Cook, Roslyn --- "Garth Nettheim: A Profile: How it all Began..." [2006] IndigLawB 54; (2006) 6(22) Indigenous Law Bulletin 10

• Garth Nettheim: A Profile: How it all Began…

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Garth Nettheim: A Profile: How it all Began…

by Roslyn Cook

By those who know him, Garth is variously described as ‘venerable’, ‘vital’ and ‘a chronic punner’. In person he maintains a rare mix of dignified composure and energy; he is at once light on his feet and undeniably, even gracefully, calm. But most of all, he is warm and understated and curious, quick to joke, and generous with his praise and encouragement of others.

At times these qualities seem to belie his status as one of Australia’s pre-eminent scholars and activists. When he was appointed to the Order of Australia in 2003, his award recognised ‘service to the law and to legal education in the fields of constitutional and administrative law, and to the community, particularly as an advocate for civil rights and social justice.’^[1] When The Bulletin counted him among the 100 Most Influential Australians earlier this year, their editorial described him as ‘the guiding legal mind behind activism for indigenous rights and law reform in Australia for 35 years.’^[2]

Much of this activity has been realised through his involvement in the University of New South Wales (‘UNSW’) Law Faculty, where he is the longest serving member of academic staff, the only remaining foundation staff member,^[3] and a former Dean. Nonetheless, it took some time for Garth to come to UNSW. After finishing his studies he worked for a Supreme Court judge; won a Fulbright Scholarship and completed an MA in international relations at Tufts University, Boston; and contemplated a career in the United Nations.

After a stint as a waiter and a long drive across North America, Garth found himself in Vancouver working as a public affairs radio producer. He stayed for three years before further travel and an eventual return to Australia where he tried – without luck – to get work at the ABC. At the time, the Australian media lacked substantive current affairs programming, a concept Garth was keen to promote in the wake of his Canadian experience. He tried his hand at freelance radio production and drove 20km towards Canberra before deciding against a career in the foreign service; but other responsibilities beckoned.

In 1963 Garth began a lectureship at Sydney University, teaching administrative, constitutional and public law. When he recounted the students he had taught I began to grasp the profound importance of legal education in shaping both lawyers and legal thinkers. Among his former students are James Spigelman, now Chief Justice of New South Wales; Keith Mason, now President of the NSW Court of Appeal; and Martin Krygier, today an esteemed professor in his own right.

Garth stayed at Sydney until 1969, when he travelled to Cambridge as a visiting fellow with a view to doing a PhD. But fate intervened again after his return to Sydney in 1970; Hal Wootten had been appointed as foundation Dean of UNSW Law School, and Garth was invited to join the embryonic new faculty at the start of 1971.

The period between the birth of the Faculty in 1971 and the inception of the Aboriginal Law Research Unit in 1981 was marked by Garth’s burgeoning interest and involvement in Indigenous issues. A sense of focus came from international concern over the apartheid regime in South Africa; and Garth recalls the first time he read about Queensland’s laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as an occasion when the hairs stood up on the back of his neck.

Hal Wootten also provided significant impetus to the cause for Aboriginal legal education and engagement. As Dean, he agitated for the admission of Aboriginal students outside the quota system that was then in place; established a committee (including Garth) to address the issue of police conduct in the Redfern area; and managed to organise funding for the shopfront legal service that met the needs of Aboriginal clients. The Aboriginal Legal Service (‘ALS’) was the first body of its kind and became a model for community-controlled services Australia wide.

Garth was aware, however, that while the ALS was essential for meeting the needs of individual clients, it was also crucial to address the bigger picture of systemic discrimination and to promote change at a higher level. With this in mind, Garth conducted research and advocacy by engaging in parliamentary inquiries, organising conferences and writing extensively – and acting as one of the first and strongest voices to draw together the issues of Indigenous rights and human rights in Australia.

Several research projects came out of this period. Highlights include Garth’s groundbreaking project Out Lawed: Queensland’s Aborigines and Islanders and the Rule of Law, which was published as a book in 1973; a book named Aborigines, Human Rights and the Law which was released in 1974; and a slew of articles and chapters that followed. In the meantime, Garth introduced the teaching of Human Rights Law to the curriculum of the UNSW Law School in 1975. In 1979 specialised subjects relating to Indigenous legal issues had also entered the curriculum, with Denis Harley and Pat O’Shane (who later became Australia’s first Aboriginal magistrate) teaching the first classes.

In the late 1970s UNSW had begun to take steps towards establishing its own legal clinic, following the successful Victorian model; and this led to the inception of the Kingsford Legal Centre. During this period, from 1979–81, Garth also became involved in a committee including Pat O’Shane, Bob Bellear (who became Australia’s first Aboriginal judge), and Chris Kirkbright. The purpose of this committee was to develop the concept of a ‘backup centre’ focused on research – in other words, pursuing the project of big picture change.

The Aboriginal Law Research Unit got what Garth describes as the ‘go ahead’ in April 1981. Garth acted as Chairman and acting Director, advised by an informal advisory committee and network. Its activities over the first four years demonstrate that the name was a compromise (the Aboriginal Law Centre was considered too radical) – the Unit took on much more than research.

Under Garth’s guidance the Unit conducted seminars and conferences, produced a directory of Aboriginal Legal Services, developed a network of organisations and individuals with an active interest in Aboriginal issues, developed teaching materials on Aboriginal peoples and the law, conducted research and participated in external publications, and began a resource base collection of publications and other materials.

In the meantime, Garth played a key role in establishing the Australian Human Rights Centre in 1986; worked with Jose Ramos Horta to establish the Diplomacy Training Program in 1989; put in a crucial bid for the building that housed the Communications Law Centre throughout its life; and continued to engage with and encourage many of the people whose work has since broken new ground.

One striking example of Garth’s work derives from 1980, when Garth spoke with Eddie Mabo at a conference in Townsville. Hearing that Eddie was unwilling to work with local lawyers, Garth suggested that he instruct two of the other conference speakers: Greg McIntyre and Barbara Hocking. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Indigenous Law Centre today continues to reflect Garth’s work and influence. He is, after all, still actively involved in the centre and in its publications – and its major output continues to focus on the big picture. Given Garth’s background in media, it is unsurprising that much of the work of the Centre is focused on traversing the gap between law and the media, with the Indigenous Law Bulletin emphasising social issues and accessible commentary, while the Australian Indigenous Law Reporter stands alone in tying together legal developments from a range of sources from all over the world.

In my experience, however, the Indigenous Law Centre, and for that matter all the social justice centres, are most important as places that draw together people with an active desire to do something about the state of the world. The centres have engaged a tremendous number of volunteers, interns, researchers, editors, writers, advisors, project managers and contributors of all types over the years. And it is among those people, in the human realm and in the ideas they promote, that Garth’s work is most visible.

Roslyn Cook is a recent graduate of UNSW (BA Hons) LLB) and a former editor of the Australian Indigenous Law Reporter and UNSW Law Journal. She is currently working as a Tipstaff in the NSW Court of Appeal.

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^[1] UNSW Media, ‘UNSW Professors in Australia Day Honours’ (Press Release, 28 January 2003) <http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2003/jan/Australia_Day_honours.html> at 25 October 2006.

^[2] Kathy Bail and Diana Bagnall (eds), ‘100 Most Influential Australians’, The Bulletin, 4 July 2006 <http://www.bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=141344> at 25 October 2006.

^[3] Susan Armstrong was also on the founding staff and has remained apart from two periods away from UNSW. Garth retired in 1996 but remains as Emeritus Professor.