Lawyer Lana Collaris faces heavy backlash after refusing to take part in Acknowledgement to Country

A top lawyer has hit back after being accused of racism for refusing to participate in an Acknowledgement to Country procedure at the Victorian Bar Council.

At meetings of the Victorian Bar Council, the president Georgina Schoff precedes matters with an acknowledgement of the Aboriginal group associated with the land on which it is held.

At a recent such meeting, barrister Lana Collaris instead acknowledged all Australians and then posted the minutes of the meeting on social media.

She was quickly met with a barrage of criticism, including being called a ‘racist’, a ‘visitor’ and an ‘introduced species’.

Ms Collaris was also attacked by two Bar Council colleagues and was told by the Indigenous Justice Committee that she had brought the Victorian Bar into disrepute.

The under fire lawyer stood by her actions and told Sky News she could not tolerate the ubiquity of the Welcome to Country ceremonies.

‘The reason why I decided to acknowledge all Australians that day is because I’d had enough of this implicit ceding of sovereignty before every meeting, before every Zoom meeting, before every time we land on a Qantas flight,’ Ms Collaris said. 

‘I’d had enough and just wanted to take a stand against it.’

She said the implication of the welcome messages was that non-Aboriginal people are of a lesser status, and to say so was at odds with the law she had sworn to uphold.

‘It’s the constant repetition of this message that’s being given to us, that sovereignty does not exist within the Crown in some way, and that’s what I’ve got an issue with. 

‘It’s wrong in law and it’s wrong in fact as well and that’s why I decided to make a stand.’

Ms Collaris said the response she got online was no surprise. 

‘I got fairly predictable personal attacks levelled towards me. 

‘And that’s what made me think “I’m going to sit down and I’m going to express my views clearly in writing”, and that’s what I did.’

In that article, published by The Australian, she wrote that ‘acknowledgments of country are not about respect but were part of a political agenda. 

‘We show respect to Indigenous Australians by celebrating their culture and language, by valuing their historical knowledge, and by holding them to the same standards as all other Australians, not by making ubiquitous acknowledgments of country.’

The barrister said Welcome to Country ceremonies go against ‘the fundamental guiding principle of our constitution today (which) is the quality of citizenship. 

‘If you’re going to take a stand that’s different to that by making these repeated acknowledgements of country, which repeatedly chip away at that sovereignty, then I think Australians have an instinct and they know that something is not quite right and they understand that there is a political push behind this.

‘For as long as people continue to make political statements by way of acknowledgments of country, I will continue to acknowledge all Australians, signalling my support for an Australia where we are all equal and subject to the same laws regardless of our race.’

But in a response to Ms Collaris, also published in The Australian, Victorian Bar Council president Georgina Schoff wrote that the Bar had ‘long prided itself on its strong relationships with the Indigenous members of our community’. 

‘The Victorian Bar is proud to have been the first Bar in Australia to have a Reconciliation Action Plan,’ she said.

‘To acknowledge country is a commitment we have made in our Reconciliation Action Plan and it has become an honoured and important feature of Victorian Bar functions.’

Barrister Lana Collaris (pictured) instead acknowledged all Australians and then posted the minutes of the meeting on social media

There was strong support, however, for Ms Collaris in online forums.  

‘Pity when standing up for what is right draws so much criticism from those who hate Australia and what it stands for,’ wrote one. 

‘One Country one flag. The Australian National Flag is for all Australians not just a few,’ another said. 

A third wrote that ‘The majority have the support for Lana Collaris, yet again! And a government that won’t listen, until the next election!’