Reports of racism from Legal Aid NSW to DFAT
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
FOI Act.
I humbly request documentation of any submission from Legal Aid NSW about racism or racial discrimination to DFAT from 2021 to 2025.
Yours faithfully,
Zhanle Pan
*************
Three lawyers speak out with allegations of racism inside Legal Aid
By Hagar Cohen
By Raveen Hunjan
7.30
Topic:Legal Profession
Tue 7 Jun 2022
Tuesday 7 June 2022
A woman sits at a desk in an office.
Lawyer Sarah Ibrahim says the racism she observed at Legal Aid NSW included people being excluded, overlooked and "seen as a problem". (ABC News: Jerry Rickard)
Link copied
The government-funded Legal Aid agency in NSW has been accused of racism and discrimination by a number of its own employees.
Key points:
Lawyers Sarah Ibrahim, Jayne Christian and Tendayi Chivunga say they experienced racism while working at Legal Aid NSW
An anonymous survey of Legal Aid NSW staff detailed more than 50 incidents of racism last year
The acting CEO of Legal Aid NSW emailed the organisation's Aboriginal Staff Network and acknowledged discrimination within the organisation
7.30 has spoken to 20 current and former employees from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds who said they had felt racially targeted while working at Legal Aid.
Their main concern is that racism has had a significant impact on their mental health and their career progression.
Over the past six years at least 23 culturally diverse staff have left the organisation, in what some have described as an "exodus".
Egyptian-born lawyer Sarah Ibrahim, who has worked for Legal Aid for over a decade, has decided to blow the whistle on her employer, saying the organisation poses a serious risk for racial minorities.
"I don't know every marginalised, racialised person in Legal Aid, but all I know is that I'm not alone," Ms Ibrahim said.
"My observation of racism in Legal Aid means you are excluded at different points in time where you shouldn't be, where you're overlooked where you shouldn't be, where you're seen as a problem when you shouldn't be, or where you're not seen as an authority in spaces where you should be."
Do you know more?
Get in touch with Hagar Cohen at [email address].
Ms Ibrahim recently took her complaint to the NSW Ombudsman after repeatedly requesting to discuss the problems internally with Legal Aid's executive.
The lawyer, who now runs her own legal firm while working for Legal Aid part-time, wrote an email to the executive last year, saying: "I want to be heard on what the experience of working at Legal Aid has been like, including direct and indirect racism over the decade."
A meeting never took place.
After 7.30 contacted Legal Aid NSW about this story, acting CEO Monique Hitter wrote an email to the organisation's Aboriginal Staff Network acknowledging discrimination within the organisation some staff have experienced, and apologising for the distress and hurt.
'Too black for an all-white office team'
A woman wearing a black jacket over a pink top
Lawyer Jayne Christian is currently on sick leave from Legal Aid after complaining about racism. (ABC News: Tom Hancock)
Last year, two Aboriginal staff members from Legal Aid's Newcastle office lodged official complaints detailing allegations of racism.
One of them wrote about being "racially marginalised", being viewed as a "bludger" and feeling "unsafe".
The second staff member, Darug woman Jayne Christian, spoke exclusively to 7.30 about her ordeal.
Ms Christian said that in June last year she was deeply affected by a conversation with a staff member about a decision not to hire an Indigenous candidate for a role in the Newcastle office.
In her complaint, Ms Christian detailed how the staff member had described the Indigenous candidate as someone who speaks with a "twang", and that her "skin colour is her whole identity".
"I understood that she was too black for an all-white office team,"
Ms Christian said.
Ms Christian also detailed in her complaint how staff at another Legal Aid office had referred to Indigenous peers as "lazy" and that they "take too long on walkabout".
The two complaints triggered a "cultural review" of the office and disciplinary action against Ms Christian's colleague.
Despite the review's 17 recommendations to enhance inclusion, eight out of 12 Aboriginal employees have since left the Newcastle office.
"I think when you do speak up about racism you inevitably get branded as a troublemaker or difficult person,"
Ms Christian said.
"The system views you as a spot fire that just needs to be pacified and put out."
Ms Christian is currently on 12 months of leave from Legal Aid.
Legal Aid NSW told 7.30 the review of the Newcastle office found most staff had not seen or experienced overtly racist or discriminatory behaviour.
They said they were taking steps to ensure the office was a safe and culturally inclusive workplace.
Lawyer felt 'isolated, segregated'
A woman wearing a blue shirt stands with her arms crossed.
Lawyer Tendayi Chivunga says "people who look like me will find it very difficult to do their jobs at Legal Aid". (ABC News: Tom Hancock)
A former Legal Aid solicitor who also worked at the Newcastle office told 7.30 she believes she was racially targeted while working in the organisation in 2015.
Zimbabwe-born solicitor Tendayi Chivunga said she believes discrimination against dark-skinned staff is widespread.
"People who look like me will find it very difficult to do their jobs at Legal Aid. [They] will find it very difficult to be accepted in that organisation," she said.
Within her first year in the job as an outreach solicitor, Ms Chivunga says a colleague began excluding her.
She recalled an incident at a work function when the colleague told her to "bugger off" when the office team was posing for a photograph.
She also said the colleague had been consistently excluding her from meetings, and slamming doors in her face.
"[I felt] isolated, segregated and at that point in time, inferior and hurt," she said.
"There's nothing more different than my skin tone. And that was enough to frighten people away."
Ms Chivunga officially complained in March 2016 and listed 13 incidents that in her view amounted to misconduct.
Two months later, an internal investigation found the colleague had not engaged in workplace misconduct.
She claims the colleague's behaviour then escalated.
Ms Chivunga alleges the colleague harassed her while she was having drinks at a bar one evening with a friend.
"He began to abuse me quite viciously, to the point where the staff had to call security and have him removed from the premises," she said.
Ms Chivunga later applied for another position within Legal Aid, but the colleague she had made a complaint about was on the judging panel and she did not get the job.
"I remember interviewing in front of him and having to look him in the face with everything that I knew and everything that I had been through. I knew at that point that I would never get that job. And I didn't," she said.
Ms Chivunga has since established her own legal practice but is contracted to take on Legal Aid cases as a private lawyer.
She is now involved in a number of disputes over her handling of some of these cases.
After 7.30 put Ms Chivunga's allegations to Legal Aid, the organisation limited the number of cases she can work on.
Legal Aid NSW told 7.30 that it does not tolerate discrimination, treats allegations seriously, and takes action.
It added its focus was on raising awareness of its stance against racism and available avenues for complaints.
Racism in 'the public square'
A woman sits on a sofa
Professor Chelsea Watego says she doesn't "encourage people to use institutional processes for racial discrimination, because typically the HR response is a PR response". (Supplied: Chelsea Watego)
7.30 has obtained an anonymous survey of Legal Aid NSW staff which detailed more than 80 incidents of discrimination and more than 50 incidents of racism last year.
More than half of all Aboriginal staff reported experiencing discrimination or racism, but most felt complaining wouldn't make a difference.
Professor Chelsea Watego, who studies race and inequality, says it can be shocking for many people to hear about allegations of racism in an organisation like Legal Aid, which is focused on social justice.
"To go to work in an institution that claims to be defending the poor and the marginalised … it's in those places where we find it most challenging because we believe in the idea of that institution," she said.
The Queensland University of Technology scholar and author said many workplaces across the country were poorly equipped to deal with complaints of racism.
"I don't encourage people to use institutional processes for racial discrimination, because typically the HR response is a PR response.
"It's protecting the institution and defending its virtue and its innocence, not centring the victim and honouring them and addressing what has happened to them."
Like the lawyers who spoke to 7.30, Professor Watego said that many employees were often forced to air their concerns outside the workplace.
"Taking this to the public square offers victims something more than the internal process, which insists that victims stay silent," she said.
"What we find with people who speak out against racism, oftentimes, they're not wanting a reward for their suffering. They're wanting change."
OFFICIAL
FOI Request: LEX 12878
Dear Zhanle Pan (Right to Know)
Thank you for your email dated 24 September 2025 seeking access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the
department).
Scope of request:
You have sought access to:
documentation of any submission from Legal Aid NSW about racism or racial
discrimination to DFAT from 2021 to 2025.
If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.
Timeframe for receiving our decision:
We received your request on 23 September 2025, and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
A decision is currently due to you by 23 October 2025. The period of 30
days may be extended in certain circumstances.
Charges:
Please note that the department may issue charges for processing FOI
requests. If applicable, we will advise you of any relevant charges when
we are in a position to estimate the resources required to process your
request.
Disclosure log:
Please note that, with some exceptions (such as personal information),
documents released under the FOI Act may later be published on the
department’s [1]disclosure log.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is the department’s policy to withhold the personal information of
junior staff from ministerial offices and government officials not in the
Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent, including their email
addresses and contact numbers, together with all signatures, mobile phone
numbers, departmental inboxes and technical transmission details including
reference numbers.
Duplicate documents and incomplete email chains:
Your request will be processed on the basis that you did not intend to
capture duplicate documents or duplicate emails within email chains.
If you require the excluded information or documents, please let us know
at [2][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise, we
will take it that you agree to the information and documents being
excluded from the scope of your request.
Personal Information:
If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name). When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard. Further information on the way the department
handles personal information is accessible via our [3]privacy policy.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by reply email.
Kind regards
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[4]dfat.gov.au | [5]X | [6]Facebook | [7]Instagram | [8]LinkedIn
© Brooke Rigney-Lively (2024)
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our
respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders,
past, present and emerging.
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
-----Original Message-----
From: Zhanle Pan <[FOI #13704 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 23 September 2025 8:23 PM
To: FOI <[DFAT request email]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Freedom of Information request - Reports of racism
from Legal Aid NSW to DFAT
CAUTION: This email originated from outside the organisation. Do not click
links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
FOI Act.
I humbly request documentation of any submission from Legal Aid NSW about
racism or racial discrimination to DFAT from 2021 to 2025.
Yours faithfully,
Zhanle Pan
*************
Three lawyers speak out with allegations of racism inside Legal Aid
By Hagar Cohen
By Raveen Hunjan
7.30
Topic:Legal Profession
Tue 7 Jun 2022
Tuesday 7 June 2022
A woman sits at a desk in an office.
Lawyer Sarah Ibrahim says the racism she observed at Legal Aid NSW
included people being excluded, overlooked and "seen as a problem". (ABC
News: Jerry Rickard)
Link copied
The government-funded Legal Aid agency in NSW has been accused of racism
and discrimination by a number of its own employees.
Key points:
Lawyers Sarah Ibrahim, Jayne Christian and Tendayi Chivunga say they
experienced racism while working at Legal Aid NSW
An anonymous survey of Legal Aid NSW staff detailed more than 50
incidents of racism last year
The acting CEO of Legal Aid NSW emailed the organisation's Aboriginal
Staff Network and acknowledged discrimination within the organisation
7.30 has spoken to 20 current and former employees from Indigenous and
culturally diverse backgrounds who said they had felt racially targeted
while working at Legal Aid.
Their main concern is that racism has had a significant impact on their
mental health and their career progression.
Over the past six years at least 23 culturally diverse staff have left the
organisation, in what some have described as an "exodus".
Egyptian-born lawyer Sarah Ibrahim, who has worked for Legal Aid for over
a decade, has decided to blow the whistle on her employer, saying the
organisation poses a serious risk for racial minorities.
"I don't know every marginalised, racialised person in Legal Aid, but all
I know is that I'm not alone," Ms Ibrahim said.
"My observation of racism in Legal Aid means you are excluded at different
points in time where you shouldn't be, where you're overlooked where you
shouldn't be, where you're seen as a problem when you shouldn't be, or
where you're not seen as an authority in spaces where you should be."
Do you know more?
Get in touch with Hagar Cohen at [email address].
Ms Ibrahim recently took her complaint to the NSW Ombudsman after
repeatedly requesting to discuss the problems internally with Legal Aid's
executive.
The lawyer, who now runs her own legal firm while working for Legal Aid
part-time, wrote an email to the executive last year, saying: "I want to
be heard on what the experience of working at Legal Aid has been like,
including direct and indirect racism over the decade."
A meeting never took place.
After 7.30 contacted Legal Aid NSW about this story, acting CEO Monique
Hitter wrote an email to the organisation's Aboriginal Staff Network
acknowledging discrimination within the organisation some staff have
experienced, and apologising for the distress and hurt.
'Too black for an all-white office team'
A woman wearing a black jacket over a pink top
Lawyer Jayne Christian is currently on sick leave from Legal Aid after
complaining about racism. (ABC News: Tom Hancock)
Last year, two Aboriginal staff members from Legal Aid's Newcastle office
lodged official complaints detailing allegations of racism.
One of them wrote about being "racially marginalised", being viewed as a
"bludger" and feeling "unsafe".
The second staff member, Darug woman Jayne Christian, spoke exclusively to
7.30 about her ordeal.
Ms Christian said that in June last year she was deeply affected by a
conversation with a staff member about a decision not to hire an
Indigenous candidate for a role in the Newcastle office.
In her complaint, Ms Christian detailed how the staff member had described
the Indigenous candidate as someone who speaks with a "twang", and that
her "skin colour is her whole identity".
"I understood that she was too black for an all-white office team,"
Ms Christian said.
Ms Christian also detailed in her complaint how staff at another Legal Aid
office had referred to Indigenous peers as "lazy" and that they "take too
long on walkabout".
The two complaints triggered a "cultural review" of the office and
disciplinary action against Ms Christian's colleague.
Despite the review's 17 recommendations to enhance inclusion, eight out of
12 Aboriginal employees have since left the Newcastle office.
"I think when you do speak up about racism you inevitably get branded as a
troublemaker or difficult person,"
Ms Christian said.
"The system views you as a spot fire that just needs to be pacified and
put out."
Ms Christian is currently on 12 months of leave from Legal Aid.
Legal Aid NSW told 7.30 the review of the Newcastle office found most
staff had not seen or experienced overtly racist or discriminatory
behaviour.
They said they were taking steps to ensure the office was a safe and
culturally inclusive workplace.
Lawyer felt 'isolated, segregated'
A woman wearing a blue shirt stands with her arms crossed.
Lawyer Tendayi Chivunga says "people who look like me will find it very
difficult to do their jobs at Legal Aid". (ABC News: Tom Hancock)
A former Legal Aid solicitor who also worked at the Newcastle office told
7.30 she believes she was racially targeted while working in the
organisation in 2015.
Zimbabwe-born solicitor Tendayi Chivunga said she believes discrimination
against dark-skinned staff is widespread.
"People who look like me will find it very difficult to do their jobs at
Legal Aid. [They] will find it very difficult to be accepted in that
organisation," she said.
Within her first year in the job as an outreach solicitor, Ms Chivunga
says a colleague began excluding her.
She recalled an incident at a work function when the colleague told her to
"bugger off" when the office team was posing for a photograph.
She also said the colleague had been consistently excluding her from
meetings, and slamming doors in her face.
"[I felt] isolated, segregated and at that point in time, inferior and
hurt," she said.
"There's nothing more different than my skin tone. And that was enough to
frighten people away."
Ms Chivunga officially complained in March 2016 and listed 13 incidents
that in her view amounted to misconduct.
Two months later, an internal investigation found the colleague had not
engaged in workplace misconduct.
She claims the colleague's behaviour then escalated.
Ms Chivunga alleges the colleague harassed her while she was having drinks
at a bar one evening with a friend.
"He began to abuse me quite viciously, to the point where the staff had to
call security and have him removed from the premises," she said.
Ms Chivunga later applied for another position within Legal Aid, but the
colleague she had made a complaint about was on the judging panel and she
did not get the job.
"I remember interviewing in front of him and having to look him in the
face with everything that I knew and everything that I had been through. I
knew at that point that I would never get that job. And I didn't," she
said.
Ms Chivunga has since established her own legal practice but is contracted
to take on Legal Aid cases as a private lawyer.
She is now involved in a number of disputes over her handling of some of
these cases.
After 7.30 put Ms Chivunga's allegations to Legal Aid, the organisation
limited the number of cases she can work on.
Legal Aid NSW told 7.30 that it does not tolerate discrimination, treats
allegations seriously, and takes action.
It added its focus was on raising awareness of its stance against racism
and available avenues for complaints.
Racism in 'the public square'
A woman sits on a sofa
Professor Chelsea Watego says she doesn't "encourage people to use
institutional processes for racial discrimination, because typically the
HR response is a PR response". (Supplied: Chelsea Watego)
7.30 has obtained an anonymous survey of Legal Aid NSW staff which
detailed more than 80 incidents of discrimination and more than 50
incidents of racism last year.
More than half of all Aboriginal staff reported experiencing
discrimination or racism, but most felt complaining wouldn't make a
difference.
Professor Chelsea Watego, who studies race and inequality, says it can be
shocking for many people to hear about allegations of racism in an
organisation like Legal Aid, which is focused on social justice.
"To go to work in an institution that claims to be defending the poor and
the marginalised … it's in those places where we find it most challenging
because we believe in the idea of that institution," she said.
The Queensland University of Technology scholar and author said many
workplaces across the country were poorly equipped to deal with complaints
of racism.
"I don't encourage people to use institutional processes for racial
discrimination, because typically the HR response is a PR response.
"It's protecting the institution and defending its virtue and its
innocence, not centring the victim and honouring them and addressing what
has happened to them."
Like the lawyers who spoke to 7.30, Professor Watego said that many
employees were often forced to air their concerns outside the workplace.
"Taking this to the public square offers victims something more than the
internal process, which insists that victims stay silent," she said.
"What we find with people who speak out against racism, oftentimes,
they're not wanting a reward for their suffering. They're wanting change."
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OFFICIAL
FOI Request: LEX 12881
Dear Zhanle Pan (Right to Know)
Thank you for your email dated 24 September 2025 seeking access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the
department).
Scope of request:
You have sought access to:
submissions to DFAT from Amnesty International in relation to the
Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in
2015.
If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.
Timeframe for receiving our decision:
We received your request on 23 September 2025, and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
A decision is currently due to you by 23 October 2025. The period of 30
days may be extended in certain circumstances.
Charges:
Please note that the department may issue charges for processing FOI
requests. If applicable, we will advise you of any relevant charges when
we are in a position to estimate the resources required to process your
request.
Disclosure log:
Please note that, with some exceptions (such as personal information),
documents released under the FOI Act may later be published on the
department’s [1]disclosure log.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is the department’s policy to withhold the personal information of
junior staff from ministerial offices and government officials not in the
Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent, including their email
addresses and contact numbers, together with all signatures, mobile phone
numbers, departmental inboxes and technical transmission details including
reference numbers.
Duplicate documents and incomplete email chains:
Your request will be processed on the basis that you did not intend to
capture duplicate documents or duplicate emails within email chains.
If you require the excluded information or documents, please let us know
at [2][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise, we
will take it that you agree to the information and documents being
excluded from the scope of your request.
Personal Information:
If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name). When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard. Further information on the way the department
handles personal information is accessible via our [3]privacy policy.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by reply email.
Kind regards
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[4]dfat.gov.au | [5]X | [6]Facebook | [7]Instagram | [8]LinkedIn
© Brooke Rigney-Lively (2024)
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our
respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders,
past, present and emerging.
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
-----Original Message-----
From: Zhanle Pan <[FOI #13704 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 23 September 2025 8:23 PM
To: FOI <[DFAT request email]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Freedom of Information request - Reports of racism
from Legal Aid NSW to DFAT
CAUTION: This email originated from outside the organisation. Do not click
links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
FOI Act.
I humbly request documentation of any submission from Legal Aid NSW about
racism or racial discrimination to DFAT from 2021 to 2025.
Yours faithfully,
Zhanle Pan
*************
Three lawyers speak out with allegations of racism inside Legal Aid
By Hagar Cohen
By Raveen Hunjan
7.30
Topic:Legal Profession
Tue 7 Jun 2022
Tuesday 7 June 2022
A woman sits at a desk in an office.
Lawyer Sarah Ibrahim says the racism she observed at Legal Aid NSW
included people being excluded, overlooked and "seen as a problem". (ABC
News: Jerry Rickard)
Link copied
The government-funded Legal Aid agency in NSW has been accused of racism
and discrimination by a number of its own employees.
Key points:
Lawyers Sarah Ibrahim, Jayne Christian and Tendayi Chivunga say they
experienced racism while working at Legal Aid NSW
An anonymous survey of Legal Aid NSW staff detailed more than 50
incidents of racism last year
The acting CEO of Legal Aid NSW emailed the organisation's Aboriginal
Staff Network and acknowledged discrimination within the organisation
7.30 has spoken to 20 current and former employees from Indigenous and
culturally diverse backgrounds who said they had felt racially targeted
while working at Legal Aid.
Their main concern is that racism has had a significant impact on their
mental health and their career progression.
Over the past six years at least 23 culturally diverse staff have left the
organisation, in what some have described as an "exodus".
Egyptian-born lawyer Sarah Ibrahim, who has worked for Legal Aid for over
a decade, has decided to blow the whistle on her employer, saying the
organisation poses a serious risk for racial minorities.
"I don't know every marginalised, racialised person in Legal Aid, but all
I know is that I'm not alone," Ms Ibrahim said.
"My observation of racism in Legal Aid means you are excluded at different
points in time where you shouldn't be, where you're overlooked where you
shouldn't be, where you're seen as a problem when you shouldn't be, or
where you're not seen as an authority in spaces where you should be."
Do you know more?
Get in touch with Hagar Cohen at [email address].
Ms Ibrahim recently took her complaint to the NSW Ombudsman after
repeatedly requesting to discuss the problems internally with Legal Aid's
executive.
The lawyer, who now runs her own legal firm while working for Legal Aid
part-time, wrote an email to the executive last year, saying: "I want to
be heard on what the experience of working at Legal Aid has been like,
including direct and indirect racism over the decade."
A meeting never took place.
After 7.30 contacted Legal Aid NSW about this story, acting CEO Monique
Hitter wrote an email to the organisation's Aboriginal Staff Network
acknowledging discrimination within the organisation some staff have
experienced, and apologising for the distress and hurt.
'Too black for an all-white office team'
A woman wearing a black jacket over a pink top
Lawyer Jayne Christian is currently on sick leave from Legal Aid after
complaining about racism. (ABC News: Tom Hancock)
Last year, two Aboriginal staff members from Legal Aid's Newcastle office
lodged official complaints detailing allegations of racism.
One of them wrote about being "racially marginalised", being viewed as a
"bludger" and feeling "unsafe".
The second staff member, Darug woman Jayne Christian, spoke exclusively to
7.30 about her ordeal.
Ms Christian said that in June last year she was deeply affected by a
conversation with a staff member about a decision not to hire an
Indigenous candidate for a role in the Newcastle office.
In her complaint, Ms Christian detailed how the staff member had described
the Indigenous candidate as someone who speaks with a "twang", and that
her "skin colour is her whole identity".
"I understood that she was too black for an all-white office team,"
Ms Christian said.
Ms Christian also detailed in her complaint how staff at another Legal Aid
office had referred to Indigenous peers as "lazy" and that they "take too
long on walkabout".
The two complaints triggered a "cultural review" of the office and
disciplinary action against Ms Christian's colleague.
Despite the review's 17 recommendations to enhance inclusion, eight out of
12 Aboriginal employees have since left the Newcastle office.
"I think when you do speak up about racism you inevitably get branded as a
troublemaker or difficult person,"
Ms Christian said.
"The system views you as a spot fire that just needs to be pacified and
put out."
Ms Christian is currently on 12 months of leave from Legal Aid.
Legal Aid NSW told 7.30 the review of the Newcastle office found most
staff had not seen or experienced overtly racist or discriminatory
behaviour.
They said they were taking steps to ensure the office was a safe and
culturally inclusive workplace.
Lawyer felt 'isolated, segregated'
A woman wearing a blue shirt stands with her arms crossed.
Lawyer Tendayi Chivunga says "people who look like me will find it very
difficult to do their jobs at Legal Aid". (ABC News: Tom Hancock)
A former Legal Aid solicitor who also worked at the Newcastle office told
7.30 she believes she was racially targeted while working in the
organisation in 2015.
Zimbabwe-born solicitor Tendayi Chivunga said she believes discrimination
against dark-skinned staff is widespread.
"People who look like me will find it very difficult to do their jobs at
Legal Aid. [They] will find it very difficult to be accepted in that
organisation," she said.
Within her first year in the job as an outreach solicitor, Ms Chivunga
says a colleague began excluding her.
She recalled an incident at a work function when the colleague told her to
"bugger off" when the office team was posing for a photograph.
She also said the colleague had been consistently excluding her from
meetings, and slamming doors in her face.
"[I felt] isolated, segregated and at that point in time, inferior and
hurt," she said.
"There's nothing more different than my skin tone. And that was enough to
frighten people away."
Ms Chivunga officially complained in March 2016 and listed 13 incidents
that in her view amounted to misconduct.
Two months later, an internal investigation found the colleague had not
engaged in workplace misconduct.
She claims the colleague's behaviour then escalated.
Ms Chivunga alleges the colleague harassed her while she was having drinks
at a bar one evening with a friend.
"He began to abuse me quite viciously, to the point where the staff had to
call security and have him removed from the premises," she said.
Ms Chivunga later applied for another position within Legal Aid, but the
colleague she had made a complaint about was on the judging panel and she
did not get the job.
"I remember interviewing in front of him and having to look him in the
face with everything that I knew and everything that I had been through. I
knew at that point that I would never get that job. And I didn't," she
said.
Ms Chivunga has since established her own legal practice but is contracted
to take on Legal Aid cases as a private lawyer.
She is now involved in a number of disputes over her handling of some of
these cases.
After 7.30 put Ms Chivunga's allegations to Legal Aid, the organisation
limited the number of cases she can work on.
Legal Aid NSW told 7.30 that it does not tolerate discrimination, treats
allegations seriously, and takes action.
It added its focus was on raising awareness of its stance against racism
and available avenues for complaints.
Racism in 'the public square'
A woman sits on a sofa
Professor Chelsea Watego says she doesn't "encourage people to use
institutional processes for racial discrimination, because typically the
HR response is a PR response". (Supplied: Chelsea Watego)
7.30 has obtained an anonymous survey of Legal Aid NSW staff which
detailed more than 80 incidents of discrimination and more than 50
incidents of racism last year.
More than half of all Aboriginal staff reported experiencing
discrimination or racism, but most felt complaining wouldn't make a
difference.
Professor Chelsea Watego, who studies race and inequality, says it can be
shocking for many people to hear about allegations of racism in an
organisation like Legal Aid, which is focused on social justice.
"To go to work in an institution that claims to be defending the poor and
the marginalised … it's in those places where we find it most challenging
because we believe in the idea of that institution," she said.
The Queensland University of Technology scholar and author said many
workplaces across the country were poorly equipped to deal with complaints
of racism.
"I don't encourage people to use institutional processes for racial
discrimination, because typically the HR response is a PR response.
"It's protecting the institution and defending its virtue and its
innocence, not centring the victim and honouring them and addressing what
has happened to them."
Like the lawyers who spoke to 7.30, Professor Watego said that many
employees were often forced to air their concerns outside the workplace.
"Taking this to the public square offers victims something more than the
internal process, which insists that victims stay silent," she said.
"What we find with people who speak out against racism, oftentimes,
they're not wanting a reward for their suffering. They're wanting change."
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