Opening screen: Western Australian Courts & Tribunals Reconciliation Statement Joint Sitting 29 May 2023
Vaughn Maguire: [Singing in Whadjuk language with tapping sticks.]
Narrator: It's the first time it's happened in Australia... the heads of jurisdiction of all WA courts and tribunals sitting as one. At the bench, the heads of the Supreme, Family, District, Magistrates, Children's and Coroner's Courts as well as the State Administrative Tribunal ... there to launch the Courts and Tribunals Reconciliation Statement.
Chief Justice Quinlan: ... is intended to mark the formal acknowledgement by the courts and the tribunals in Western Australia of the history of the relationship between the justice system and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Western Australia as we look towards our shared future.
Narrator: The special joint sitting started with a Welcome to Country.
Vaughn Maguire: ... we stand here today, proud of who we are as Aboriginal people of the first nations of Aboriginal people of Australia - may we unite with each and every one of you within this court and may we actually look at a better, better future for the people who are coming behind us.
Narrator: Watching on from around the State - court staff, guests and judicial officers - from Albany up to Kununurra.
Chief Justice Quinlan: It is likely to be the largest, formal gathering of judicial officers that has occurred in this State.
Narrator: The heads of jurisdiction then read the statement.
State Coroner Fogliani: We, the heads of jurisdiction of Western Australian courts and tribunals, acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first Australians and the Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia as the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live and work.
Chief Magistrate Heath: We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their Elders, past, present and future. We respect and celebrate the diverse languages, cultures and spiritual connection to the land, seas, sky and waterways of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
President Quail: We acknowledge, with regret, that, over the course of our shared history, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have faced significant barriers to justice in our courts and tribunals, whether as parties to civil proceedings, witnesses, victims of crime or accused persons in criminal proceedings.
Chief Judge Wager: We acknowledge, with regret, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be over-represented in the criminal justice system and face obstacles in pursuing their rights in a variety of other ways in our justice system as a whole.
Justice Pritchard: We acknowledge, with regret, that negative experiences within our courts and tribunals on the part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have contributed to mistrust and a lack of confidence in the justice system.
Justice Sutherland: We recognise that our justice system can only truly be said to be fair and just, when it is fair and just for all people. We accept that it is our responsibility to create and foster trust and confidence in our justice system on the part of everyone in our community.
Chief Justice Quinlan: We therefore commit ourselves, and the courts and tribunals to which we belong, to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Western Australia to improve access to court and tribunal services across the State, to ensure that Western Australian courts and tribunals are culturally sensitive and culturally safe, and to foster mutually respectful relationships between our courts and tribunals and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Narrator: The Statement is now displayed in the foyer of every courthouse around Western Australia.
Chief Justice Quinlan: It's the Courts' responsibility and the tribunal's responsibility to build that trust; to make clear that our courts are places of equal justice in which all persons in the community are entitled to be treated equally and fairly.
Narrator: A permanent and prominent reminder of the commitment made by courts and tribunals of Western Australia to reconciliation.
End.