NAAJA board should be ‘hosed out’, says NT silk John Lawrence

An NT silk has labelled the board of Australia’s largest Aboriginal legal agency an ‘embarrassment to self-determination’, following revelations they knowingly appointed a chair who had abused his pregnant partner.

NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has condemned the appointment of NAAJA chair Hugh Woodbury. Picture: Chris Pavlich

The board of Australia’s largest Aboriginal legal service should be immediately “hosed out” and replaced with competent directors, a leading Northern Territory silk says, following revelations they knowingly appointed a chair who had abused his pregnant partner.

It comes as the Coalition heaps pressure on Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to address existing funding arrangements for the embattled North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, and provide a clear plan on legal assistance for “the most marginalised in our community”.

The Australian on Tuesday revealed newly appointed NAAJA chair Hugh Woodbury had served a 12-month good behaviour bond and was fined $200 for standing on his pregnant partner’s stomach, slamming her arm in a door and repeatedly yelling degrading slurs at her in front of their two-year-old child.

John Lawrence SC, a former senior lawyer at NAAJA, told The Australian the revelations about Mr Woodbury’s past are “just another illustration of how the board should be unceremoniously hosed out, the sooner the better”.

“They are the worst advert, they are an embarrassment for self-determination, which is a sound principle,” he said.

“They merely provide ammunition for those on the right of politics to destroy all Aboriginal organisations.”

The embattled NAAJA has recently lost dozens of staff and was experiencing a critical shortage in crime-ridden Alice Springs earlier this year, where services drew to a halt and vulnerable Aboriginal defendants were forced to represent themselves in court.

NAAJA chair Hugh Woodbury.

This came amid serious allegations of corruption levelled at former chair Colleen Rosas and former chief executive Priscilla Atkins in Federal Court proceedings, which they deny.

Mr Lawrence said the current board “couldn’t run a raffle”.

“You need the right, proper people with professional skills, qualifications, experience, and integrity to carry it out,” he said.

“That happened with myself in 1992 to 1997 when Pat Anderson and Ursula Raymond were members of the board that ran NAAJA then.”

The Australian has previously revealed the board took a week-long taxpayer funded trip to Darwin after giving evidence in Ms Atkins’ high-profile spat against the organisation in the Federal Court. This masthead has also revealed the board was warned of the looming staffing crisis months before NAAJA had to cease services in Alice Springs, leaving dozens of Aboriginal defendants unrepresented.

Senate estimates in February learned 75 individuals went unrepresented in Alice Springs while NAAJA services collapsed, including 21 who had been remanded in custody.

In estimates last Friday, that figure was brought up by an additional 16 individuals unrepresented, six of whom were remanded in custody.

NT senator Jacinta Nampi­jinpa Price said the revelations about Mr Woodbury were “an indictment on an already failing legal service”.

“It’s absurd to have a domestic violence perpetrator leading the board of a service that exists to promote justice and community safety,” she said.

“If there is to be any hope of a better future for NAAJA, it needs to start with the people that lead it, and this appointment is simply moving NAAJA in the opposite direction.”

NAAJA is currently being provided $83m under the five-year National Legal Assistance Partnership, which is set to expire in 2025. The NT government is responsible for administering the federal funds.

The Standing Council of Attorneys-General will reassess a new NLAP arrangement soon, after the federal government ­tabled an independent report into the funding agreement ­earlier this year.

NAAJA offices.

“Mr Dreyfus needs to come out immediately and make it clear if this is a breach of the new NLAP,” Senator Price said.

“The most marginalised in our community can’t afford any more failure from NAAJA.”

Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said “serious unanswered questions remain over the culture and governance at NAAJA”.

“The commonwealth directs millions of dollars into the organisation every year, but instead of seeing that money being used to achieve outcomes on the ground, it seems we are yet again responding to questionable board decisions,” she said.

The NAAJA board on Tuesday told The Australian it “acknowledges the public interest in reports about the NAAJA chairman and a historic family-related incident”.

“Family violence is a serious issue across Australia, particularly for Aboriginal people who are over-represented in the statistics as both victims and perpetrators,” a statement from the board reads.

“This is why NAAJA has long advocated for improved services to support not only victims of family violence but also perpetrators, who need to have the opportunity to address the drivers of their ­actions and make amends.

“People who do the hard work to turn their lives around deserve a second chance.”