Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Safety, and Law

In 2018, UWA Law embarked on an Indigenisation project to incorporate Indigenous cultures, knowledges and perspectives into the Juris Doctor degree. UWA Law is now building on the success of that initial project to engage in a larger transformation of our teaching and research spaces into culturally safe environments where Indigenous and non-Indigenous students can engage with different understandings of what law and justice is, and with the imaginings that speak to what it could be. While this includes the ongoing Indigenisation of curriculum, it also stretches beyond this to ensure our teachers, researchers, students and graduates are fully informed and supported to operate to a best practice, culturally safe standard.

The need for cultural safety is now well recognised across legal environments. Examples of such recognition include the Reconciliation Action Plan commitments of major law firms; the 2023 Western Australian Courts and Tribunals Reconciliation Statement; and the commitments contained within the Council of Australian Law Deans 2024 Statement on Racism and Law Schools.

The School of Indigenous Studies and the Law School believe this transformation process will have immense benefits for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and we look forward to teaching and research spaces that serve the needs of the graduates – and world – of the future.