Public Interest law practice

We act for the Gurindji people who have, for seven years, sought access to critically important cultural material belonging to the Gurindji people that is held by the University of Western Australia and unable to be accessed by the Gurindji.

In the 1940s, anthropologists Ronald and Catherine Berndt carried out ethnographic research relating to the Gurindji people at Wave Hill Station (and other nearby cattle stations). They kept extensive fieldnotes during this time which their published works indicate record culturally significant information, including secret and sacred information.

Catherine Berndt passed away in 1994, bequeathing all her works and collections relating to the Gurindji people (and other Indigenous groups) to the University of Western Australia. Mrs Berndt’s will stipulated that a term of accepting the gift was that all fieldnotes and papers were to be subject to a 30-year embargo, so there could be no access by researchers or any other person (save for the trustees, in limited circumstances).

On this basis, the University has resisted previous requests made by representatives of the Gurindji people to access the material. While the embargo will end in 2024, the Senior Men and Women who are able to interpret it in accordance with traditional laws and customs are of a significantly advanced age and time is running out for them to access this important cultural material and to guide younger Gurindji generations on it.

There is a real risk they may pass away before the embargo ends, and this culturally significant information exchange will be lost to the Gurindji people forever.

Arnold Bloch Leibler became involved in December 2022, and we are working pro-bono with Ron Merkel KC, Jim Hartley and Sam Castan-Blashki, who are also acting on a pro-bono basis.

We have engaged productively in the last few months with the University to negotiate a path for the Gurindji people to access the material and are currently assisting the University to make an urgent application to the Court to vary the terms of the Will. If approved by the Court, the variation would allow Senior Men and Women to access the information and:

a)  advise the University how that information should be managed; and
b)  advise the University how that information should be managed; and
c)  ensure that information is passed on to future generations in accordance with traditional laws and customs.

In 2021, Arnold Bloch Leibler assisted Robert Whyman to re-institute proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria, originally commenced with the support of Arnold Bloch Leibler in 1991 by his mother, Beverley Moore, and brother, Russell Moore, against the State of Victoria for the enormously detrimental impact that the forced removal of Russell from his peoples – his kith and kin – and his country, had on his family and his family’s human rights.

Following the deaths of his mother and brother, Robert sought to continue the proceeding in their estates and, again with assistance from Arnold Bloch Leibler, he was last year granted letters of administration for Beverley’s estate and letters of administration ad litem for Russell’s estate.

In May 2023, Robert filed his statement of claim against the State of Victoria, claiming that the forced removal of his brother from his family amounted to negligence, false imprisonment, misfeasance in public office and was a breach of fiduciary duty by the officers of the Aborigines Protection Board.

The parties are scheduled to mediate by May 2024, and counsel assisting are Ron Merkel KC, Rachel Amamoo and Jack Maxwell.

First Australians Capital is a national Indigenous-led charity that supports First Australians’ cultural, creative and economic strength to become full, free agents in driving their own economic futures. For over six years FAC has offered a variety of financial products to enable Indigenous entrepreneurs to grow and scale.

FAC’s unique culturally informed impact investment process supports self-determination and expands the pool of financing options available to Indigenous businesses by bridging critical gaps in the market and securing long-term market opportunity to support the growth of a new Indigenous economy.

Arnold Bloch Leibler first partnered with FAC in 2016, and we have been working closely with the organisation's leadership team this year towards the launch of its new impact investment fund – the FAC Catalytic Impact Fund.

The Fund, which aims to bridge the financial gap between investment markets and the Indigenous economy by providing accessible, affordable and flexible debt and patient finance to investees is set to launch in early 2024. The Fund is seeking investors who are committed to the guiding principles of FAC’s Indigenous “Impact Framework” which, among other things, recognises the impact of unjust power structures that create systemic barriers for Indigenous Australians to develop equal and trusting relationships.

The Fund will be the first of its type in Australia and FAC’s goal is for it to be at the forefront of addressing racial inequity in Australia’s finance sector.

For some years now, the firm has been advising Munarra Limited in relation to the establishment of the Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence, a regional educational, arts, sporting and cultural facility to be constructed in Shepperton, Victoria.

The Centre, in partnership with the Rumbalara Football Netball Club, the University of Melbourne, Greater Shepperton City Council, Kaiela Institute and the Victorian Government, aims to help close the gap in outcomes for the Aboriginal population in the Goulburn Valley region by combining education, culture, the arts and sport to create future opportunities.

The project is set to achieve national significance across the cultural, sporting and economic landscape as a learning centre which is Aboriginal-led and has Yorta Yorta cultural identity embedded throughout its design and programs.

Arnold Bloch Leibler has advised on all property transactional elements of the project, with development and construction of the Centre due to complete in 2024.

Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation is the native title representative body for the Pilbara region, which covers almost half of Western Australia. Over almost two decades, we have assisted YMAC in many areas, from negotiating Indigenous Land Use Agreements through to governance and operational matters.

In the past 12 months, our native title and public interest team has been working with YMAC in relation to large scale renewable energy agreements on native title land. This work has included conducting due diligence and advising on best practice for specific renewable energy agreements, and best practice guidance for renewable energy developments on native title land.

YMAC, and the people YMAC represents, have moved well beyond old paradigms of how work is done on country, to forge new relationships, new ways of respectful, environmentally and culturally responsible development, and a positive and sustainable future for native title holders.