One of Australia’s top Aboriginal legal services, NAAJA, has publicly apologised for the unlawful sacking of its former chief executive officer.
The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is the main legal aid service for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, who make up the vast majority of inmates inside the territory’s overcrowded prisons.
The organisation has been rocked by a significant period of instability in recent years, seeing a revolving door of six chief executives since late 2022.
In June, NAAJA’s former chief executive Priscilla Atkins successfully sued the organisation for wrongful dismissal, with the federal court finding she was unlawfully sacked from her position.
Priscilla Atkins headed NAAJA for 15 years before her dismissal. (ABC News: Georgia Hitch)
Ms Atkins, who had been in the role since 2007, was suspended in late 2022, then sacked in early 2023, after raising complaints of corruption against NAAJA’s chief financial officer, Madhur Evans, with the organisation’s board of directors.
The federal court found NAAJA was in contravention of the Fair Work Act when it terminated Ms Atkins’s employment, because she had been entitled to make a complaint.
The court also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the agency’s allegations against her.
The NAAJA board and Ms Atkins had been locked in a bitter dispute. (ABC News: Xavier Martin)
NAAJA apologises ‘without reservation’
On Wednesday, the organisation said in a media statement:
“NAAJA unequivocally accepts the findings made by the court”.
“NAAJA apologises without reservation to Ms Atkins for the unlawful action it took against her and the hurt, pain and suffering she endured as a result of those actions, as well as any damage suffered to Ms Atkins’s reputation by reason of NAAJA’s actions,” the statement reads.
“NAAJA sincerely hopes to move forward from the events of the past two years in a professional and cooperative way with Ms Atkins for the benefit of Ms Atkins, NAAJA and the community that NAAJA proudly serves.”
The agency said Ms Atkins remained employed as the chief executive officer and that she was not subject to any suspension or ongoing disciplinary investigation.
“NAAJA wholly resiles from any express or implicit findings of wrongdoing made by it against Ms Atkins in the lead-up to her purported and unlawful dismissal,” the statement reads.
The two parties are due to return to court in December.
The ABC has contacted Ms Atkins for comment.
