Quick Exit
Quick Exit

Central Australian Women’s Legal Service – Tully and Keda

Central Australian Women's Legal Service

Tully McIntyre, Women’s Safety & Support Coordinator

Keda Ley, Senior Family Lawyer

On outreach with Brooke Forbes, Solicitor.

Tile introducing Tully and Keda with photographs of their faces and "A day in the life with Tully & Keda"
Quote: Every week can look different working remotely. It takes a lot of planning and organising to ensure there are good outcomes. It is also very dependent on the time of year and what is happening in community – if there is Sorry Business, a sports weekend, football etc. Tully
Image of a table with CAWLS supplies, and text "Early Monday morning, we packed up the centre’s four-wheel-drive for our trip to Walungurru."
KEDA This was quite a rigmarole as there was a lot of safety gear that needed to be packed. We also took a fair bit of food with us for ourselves for the week and separately for the community to share during CLE. Tully is a bush trip pro and any nerves I felt leading up to Monday dissipated because I knew we would be safe with her. We stopped by the IGA to buy 5 frozen kangaroo tails to cook with the ladies during our planned community engagement activity. We put them into the esky and set off.
Image of a red dirt road and text "driving, driving, driving..."
We saw the red dirt road right to the horizon in both directions. The bush was looking very healthy with gorgeous diverse fauna. It was a single-lane road, so we would have to slow down and use half the road if a car was coming from the opposite direction, and pull over altogether if a truck was coming or a car wanted to overtake. We had a short stop around midday at Papunya, for lunch and to use the facilities. This is the only amenities stop on the 7-hour journey.
Image of some bushes and trees over red dirt, and text "Keda did the second leg of driving in the afternoon."
KEDA Some parts of the road were very bumpy. I kept my speed to maximum 80kph but made the scary mistake of not slowing down for the first cattle grid I crossed. Luckily nothing bad happened, and I slowed down for each one after that!
Image of a sunset over the desert with text "Later in the day, the sun was getting low, and Tully was worried that vision might be limited because we were heading west. "
Image of a Welcome to Kintore sign, with text "We arrived to Kintore between 4pm and 5pm"
KEDA We went straight to the clinic to meet the staff and collect the keys for our accommodation. My phone doesn’t have reception in Walungurru, so it wasn’t until I was at the accommodation and had Wi-Fi that I saw I had a missed call from a community member. I went to visit her outside her home, and met her daughter, nieces and grandchildren. We discussed the plan for the next day, which included going with her and some other ladies from the community to an outstation to cook roo tails and damper, and yarn.
Image of trees and grasses on red dirt, with text " First thing in the morning, Brooke and Keda did some preparation, before heading to the McDonnell Regional Council building for bush"
KEDA We arrived at Court early to check the list and saw there were two women. Brooke got their contact details of one of the women from a member of the Walungurru Law and Justice Group (WLJG) and called her. She was in Alice Springs for medical reasons and hadn’t been aware she had a matter listed in the Bush Court. She wanted representation, which Brooke took on. The other woman’s name sounded familiar to me. I confirmed her name with a police officer and found out it was a woman I know in the community. She wasn’t at court. I reached out to her, and she also hadn’t known she had a court matter. It’s fortunate we could get in touch with the two women, because otherwise warrants might have been issued for non-attendance.
Image of the Kintore clinic, with text "Tully went to the clinic and Bush Court, and followed up with some clients."
TULLY First thing, I checked my emails and planned the day, then went to the Pintupi Homeland Health Services clinic to speak with the manager to find out if there was anything we needed to be across or potential referrals. From there, I headed over to Bush Court. I supported a client who had been working with our Financial Counsellor to set up her MyGov account with Centrelink and to sort out her IDs – Keda certified copies for her. Next, I followed up with a few clients who had worked with one of the other CAWLS lawyers, not on this trip, to see if repairs had been made on their house.
Image of a car from a distance and of a woman from behind, on red dirt with grasses, with text "We drove to a women’s site at Ngutchul outstation, with one of the women who is a Traditional Owner for the region and her family. We stopped for firewood along the way. "
When we got there, we dug a big hole, and the ladies started two fires. The big fire was to cook the roo tails, and the smaller one was for the billy and the damper. The ladies singed the hair from the roo tails and scraped them, then wrapped them in foil and buried them in the coals. We got out the food we’d brought with us for the ladies and children to have while waiting for the roo tails. On the drive back, we stopped and the ladies showed us some of the women’s sacred sites.
Image of late sunset over the desert, with text "In the evening, we worked remotely from our accommodation, relaxed with cups of tea, spoke to family at home and had our roo tail for dinner. The reality of remote trips is that urgent office-based matters still need to be attended to."
Image of Keda standing with the "Welcome to Kintore" sign, with text "In the morning I worked on two very urgent family law matters based in Alice Springs."
KEDA A vulnerable client had family law documents due to be submitted the very next day, and another client had an urgent recovery application. This work was hard on my laptop because I’m used to having a keyboard, mouse and big screen with multiple documents open, so it took a lot longer than it would have if I’d been in my office. For both clients, I was working alongside another CAWLS lawyer not with us on outreach, so there were lots of phone conversations throughout the day. I took a short break to visit a non-client community member for a chat. I drove to the store to meet her and bought her little girl a juice box and some yoghurt. I continued to work until 10pm, which I don’t always do by any means, but these matters were urgent.
Image of desert grasses with trees in front, with text "Tully: I started my day by checking my emails and planning out my day: mostly who I’d be visiting. "
TULLY I contacted various clients through texts, calls, and visiting their homes. I went to the Housing Reference Group meeting with the Dept of Housing and some community members that are on the reference group, about housing upgrades, maintenance and repairs. In the afternoon, I helped the clinic prepare for a Diphtheria and flu vaccination event. I usually deliver a training on Wednesdays at the clinic, but this was a higher priority. I helped out with the barbecue and by playing music. Well, I recruit people from the community to assist with the playlist, because I am a terrible DJ.
Image of Tully and Brooke standing together on red dirt, with text "In the morning, we went to the aged care service, and I introduced my colleagues to the staff there."
TULLY I supported the lawyers to set up an education session at the clinic. There’s a new Bill that has just passed and will be implemented over the next year, and the lawyers want to communicate to the community about the changes, and that we can offer advice and support. In the afternoon I went to visit two clients. One was at home and one wasn’t. We spent some time talking about non-legal matters and her supports.
Image of long stretch of red dirt road, with text "Early Friday morning we packed the car to drive back to Alice Springs."
We left at about 8:30 and drove from Kintore to Papunya for 270km along the unsealed road. We took a quick lunch stop, got back on the road, and arrived back at the Alice Springs office late in the afternoon. We spoke with the CEO and manager about the trip and then left to unpack and wash the car before clocking out to rest.
Quote: Politicians should understand that systemic inequities facing remote communities are numerous. They are important to raise because they directly limit the opportunities, health and safety of people living in these communities. Tully