Students join forces with top legal professionals for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander moot
01 August 2018
The students - representing the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University and Bond University - will compete at the Federal Court in Brisbane this Friday, 3 August.
The winner will be determined by some of the state's top-ranking judges, including Chief Justice Allsop, (Chief Justice of the Federal Court), Justice Sofronoff (President of the Court of Appeal), and Justice Edelman (Justice of the High Court).
Designed to boost students' understanding of commercial law and advocacy, the moot explores the legal issues arising from a dispute involving a fictional farming and tourism business founded by Indigenous landowners and entrepreneurs in North Queensland.
The moot will be the culmination of several months of work, during which time the students have received hands-on mentoring from lawyers and barristers, as well as networking and workshop opportunities at the offices of both Allens and Ashurst.
"I decided to participate in the moot because I wanted to challenge myself, and oral advocacy was (and still is) an area I find challenging. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and get some valuable experience along the way," said University of Queensland team member Martin Doyle.
"To me, the moot is a direct challenge to a prevailing narrative about Indigenous people in Australia. We are a proud people, with a history that cannot and will not be forgotten, or silenced, or defined by the issues and conflicts impacting our community. We can and will survive, adapt and thrive as we have done for millennia.
"This moot represents a shared past and a hopeful future, an ancient culture dominating in the modern world, and a hope that we can bear the legacy of our ancestors and make them proud."
Ashurst partner and moot coordinator Tony Denholder added:
"We are delighted to collaborate with some of Queensland's leading legal practitioners to support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student's Moot. The moot provides an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to gain high quality, practical legal experience and form professional connections that will serve them throughout their careers.
"Our team has been involved since the first Moot in 2015 and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the students each year. We have kept in touch with many of the students and have been very lucky that some of the former mooters have chosen to join Ashurst to commence their legal careers."
