, racism and coarse language.
If any part of our discussion raises issues or concerns for you, we encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to call Yarning Safe’N’Strong – a helpline run by the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service – on 1800 959 563. And everyone can call lifeline on 13 11 14. Those contact details will be shared in the chat section.
In January, VALS published a policy paper titled “Addressing Coercive Control Without Criminalisation: Avoiding Blunt Tools that Fail Victim-Survivors”.
On International Women’s Day, VALS is hosed this webinar to continue this important conversation.
In this webinar, there is a short community legal education session to help people understand coercive control, a recorded message from Professor Chelsea Watego, a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman and Professor of Indigenous Health at QUT, and a panel discussion about how we can better respond to coercive control.
The panellists are:
Nerita Waight: Nerita is a proud Yorta Yorta woman and will moderate the panel discussion. Nerita is the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. Nerita began working at VALS in 2014 as a civil lawyer and went on to work in our family and youth team. Nerita established Balit Ngulu, a specialist legal service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Nerita has a Bachelor of Arts and Law from University of Melbourne and is currently completing her Master of Law, also at the University of Melbourne. Nerita has a passion for social justice and equity, which she brings to her work at VALS.
Dr Crystal McKinnon: Crystal is an Amangu Yamatji academic, researcher and community organiser. She is a historian and a critical Indigenous studies scholar, who is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Indigenous Justice Hub at Melbourne Law School and a Vice Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow at RMIT. Her research work has looked at concepts of Indigenous sovereignty, justice and law, and Indigenous social movements, resistance and protest. She is a director on the Board of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and Justice Connect, and she sits on the steering committee for the Law and Advocacy Centre for Women, and Dhadjowa Foundation.
Dr Amanda Porter: Amanad is a Yuin woman and a lecturer, researcher and community advocate based at Melbourne Law School. Amanda researches processes of criminalisation and racialisation in policing, with a special interest in police powers and police accountability law. Amanda teaches legal research, criminal law and criminology, and coordinates the Indigenous Legal Advocacy Clinic, an experiential learning subject in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation, the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission and the National Native Title Council. Her recent and current research projects examine: the history of the police and police unions, the history of Aboriginal community safety/defence mechanisms, deaths in police custody, near misses, missing and murdered Indigenous women and children, strategic litigation and the politics of Indigenous refusal in the justice context.
Nayuka Gorrie: Nayuka is a Gunai/Kurnai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta person. They are an essayist, screenwriter, Co-Founder and Committee Member of Incarcerated Trans and Gender Diverse Fund and First Nations Director of Campaigns and Strategy at the Foundation for Young Australians.
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