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This article was originally published on LIJ & News by Karin Derkley and can be found here.
After a successful career in tech, Hanina Rind made the transition into law and then set up her own culturally safe and trauma-informed legal practice.
It was when IT expert Hanina Rind started researching case law around her own unfair dismissal that she first saw the potential of civil law to right wrongs.
Ms Rind had been working as a server administrator when her employer refused to allow her to go back to work part time after maternity leave.
“I reached out to a friend who was a tax lawyer. She had never done any employment law matters, but she helped me figure out how to take my employer to the Fair Work Commission.”
Her case was successful, prompting a spate of law reform around the right for parents to demand flexible work arrangements. It also sparked broader discussions about flexible work arrangements for parents, and employers’ obligations to reasonably consider such requests.
Standing up for rights
“I’d never been interested in pursuing the law up to that point. But I found it so exciting knowing that the law could help you stand up for your rights like that,” she says.
Studying law at La Trobe, she continued to work in IT and raise her children alongside her studies. “My mum was an unbelievably huge support to me,” she says.
Unable to live off graduate lawyer wages, she accepted a role in information management at the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA).
At VACCA, she was approached by the managers of a program supporting First Nations’ applicants to the National Redress Scheme who had experienced institutional child sexual abuse. While not strictly a legal role, it did require an understanding of the legal issues people face when accessing the scheme.
Going back to community
“What we provided was a safe environment in which people could put together their story for their application. It was a wrap-around approach where we would be involved with the person for at least a year to hold them throughout the journey.
“I realised that this is what I wanted to do.”
Ms Rind is a descendant of the Yamatji and Badimaya people of mid-coast Western Australia, and of Balouchi South Asian cameleers who came to Australia in the late 1800s. She grew up in the Pilbara region, where her father worked in the mining industry. The family came to live in Melbourne in 1996.
Keen to get experience in legal practice, she moved on from VACCA to Shine Lawyers, specialising in abuse law. “I loved it. The people who work in that area are the most compassionate and kind-hearted people I have met, and bring such a lot of heart to those roles.”
Creating a legacy
After two years at Shine, she moved to the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) as part of the team working with coronial inquests, deaths in custody, police misconduct, police brutality and prison health care issues, and injuries within prison.
But, while at VALS, the unthinkable happened, when Ms Rind’s beloved mother died suddenly after a short battle with cancer. “I was devastated. I needed time out to grieve. It made me really reflect on my life and what I was doing with my time.”
Her mother had always been the “cheerleader” for Ms Rind and her sisters.
“Mum always encouraged us to be entrepreneurial.” Ms Rind’s oldest sister is a doctor, who ran her own clinic. Her younger sister manages the kinship finding program at VACCA.
“When mum was really sick, she said to me, ‘You should open up your own firm’. I realised that working in community is the most important thing for me. And I wanted to create a legacy for my children.”
A culturally-safe practice
What Ms Rind decided to establish was a trauma-informed, culturally safe practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. “I want to provide a service where people feel they are not just seen as a number or a billable hour.”
Drawing on her long experience in IT and business systems, Ms Rind spent the next six months drafting her business plan, carrying out the various compliance requirements for practice management and laying the ground for running her own firm.
Indigenous Business Australia provided both a business loan and a relationship manager to help her work through the process of establishing her practice, alongside access to an accountant, finance and other business support. “They are unbelievably supportive,” she says.
She chose the name Yarn Legal to reflect the storytelling heritage of First Nations’ people and the wrap-around support her law firm aims to provide to its clients. “When someone contacts us, they know they are going to be greeted by approachable professionals who make them feel comfortable and supported.”
Comprehensive legal service
The practice offers comprehensive legal support in injury law, migration, employment law and will services. Legal services include representation for individuals injured in various contexts, such as institutional child sexual abuse, on the road (TAC), on the job (workers compensation), in public places or in a custodial setting.
Legal advice and guidance for immigration matters includes skilled migration visas and spousal visas. Ms Rind also represents clients in unfair dismissal and workplace disputes, including bullying, discrimination, harassment and racism.
Yarn Legal also offers legal advice and drafting of wills. These are especially important for members of the Stolen Generations who receive compensation, she says, ensuring their assets are managed in a culturally safe manner.
The value of civil compensation
As an active member of the Muslim community, Ms Rind has also positioned herself to provide a discreet and non-judgmental service in helping community members deal with sexual and other abuse.
“People worry about ostracising themselves from the community, so we are creating a space where people know I will look after them and no one needs to know.”
Ms Rind is a strong believer in the value of restorative justice, for the victim as much as the perpetrator. “Often people don’t want to go to the police about a family member. And we know that if an Aboriginal person is taken into custody there is a high chance that person will die there.”
Seeking compensation through the civil system is a better approach to justice than through the criminal justice system, she maintains. “Compensation is never going to right the wrong, but it can give you an amount of money that can assist you in your life, help pay off your debts, or let you take a year off work – whatever you need to get through it.”
