Bringing the Melbourne Law School to Aotearoa: 2024 cohort of Indigenous Law and Justice Hub travelling subject visit New Zealand
The Indigenous Law and Justice Hub was excited to once again collaborate with friends and partners in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to bring Melbourne Law students and visitors to eminent Indigenous law and legal knowledge.
The Indigenous Law and Justice Hub is seeking to transform Australian legal education to equip legal practitioners with the skills and understanding to support First Nations peoples in their justice work.
14 students attended Aotearoa this year, taught by Eddie Cubillo, Jaynaya Dwyer and Tyson Holloway-Clark from the Hub. We were also excited to travel with visitors from the Victorian Treaty Authority this year, who are thinking about Treaty reforms for Victoria.
Indigenous Law in Aotearoa and Australia aims to equip students with sophisticated and in-depth knowledge on current Indigenous legal issues in Aotearoa and Australia, including contemporary treaty issues and the influence of Indigenous law in settler legal systems.
The 2024 cohort was able to spend two weeks in Auckland and Wellington meeting 20 speakers imparting expert knowledge, including …
- Tikanga Māori (Māori law and custom)
- Tino Rangatiratanga (self-determination and sovereignty)
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty)
- Legal pluralism in Aotearoa
- Māori cultural and intellectual property
Highlights included:
- Meeting Justice Sir Joe Williams at the Supreme Court of New Zealand, to learn his expertise on Te Tiriti, Tino rangatiratanga, and his role as a Māori trailblazer in the judicial sphere.
A real highlight for me on the trip has been going to the Supreme Court of New Zealand and meeting with Justice Sir Joe Williams, who is the first, and so far the only Māori judge to sit on the Apex Court of New Zealand.
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He also spoke to us about the opportunities and the roles that we play as lawyers in treaty negotiations in Victoria, which was really interesting. It was so inspiring listening to his experiences working not only as a lawyer and as a judge, but as an advocate for his community. Ben, JD student
- Visiting the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Marae (Meeting ground) with Precious Clark, learning the connection to Country the Tangata Whenua (local people) experience and how that connection underpins cultural connection.
Yesterday, we started the course out at the Marae at Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei with Precious Clark, which we were very, very privileged to get a tour from her. And I think starting in the Marae is the right way to do it.
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Because, aside from having a beautiful day and lots of sunshine, you get to see and feel the land and how much the Tangata Whenua, the local people are connected to the land and the land constitutes their culture Prince, JD student
- Associate Professor Dan Hikuroa at the University of Auckland presenting a comparative lens to Western and Indigenous paradigms of epistemology.
Very interesting to me because he was talking about the intersection of science and traditional knowledge as a Māori person, but also a scientist trained in the Western tradition. He's working to find bridges between the two paradigms, or epistemologies. Prince, JD student
I think it's learning that has been so profoundly different to how we've learned the law in the past … it's been rooted in a lived experience of personal relationships and relationship building … and it’s challenged us all, not just academically it’s challenged your framework for understanding the world, your values and way of relating to others. It’s been pretty transformative.
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I feel like every law student should have this experience … I think it is truly lifechanging, and it’s an education that is necessary. Clementine, JD student
If you're someone at all who's interested in learning about First Law and you're eyeing up this subject or any other subjects from the Hub, this has just been the experience of a lifetime, and it's exceeded all of my expectations. Seeing the amount of work that the Hub puts into it, I'm sure that's true as well of the Darwin trip, I'm sure it's true as well of the subjects taught in Naarm. So definitely go for it. James, JD student
To find out more about the subject see the testimony of the 2024 students:
Our thanks
Many thanks to Erin Roxburgh from University of Victoria Wellington for teaching into our pre-departure program, making sure our students were ready to best participate in the experience.
Thanks also to all who were involved. Our trip was made possible by our friends at a range of Indigenous, government, legal and NGO organisations, as well as colleagues at the University of Auckland, the Auckland University of Technology, University of Victoria Wellington and Te Wananga o Raukawa (the Māori University of Raukawa).
James Griew, Research Assistant at the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub