Victim Survivors of Family Violence: A First Nations Perspective

Thelma Schwartz Thelma Schwartz is the Principal Legal Officer of the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service (QIFVLS), an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisation providing legal and non-legal support services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survivors of family violence and/or sexual assault. Thelma has served in this role since 2015. QIFVLS services 90+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Queensland. Thelma identifies as of Torres Strait Islander heritage, alongside her German Samoan and Papua New Guinean heritage and has worked has a legal practitioner for over 25 years. Thelma has worked extensively with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Northern Territory and regional and remote Qld, representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult and youth defendants in the criminal justice system as a criminal defence lawyer at ATSILS. Over her 9 years with ATSILS, Thelma provided legal services and representation to her clients across the Magistrates Court, Children’s Court, District Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. Thelma, in her role with QIFVLS, is an unwavering advocate for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence advocating for system reforms and improving access to justice especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Thelma has experience in intersection of justice responses appearing as a witness before the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability in relation to the experiences of First Nations People with Disability, as well as the Queensland Commission of Inquiry into Police responses to Domestic and Family Violence and in 2024 gave evidence before the Senate Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. In 2021, Thelma was appointed as a member of the Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, which reported on addressing coercive control and domestic and family violence in Queensland (Hear Her Voice Report 1) and women and girls’ experience in the criminal justice system in Queensland (Hear Her Voice Report 2). Thelma is an award winning lawyer and currently serves as a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Panel to the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council; is the current co-chair of the Qld Justice Policy Partnership Cross Agency Working Group (tasked with addressing the Justice Targets under the National Plan on Closing the Gap), is a member of the Queensland Human Rights Commission and the Queensland Police Service’s Advisory Panel for the review into Diversity and Inclusion in the Queensland Police Service and in May 2024, Thelma was also appointed as a member of the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council. Isabelle Copetti Isabella Copetti completed her Bachelor of Laws at James Cook University in Cairns graduating in 2018. During her studies, Isabella volunteered at the North Queensland Women’s Legal Service with a particular interest in assisting vulnerable community members experiencing domestic and family violence. Following this Isabella worked as an Associate to a Her Honour Judge Fantin in the District Court of Queensland in 2018 whilst completing her Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice with the Australian National University. In 2018, Isabella was admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland as a Lawyer and later to the High Court of Australia in 2019. From 2019, Isabella joined the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service providing assistance and legal representation in the areas of Child Protection, Domestic Violence and Family Law and is currently the Deputy Principal Legal Officer for the Cairns Office covering the Cairns and Cape regions. Isabella is a Member of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland and North Queensland Law Association. Isabella is also a Board Member with the Business Liaison Association in 2022, a not for profit organisation who works to bridge the gap between secondary students and industry.