Closing the gap in the legal sector

27 June, 2023

A ground-breaking new program, run byMacquarie University, TAFE NSW and Legal AidNSW, will increase the skilled and credentialled Aboriginal workforce in the legal sector.

The Aboriginal Legal Career Pathways program will enable200 Aboriginal people to gain nationally accredited qualifications in legal services and provide a clear pathway to a law degree. The initiative will help address a significant shortfall, with research suggesting only 0.8 per cent of solicitors in Australia identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (1).

The program enables participants to complete either a certificate or diploma in legal or paralegal services at TAFE NSWwhile workingat Legal Aid NSW.After graduating, participants can continue to a Graduate Certificate of Law at Macquarie University, followed by a Juris Doctor degree if they choose. Students who continue to university will do so on a full scholarship supported by the Macquarie University Law School and Djurali Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research. Please note that as of December 2024, the scholarship program is no longer supported by Macquarie University.

“This program is the first of its kind in New South Wales, providing employment, study leave, travel, accommodation, catering, and legal and paralegal services training preceding entry to Macquarie University Law School,” says Amanda Morgan, Project Manager and Yorta Yorta woman.

“It's important that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people know that a career in the legal services workforce is accessible and possible if that's what they want for themselves. We are smart enough, we are capable andwe deserve to occupy this space and develop into the advocates we've always wanted to be.”

The program is being delivered using a ‘The state of the profession 2021’, in Law Society Journal Online. August 2021,