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- In the Community publication
- Reconciliation Action Plan - Lawyers Sylvia Arzey & Alison Matthews on their proposal to change the Constitution
In the Community
This photo on the right is of a Honey Possum, and is courtesy of our pro bono client Bush Heritage.
We are proud of all our charitable, pro bono, environmental and Reconciliation activities and of our people who work so energetically in these areas. Our online brochure highlights the many different ways in which our firm and our people contribute to their communities.
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Lawyers Sylvia Arzey & Alison Matthews on their proposal to change the Constitution
A group of partners, senior associates, lawyers and graduates from across the Melbourne, Sydney and Perth offices recently came together to write a proposal to the Federal Government to make some landmark changes to the Constitution.
The submission welcomed the current bipartisan support for a referendum to amend the Constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians and the unique status they hold as the first Australians.
You can view the Allens' response to A National Conversation about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Constitutional Recognition and Michael Rose's letter to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians.
Sydney Lawyers Sylvia Arzey and Alison Matthews played key roles in pulling the proposal together. They spoke to us about the experience.
What was this submission, who for and how did the opportunity come about?
The submission was to the Expert Panel. The Federal Government appointed the Expert Panel to recommend whether the issue of constitutional recognition should be put to the Australian people next year in a referendum, and if so, what the question/s should be.
The submission was made on behalf of the Allens RAP committees.
What did Allens seek to demonstrate in the submission?
One of the principles guiding the Expert Panel in its assessment of any proposal is whether it is 'technically and legally sound'. The legal profession therefore has a key role to play in contributing to this part of the assessment process.
At a broad level, the position put forward in our submission was that the recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution was appropriate and desirable. In making the submission, we sought to join the national conversation taking place on this topic and shed some light on some of the legal issues and concerns arising from the options being considered by the Expert Panel for constitutional amendment.
Who was involved, how did you conduct your research and how long did it take to complete?
It was a large team, led by Partners Ian McGill, Ted Hill, Kylie Brown and Marshall McKenna.
Other legal staff working on the project included Sylvia Arzey, Dora Banyasz, Valeska Bloch, Aleisha Brown, Eleanor Browne, Lauris de Clifford, Alexander Edwards, Henry Fraser, Ben Friis-O'Toole, Emily Gerrard, Amelia Hanscombe, Mark Hosking, Alison Matthews, Aparna Nanayakkara, Anna Payten, Rowan Platt, Nathan Shepherd, Roslyn Stein, and Andrew Wilcock.
Research tasks were initially divided into sections and distributed to the group. At our first meeting, individuals allocated themselves to a topic according to their interest and the project needs. This resulted in each research task having three to five people working as a group, as well as a Partner supervising.
Towards the end, input was made across all the groups as we decided what our position was going to be. For some of the more contentious issues, decisions were made by majority vote after the various positions were put to the group.
The research project team was formed at the end of August, and the proposal was submitted at the end of September.
What now/what's the outcome?
The submission was lodged on 30 September 2011 for consideration by the Expert Panel. The Expert Panel is due to report its findings/recommendations to Federal Government in December this year and the Government has indicated that it will call a referendum on the question of recognition before the end of its term.
We are also co-hosting our own panel discussion on this topic with Reconciliation Australia on 17 November 2011 to which all Allens staff and members of the broader legal community will soon receive invites.
What did you two get out of being part of the submission?
There was a lot of personal satisfaction with working on a matter that aligns directly with our values. It was inspiring to be working with people who are passionate, intelligent and dedicated to the task.
Professionally, we were able to develop our project management skills, and the experience provided great networking opportunities as we were working with lawyers, partners and corporate services people across a range of practice groups and offices.