Indigenous Legal Awards
TERRITORIAN EDDIE CUBILLO WINS PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL INDIGENOUS LEGAL AWARD
At the National Indigenous Legal Conference dinner in Melbourne on 4 September 2015, former Territory lawyer Eddie Cubillo was announced as the 2015 National Indigenous Legal Professional of the Year. New South Wales law student Alison Whittaker was announced as the National Indigenous Law Student of the Year.
The national awards, sponsored by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department since 2010, recognise the achievements of Indigenous Australians working or studying in the law. In presenting the awards to the winners this year, Law Council of Australia President Duncan McConnel noted that the extremely high calibre of nominations in 2015 made selecting the winners extremely challenging. “[The] winners are outstanding contributors to both Indigenous Australia, and Australia more broadly,” Mr McConnel said.
Law Society Northern Territory President Mr Tass Liveris said, “This year was a particularly proud year for the Northern Territory, as Eddie Cubillo is now the third Territorian to be named the National Indigenous Legal Professional of the Year, following Nigel Browne in 2011 and David Woodroffe in 2013. Mr Cubillo is well known to the Territory community as a champion of the rights of Indigenous Australians and also for his exceptional commitment to the law”.
Mr Cubillo is currently the Executive Officer of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2001 and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in 2002. He has enjoyed an outstanding career, which has included roles as a lawyer in various divisions of the Northern Territory government, the chair of ATSIC, the NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and the chair of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency and the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee.
Law Society Northern Territory congratulates both winners of these prestigious awards.