ABC Queensland Breakfast with Susan Graham - Pat O'Shane Part One

Описание: Here is local legend Pat O’Shane OAM, discussing the implementation of new youth justice legislation in the Queensland Parliament this last week.

Have a listen and find out why, Pat calls them ‘simply barabaric’. I met Pat many years ago as a Magistrate in Blacktown, I was a young person being sentenced in the Courts for the very first time.

Fast forward a few years and we both live in Cairns, we are both members of the greater legal fraternity and we have joined forces to promote positive changes within our communities and speak out on behalf of the young people in our communities.

There’s no denying Pat has been an absolute game changer her whole life, she introduced the drug Courts in Sydney, diverting young offenders to programs and support services giving them an opportunity to rehabilitate before ever stepping foot inside a detention centre or prison.

Pat was also the first indigenous Australian to obtain a law degree, first indigenous barrister and first indigenous Magistrate, whilst also becoming the first female to head a government department in Australia!

She knows what she talking about 😂 and it’s been great speaking with the ABC recently sharing two sides of the same coin as Magistrate and reformed youth offender. I look forward to speaking about this more over the next few months, I’m sure as Pat’s documentary nears completion we will be talking more about that, there are I’m sure some powerful scenes of the two of us and I’m looking forward to that!

One of the producers contacted me yesterday to get some pictures of me from that time, the Blacktown days and I was pretty excited to take a trip down memory lane revisiting some of those times in my life.