Gift of giving

Left to right: John McPherson, Judy Dallas and Ian Dallas with the Mabo waris

Report: Laura A’Bell
Photography: David Collopy

A desire to give back to the program that inspired his legal career has prompted a $17,000 gift to the Monash Indigenous Centre.

Alumnus Ian Dallas (BA 1982, LLB(Hons) 1983) recently purchased an Indigenous sardine scoop (waris) - from the island home of Aboriginal activist Eddie Mabo - at an auction held to support the Faculty of Law’s Clinical Legal Education Visiting Fellowship and Future Fund.

The auction formed part of a Faculty dinner held to celebrate the life and work of the late Professor Susan Campbell AM. Professor Campbell worked in the Faculty for 25 years and pioneered the Monash Clinical Legal Education Program – a program Mr Dallas participated in as a Monash student.

The proceeds of the dinner and auction went towards the  fund which has been established to honour Professor Campbell’s legacy. 

Among a range of famous law-related items auctioned at the dinner was the waris, which was donated by Research Fellow Professor Bryan Keon-Cohen AM QC (PhD Law 2012). It was the centrepiece of the night, particularly as 2012 is the 20th anniversary of the Mabo case.

Mr Dallas, a partner in Bendigo law firm Arnold Dallas McPherson Solicitors, purchased the waris and donated it to the Monash Indigenous Centre at the University’s Clayton campus.

Mr Dallas was an active participant of the Clinical Legal Education Program. His inspiration to bid on the waris was prompted by a desire to  ensure it continues.

“My business partner and I had recent contact with Susan Campbell before her passing and I really wanted to give back to this program after all it had done for me,” said Mr Dallas.

“When I was a student it was a great learning experience as part of my legal education that I could provide advice to people who normally wouldn’t be able to afford it. It gave me an understanding and grounding, and the ongoing need to be aware of legal costs and providing advice to those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Justice is at the core of the program and it aims to produce citizens with a conscience.

“I learnt from the program the impact of clients and to treat them all with respect no matter where they came from, or their social status. Coming from a relatively privileged background, it gave all us students exposure to other people’s lives that we wouldn’t normally come across. The mentoring in the program was to treat everyone with respect,” said Mr Dallas.