Indigenous Barristers: Building Numbers

A recent event at the Victorian Bar aimed to help increase Indigenous representation in the legal profession.

Hosted by the Indigenous Lawyers' Committee of the Victorian Bar and the Law Institute of Victoria, the event gave Indigenous law students Holly Charles-Ireland, Jidah Clarke, Jarrah Jones and Darren Parker an opportunity to meet members of the profession, and the chance to learn more about the Bar's Indigenous Students' Mentoring Scheme. Hans Bokelund (pictured above), who, together with Brendan Loizou and Munya Andrews represents Melbourne Law School's total Indigenous alumni currently practising at the Victorian Bar, addressed the gathering, which included members of the Bar and judiciary, and one of the Law School's Indigenous Students' Liaison Officers, Matthew Harding. Professor Mark Rose of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc also spoke to the party.

Another Melbourne graduate and current LLM student, Robin McNamee, plans to join the Bar later this year. When he does so he will be one of only five Indigenous barristers in Victoria, which is both a reminder of the importance of events like this, and a reflection of the substantial contribution that Melbourne alumni have made to the Indigenous presence at the Bar.