Developing Indigenous Cultural Safety in Law: Clinical Legal Education as a Method for Getting it Done

Abstract

The imperative of law schools to embed Indigenous cultural safety in legal education is well established. This paper argues that clinical legal education can make an important pedagogical contribution to the development of Indigenous cultural safety within the study of law. Drawing on a case study of a legal clinic in Logan, Queensland, this paper details clinic teaching and learning activities, and highlights the role of yarning as a process for engaging cultural humility and understanding. A review of pedagogical theories is provided to demonstrate that multiple theoretical approaches support the clinical method as an effective vehicle for delivering transformative learning on issues such as institutional racial bias within law, the legal profession, and broader society. Clinic evaluation reveals strong cultural safety learning outcomes. This paper concludes with some observations about the clinic’s strengths and limitations, including the benefits of devolving autonomy for clinic design to Indigenous clinical supervisors, issues of scalability and funding for community stakeholders.