Opening screen: Cultural Immersion Program Judges Visit the Kimberley 2022.
Narrator: Out of the courtroom for a visit on country. Judges of the Federal, Supreme and District Courts headed to the Kimberley for a cultural immersion program.
The four-day trip began with a Welcome to Country. At the University of Notre Dame's Nulungu Research Institute on Yawuru Country in Broome.
[Didgeridoo playing.]
Narrator: Members of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council then hosted a formal dinner. Where they spoke about the importance of First Law. Aboriginal laws passed down through ancestral stories.
Professor Anne Poelina: So I think it's just an opportunity to open up the dialogue. To meet with very senior elders. To come and feel country because we believe the country is alive. So part of the teaching is for the land to speak. For the judges to be immersed in this experience. To hear amazing stories.
Narrator: Some of those stories were told by Nyikina man Edwin Lee Mulligan. At the base of the Boab Prison tree just outside Derby.
Edwin Lee Mulligan: It's also our history. Not only for the Indigenous history, but also European history. It is our history because your forefathers were there too, and our forefathers were there too.
Narrator: The tree is of cultural and religious significance to Aboriginal people. And was reputedly used as a rest stop in the 1890s. By police escorting Aboriginal prisoners into Derby.
Earlier, on the marsh, the judges took part in a smoking ceremony. As Mr Mulligan explained, the importance of Aboriginal spirituality and connection to land. Sharing with them a carved boab nut used during his story telling.
District Court Chief Judge Julie Wager was among the 26 judges to participate this year.
Chief Judge Julie Wager: We have way too many Aboriginal people in the Court system. Be they victims, witnesses, litigants or offenders. And we need to make sure that the court is a culturally secure place. And that means that judges need to learn more about Aboriginal issues. Need to learn more about the complexities of Aboriginal culture. And also the trauma of Aboriginal history.
Justice Stephen Hall: It's all very well to read things. But there's the old saying – you learn so much more from being shown something, than being told something. And I think that's very true. When you get out, you meet people, you talk to them. They talk about what matters to them and then they show you the land that these stories derive from. They become so much more real and memorable and impactful.
Narrator: A round table discussion enabled Derby community leaders to talk about some of the problems faced by young people in the Kimberley. And the special initiatives that are being put in place to improve the situation.
Overnight in Willare, the judges learnt more about First Law and the cultural significance of the Martuwarra – Fitzroy River region. As they watched short films with members of the Pandanus Park Community.
Justice Stephen Hall: We're used to in courts people telling their story in very direct terms. And that just may not be suitable for an Aboriginal person. So, we might have to adjust the way that we do things. In order to ensure that they get to have their voice heard.
Gillian Kennedy: It's also an opportunity for community people to understand the judges' perspective a little bit more. And some of the limitations that they face in the decisions that they have to make. And a lot of the time, they're incredibly complex.
Narrator: The judges also heard from representatives of Aboriginal Interpreting WA. About the more than 120 languages spoken in the region. They learnt how English words used in the Kriol language may have a different meaning. And how this can lead to miscommunication in court hearings.
Chief Judge Julie Wager: English may well be the fifth or sixth language for the person appearing in court, in whatever capacity. So making sure that there is full understanding and full communication.
Professor Anne Poelina: We all need to bring our collective wisdom in. We all need to frame better ways of how do we create decent, kind, generous-hearted human beings.
Closing screen: District Court of Western Australia, Supreme Court of Western Australia, 2022.
End.