The Edmund Rice Centre is committed to remove barriers for our communities and deliver accessible programs. On 31 Oct 2023, we commenced a highly successful program for our Tamil Community in Toongabbie NSW. The program was conducted with Tamil interpretation in order to make it linguistically accessible for those who have language barrier. 21 people benefited from the session. The following topics were covered about Australia's Legal System in this session:
- The separation of powers between the three arms of government
- Referendum as the mechanism to amend the constitution
- Constitutional law versus statutory law
- Federal law versus State and Territory law
- The hierarchy of courts in Australia
Refugees and newly arrived migrants come from countries with radically different systems of government and systems of law to Australia. This poses challenges in terms of navigating the law in everyday life and understanding their rights and responsibilities more generally.
The aim of this module was to empower refugees and newly arrived migrants by providing them with an introduction to the Australian legal system. In particular, this module focused providing an overview to
refugees and newly arrived migrants about the three different arms of government, the hierarchy of courts as well as the systems and structures of laws in the Australian federal context.
The program was delivered in partnership with DLA Piper, Pro Bono Lawyers and our friend Viji Dhayanathan. Viji is a Tamil community leader who is passionate about community development and social justice. We are grateful for having friends like Viji and DLA Piper.
"It was the first time a program as such has been delivered for a specific community using an interpreter. The participants engaged very actively and asked many questions. In the end they said they gained better understanding about how Australia is governed, and how its legal system works". - said Viji.