Rose Falla has this week been appointed to the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, making her Victoria’s first Indigenous magistrate.
Falla has previously served at the Office of Public Prosecutions as acting deputy directorate manager of complex crime. She has also worked as a legal officer for the Department of Justice and was involved in setting up Victoria’s Koori Courts. The Koori Courts allow Indigenous defendants to be tried and sentenced with more input from the Indigenous community.
Falla’s appointment, announced by Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark on Tuesday, occurred on the same day that the Reconciliation Action Plan was launched by the Victorian Bar Council. Only five of Victoria’s almost 2000 practising barristers claim indigenous heritage.
Falla’s appointment has been welcomed by the wider Victorian legal community. In a media release, Reynah Tang, Law Institute of Victoria President said: “We welcome Victorian Attorney General Robert Clark’s appointment of the first Indigenous magistrate in Ms Falla.”
The appointment comes after the LIV launched an earlier reconciliation plan in September 2012. “The LIV’s vision for reconciliation is to have a legal profession that recognises, respects and values Indigenous culture and actively includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ranks of the profession,” said Tang in a media release.