The Abbott Government will cut all funding from the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of NSW. Established in 1981, the ILC conducts research and publishes journals about Indigenous issues. Its director, Professor Megan Davis, says: “The legal issues affecting Indigenous communities are increasingly complex and part of our role is to explain the complexities of these laws in a way the community can easily understand.” The ILC has been an important contributor to the campaign for Constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, which the government officially supports.
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This act is both short-sighted and philistine. It is vital for the government to invest in Indigenous law rather than inflict cuts which damage not only Indigenous communities but also the Rule of Law itself. By cutting funding for the ILC the Abbott Government proves that its commitment to Access to Justice is purely rhetorical, if not hypocritical. I hope very much there will be a re-think once this government realises it is merely shooting itself in the foot. The pioneering and inspirational work of Prof Davis and her colleagues at UNSW deserves to be supported, not undermined.