Yoorrook Justice Commission Appoint Wirdi Man Tony McAvoy SC As Senior Counsel

A Wirdi man from Clermont, who is widely recognised as Australia’s most senior First Nations Barrister, has just been appointed as Senior Counsel Assisting in an important commission investigating injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission (Yoorrook) last week announced the appointment of Mr Tony McAvoy SC, a Wirdi man, and Ms Fiona McLeod AO SC to the role of Senior Counsel Assisting.

Mr McAvoy is widely recognised as Australia’s most senior First Nations Barrister and has had an illustrious legal career, being appointed as the first Australian First Peoples Senior Counsel in 2015.

Mr McAvoy grew up near Clermont and his grandmother was from Thargomindah in south-west Queensland. In recent years, encouraging the broader Australian public to take an interest in Indigenous Affairs has proven difficult, as it is commonly punctuated by calls for First Nations people to take personal agency and forge successful and prosperous lives within modern Australia.

“At present, we are told that our recovery from the trauma of our dispossession is largely our own responsibility, that we should stop living in the past,” Mr McAvoy said in his 2021 Charles Perkins Oration.

He is passionate about advocating for commissions and treaties with First Peoples and was previously appointed Senior Counsel Assisting to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory (Don Dale Royal Commission) in 2016/2017.

Over Mr McAvoy’s expansive career, he has developed a strong Native Title practice and has acquired significant experience within the areas of environmental law, administrative law, human rights and discrimination law, coronial inquests and criminal law.

Mr McAvoy is joined by Fiona McLeod AO SC, a Senior Counsel at the independent Bar practising in the areas of commercial and public law. She has represented the Commonwealth in several Royal Commissions including the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Ms McLeod is a member of the National Co-design Group of the National Indigenous Voice to Parliament. She received an Order of Australia in 2020 for her service to the legal profession.

Professor Eleanor Bourke, Chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, spoke about the knowledge and experience Mr McAvoy and Ms McLeod will bring to Yoorrook.

“In addressing the broad scope set out in our Letters Patent of investigating historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations people, it is vital we have a broad range of legal experience to pull from,” Professor Bourke said.

“Mr McAvoy and Ms McLeod both bring a unique set of skills which will help the Commission towards achieving truth and justice in Victoria and we are happy to have them on board as notable figures in the industry.”

As Senior Counsel Assisting, Mr McAvoy and Ms McLeod will work closely with Yoorrook’s five Commissioners and will action their guidance on specific matters throughout the historic process.

Mr McAvoy and Ms McLeod’s work in this role will be critical to accomplishing Yoorrook’s mandate of investigating historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria since colonisation.

“With our Senior Counsel now in place, we have a greater range of expertise to contribute to the development of our interim report which will be delivered in June of this year.

“Our interim report will investigate a range of themes and include critical recommendations and reform.”

The Yoorrook Justice Commission (Yoorrook) announced the appointment of Mr

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