View of King George Sound, Albany, site of the first European settlement in Western Australia, 1826
Eric Hayward BJuris LLB Grad Dip Ed.
Justice on Noongar Boodjar
Noongar Regions Map
NOONGAR GROUPS (in white and blue)
MAJOR CITIES/TOWNS (in black)
Eric is a Wudjari/Kaneang Noongar Historian, at the University of Western Australia and Truth Teller about Western Australia’s Black colonial history. His post graduate research investigates massacres of Noongar people from 1829-1842.
In 1992, Eric was the first Noongar admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. During Eric’s career he has advocated for Aboriginal justice, working for the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody, Underlying Issues Unit, Aboriginal Affairs Department, Noongar Land Council and the National Native Title Tribunal.
Eric is a member of the Southern Noongar Wagyl Kaip Corporation, an elder of the South West Land & Sea Council and committee member of the Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation, Cultural Advice Committee.
From 2002-2018, Eric taught at rural schools in Esperance, South Hedland, Mid-West, East Avon, Fitzroy Crossing and the South West. Eric managed law and justice projects in Central Australia from 2019-2020, for the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency. From 2021-2024, Eric returned to the legal profession as a Solicitor, with the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be over-represented in the criminal justice system, making up 36% of Australia’s prison population, despite comprising less than 4% of the total population.
British settlers bought Noongar land from England and fenced off their properties, preventing Noongars access to food gathering, hunting, fishing, camping and ceremonial grounds.
Truth Telling is necessary to educate new and older Australian’s, about the colonial violence used to dispossess the first peoples of Australia, providing pathways to healing the past and the dire need for reconciliation.
Legal Advocacy
Colonial Justice 1829-1834
Truth Telling
