Beagle Bay and Djarindjin receive free Wills clinics to empower positive outcomes for Aboriginal families

Residents of two West Kimberley communities were welcomed to attend free Wills clinics last week, to empower and create positive outcomes for Aboriginal people and their families. Held from November 8 to 12, the free clinics were provided to 150 people from Beagle Bay and Djarindjin, who registered with locally based community organisation Broome Circle. Delivered by a team of five lawyers, supported by Broome Circle and Aboriginal Interpreting WA, the clinics were part of a collaborative access to justice project developed by Law Access and Aboriginal Family Legal Services. AFLS chief executive Corina Martin said there was a high and unmet legal need for Wills in WA, especially in remote and regional Aboriginal communities. “We have been pushing for a project like this since 2019 and carried out community consultation on the demand for Wills in the Kimberley in late 2020,” she said. “This clinic is now a critical part of empowering Aboriginal people to be self-determining with their possessions, to ensure Aboriginal families are looked after in culturally appropriate ways and to create positive outcomes for Aboriginal communities. “We hope to apply the learnings from this pilot clinic in order to deliver many more like it.” Broome Circle executive officer Denisa Konecny said she was happy to be a part of the collaborative program. “The promotion of the Wills clinic has been a key focus during our outreach visits and the demand for the service is clear by the many registrations received,” she said. “We expect the program to have very positive outcomes and we thank everyone for their contribution.”