Aboriginal Legal Service

Location: 142 Regent Street, Redfern

Redfern’s Aboriginal Legal Service in 1980 (photograph courtesy National Archives of Australia – Series A6180, Item 16/4/80/33)

Author: Lily Thomas-McKnight

The Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) was established in 1970 at 142 Regent Street in the heart of Redfern. The ALS was created as a response to intense police brutality, violence and harassment. It provided free legal aid to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples most of who not have access to legal representation and support. The ALS was the first free community legal service in Australia.

Redfern was particularly targeted by the police because it was a suburb that had a large Aboriginal population. The Block, an area bounded by Caroline, Eveleigh, Vine and Louis streets, became the epicentre for racist policing (Thalia Anthony, 2018, p.48). According to Gary Foley, police trumped up minor charges such as swearing and public drinking to justify unlawful and discriminatory arrests (Anthony, 2018, p. 48). The 21^st Police Division, based in Redfern, was tasked to “clear and clean up the streets” of Redfern (Gary Foley, 2021). Police officers camped outside pubs including the Empress and Clifton Hotels, closing off nearby streets with paddy wagons, and arrested people indiscriminately and openly under the Intoxicated Persons Act (Anthony, 2018, p. 49). Gary Foley accounts that the police would emerge to “beat the shit out of everyone inside [the Empress], arbitrarily arrest anyone who objected, and … drive off and lock people up on trumped up charges” (Anthony, 2018, p. 49). There was little to no accountability for the actions of police officers.

Young people were targeted by the police took inspiration from the American civil rights and Black Power movements as they could relate to the African American experience. The young Aboriginal activists were particularly drawn to the works of Malcom X, Huey P. Newton and Angela Davis (Gary Foley, 2001, p. 9). Influenced by American Black Power movement, the Redfern activists adopted the Black Panther party’s methodology of ‘pig control’ as a matter of police control (Johanna Perheentupa, 2020, p.47). This involved recording the actions and behaviours of the police. Activists would situate themselves in Aboriginal pubs targeted by police and record the police brutality, violence and harassment on a piece of paper or photographs (Perheentupa, 2020, p.47). Bronwyn Penrith accounts that this ‘pig control’ first started at the Empress Hotel (Bronwyn Penrith, 2025). These records helped provide evidence in legal cases for people wrongfully arrested and provided Aboriginal peoples in Redfern a mechanism to control their own destinies.

Self-determination was a critical element of Aboriginal-controlled organisations like the ALS, that promoted a shared sense of Aboriginality. Key activists involved in setting up the ALS (as well as other Aboriginal community-controlled services) were Gary Williams, Gary Foley, Bronwyn Penrith and Paul Coe (Penrith, 2025).

The ALS was originally in the offices of South Sydney Community Aid at 142 Regent Street, Redfern. The shopfront provided greater community access. When Paul Coe started his studies in law at the University of NSW, the activists gained the support from Hall Wootten, the Dean of the Law Faculty (Foley, 2001, p. 12). White lawyers, Eddie Newman and Peter Tobin, assisted in recruiting volunteer solicitors and barristers, who worked on a roster basis providing free legal advice and representation (Foley, 2001, p. 12).

Although many of the lawyers at the ALS were non-Indigenous, the Board of Directors were local Aboriginal people (Gary Foley, 2021), meaning the organisation was Aboriginal controlled. The board understood the needs of the community, and so the ALS not only provided legal services but provided community services and advocacy and law reform. Within 12 months of opening, the ALS had a 24-hour telephone service and had handled over 550 cases, the majority of which were criminal cases.

As a non-government agency, the ALS relied on volunteers, funding and donations. On 29 December 1970, the Federal minister for Aboriginal Affairs, William Wentworth announced a $20,000 grant thus granting formal Commonwealth recognition for the ALS (Foley, 2021). The ALS later moved to Elizabeth Street and is now at Chalmers Street in Redfern. It has been a model for the establishment of over 60 similar community legal services throughout Australia.

The ALS continues to fight for just and equitable treatment for Aboriginal peoples and communities across Australia.

Contact the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd here.

About the Author

Lily Thomas-McKnight is a proud Wiradjuri and Gomeroi woman with ties to Yuin Country.

Aboriginal Legal Service

Author: Lily Thomas-McKnight

About the Author

Further reading