Peace and Justice: Debbie Kilroy OAM

“I’ve been in prison (many times) as both an adult and child. From hard experience I know that our legal system delivers punishment for poverty, not justice. It is driven by racism, not justice. It perpetuates violence, not peace. A truly just society is one where everyone has their basic rights met – no-one is hungry; no-one is homeless; and everyone is genuinely valued, regardless of background, wealth or identity. We will only have peace and justice when everyone is given the opportunity to transform, rather than being reduced to the worst thing they have ever done. We will only have peace and justice when land is returned to the Traditional Custodians, and money is reallocated from police and prisons to the community.”

After her release from prison in 1992, Debbie Kilroy OAM established Sisters Inside to fight for the human rights of incarcerated women and girls to address gaps in services available to them and their children. Since then, Debbie has completed four tertiary degrees – in social work, forensic mental health and law – and was the first former prisoner to be admitted as a legal practitioner in Queensland.

As the CEO of Sisters Inside, Debbie works at the coalface of human rights activism and her eloquent advocacy to highlight the over-representation of women, particularly Aboriginal women and girls in Australia’s prisons, has earned her many accolades. She has spearheaded a long list of ground-breaking programs which have broken the cycle of imprisonment. Debbie opened her own legal practice that sits alongside Sisters Inside in 2013. The law firm is a criminal defence practice that advocates for the human and legal rights for people charged with criminal offences. Debbie was awarded the Order of Australia in 2003 and the Australian Human Rights Award in 2004. In 2013 Debbie was awarded as the Churchill Fellow for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia and in 2016 celebrated as the Australian of the Year Finalist (Qld).