Justice: A history of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia

Fiona Skyring

Some of Australia’s major social, political and legal reforms of the past four decades have been influenced by the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia’s campaigns for Aboriginal people’s human rights, and in particular equality before the law. A lively and multi-dimensional insight into Australian history, Justice reveals the human face of these reforms and takes this story beyond the criminal justice system.

From its beginnings in the early 1970s, the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ALSWA) has played a significant role in addressing the legacies of dispossession and human rights abuses. These include Aboriginal deaths in custody, land rights and the legacy of stolen generations. These issues have been – and continue to be – of national significance.

Justice brings to life the story of the people who built the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, and who continue to advocate for social justice.

The Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards.

Awards

Won – 2011 WA Premier’s Prize
Won – 2011 WA Premier’s Book Awards (State Library of Western Australia Award for WA History)
Won – 2012 Margaret Medcalf Award
Finalist – 2012 Human Rights Awards

Praise for Justice:

Rather than giving only a story of the ALSWA it provides a history of Aboriginal people and the law in Western Australia since 1829 … Skyring’s is the first text of its kind to give a book-length assessment of an Australian Aboriginal Legal Service … and for these reasons it has enriched the historical record and is long overdue.

LIMINA JOURNAL

 

Justice is a book that had to be written, it is also a book that needs to be read.

YAMAJI NEWS

Book details

PUBLICATION DATE: 2011
FORMAT: Paperback
EXTENT: 460 pages
SIZE: 235 x 155 mm
ISBN: 9781921401633
RIGHTS: World
CATEGORY: Aboriginal, Fiona Skyring, General Non-fiction,