NT Indigenous legal expert Eddie Cubillo resigns from Melbourne Law School

The former Territory anti-discrimination commissioner has stepped down from Australia’s top law school over racism claims.

Dr Eddie Cubillo resigned from his role at the University of Melbourne this week.

The former Territory anti-discrimination commissioner has quit his job at a prominent law school over allegations of institutional racism.

Dr Eddie Cubillo resigned from his role at the University of Melbourne this week, stating Australia’s top rated law school was not a culturally safe place for Indigenous students or staff.

The Territory-born lawyer was previously the chair of both NAAJA and Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee and a key member of the 2017 Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

This week Dr Cubillo tendered his resignation as the associate dean and senior fellow at the Melbourne Law School.

The Territory-born lawyer was previously the chair of both NAAJA and Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee and a key member of the 2017 Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

The Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrernte man told southern media outlets the Melbourne law school was the “most culturally unsafe place I’ve worked” and there had been an “exodus” of staff as a result.

It comes a month after Dr Cubillo gave a lecture at the University of Sydney where he discussed the “casual and pervasive racisms” against Blak academics.

“Our most prestigious academic institutions continue to be complicit in perpetrating and condoning racism despite all the rhetoric about standing for equity and justice,” he said.

“The toxicity of the academy and whether it’s safe for Indigenous staff and students needs to be confronted.”

Dr Cubillo has said he would continue in his role at the university’s Indigenous Law and Justice Hub.

The prominent NT lawyer has previously called the lack of Indigenous perspectives in the core legal curriculum a “betrayal” by the university sector.

The prominent NT lawyer has previously called the lack of Indigenous perspectives in the core legal curriculum a “betrayal” by the university sector.

The Melbourne University Law Students’ Society Indigenous representative Keshi Moore said Dr Cubillo was not the only Indigenous academic to have left “due to similar circumstances”.

“Make some noise everyone because racism at the number one law school is not acceptable – MLS should be a safe space for us all, not just the white elite,” Ms Moore said on the Public Interest Law Network Facebook page.

Melbourne University law students have reported posters highlighting Dr Cubillo’s claims about institutional racism were being removed by security.

Solidarity with students at MLS. The worst place I've ever worked. pic.twitter.com/mM0DdYp9Th

— amanda porter (@amanda_j_porter) September 7, 2023

A University of Melbourne spokesperson told the Guardian Dr Cubillo was a highly valued member of the Melbourne Law School senior leadership team, and a review was underway.

“(His) experiences have challenged us to consider what we are doing to address Indigenous cultural safety and to demonstrate that racism is not tolerated at the Melbourne Law School,” the spokesperson said.

“It is not acceptable that Indigenous staff and students have been made to feel unwelcome or undervalued.”

Originally published as NT Indigenous legal expert Eddie Cubillo resigns from Melbourne Law School