After decades of fighting for Indigenous justice in Western Australia, Dennis Eggington struggled with whether he would accept a Queen’s Birthday honor.
Mr. Eggington, a Noongar man and General Manager of WA’s Aboriginal Legal Service since 1996, describes himself as determined to help transform the country into “a modern nation-state free from colonial manipulation”.
It hasn’t always made him popular; witness drawers full of death threats and bullets with his name scratched.
“It’s a tough place to work at the coal mine,” he told AAP.
“You have a lot of hurts, broken, angry people, and on the other side, you have a colonial settler society determined to maintain the status quo.
“You can’t win anywhere; you’re always criticized.
“Having someone who really saw through that and saw something decent in me made me accept the award.”
Appointed Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for his significant services to the WA Indigenous community, Mr. Eggington has fought tirelessly for justice reform in a state with the highest percentage of Aboriginal people in the nation.
The WA Labor government has largely abolished the prison sentence of fines for defaulters in 2020 after lobbying by the ALS, among others.
The change in law was triggered by the death in custody of a Yamatji woman, Ms. Dhu, who was imprisoned in 2014 for $3622 in unpaid fines. Ms. Dhu’s first name is not used for cultural reasons.
After investigating the young woman’s death, a custody notification service was also implemented.
Still, Aboriginal people died in custody. Mr. Eggington said the legal service’s workload was only increasing, and little meaningful progress had been made in improving relations between police and Indigenous communities.
“The evidence is that things are going much worse than better,” he said.
“There will come a time when the ALS will not be able to do whatever it takes to manage this current situation.
“The whole area of legal aid to underprivileged people in society… they’re really getting a raw deal.”
After 26 years at the helm, Mr. Eggington said he will likely step down as ALS chief executive next year, but he plans to remain involved to some degree.
The 67-year-old said the pinnacle of his career had been witnessing Aboriginal people’s strength, resilience, and humanity amid continued discrimination.
But he warned that real change would be out of reach without more recognition of Australia’s bloody past and a step toward Indigenous nation-building.
“We have a right to self-government as First Nations people,” he said.
“That’s an inherent right. Although we are denied that, we get the same from everything.”
NSW Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council Chair Yvonne Weldon was also recognized with an AM for her significant service to the state’s indigenous community.