Deng Thiak Adut: Defence Lawyer and Refugee Advocate

Introduction

I was born in a small fishing village called Malek, in the South Sudan. My father was a fisherman and we had a banana farm. I am one of eight children born to Mr Thiak Adut Garang and Ms Athieu Akau Deng. So the parts of my name are drawn from both my parents.

My given name is Deng which means god of the rain. In those parts of this wide brown land that are short of water my name might be a good omen. I have a nickname: Auoloch, which means swallow. Alas I couldn't fly and as a young boy, about the age of a typical second grader in Sydney, I was conscripted into an army.

As they took me away from my home and family I didn't even understand what freedoms I had lost. I didn't understand how fearful I should have been. I was young. I was ignorant. I lost the freedom to read and write. I lost the freedom to sing children's songs. I lost the right to be innocent. I lost the right to be a child.

Instead, I was taught to sing war songs. In place of the love of life I was taught to love the death of others. I had one freedom – the freedom to die and I'll return to that a little later.

I lost the right to say what I thought. In place of 'free speech', I was an oppressor to those who wanted to express opinions that were different to those who armed me, fed me, told me what to think, where to go and what to do.

And there was something else very special to me that was taken away. I was denied the right to become an initiated member of my tribe. The mark of 'inclusiveness' was denied to me.

I had to wait until I became an Australian citizen to know that I belonged. (Source: SMH)

Education:

In 1985, the Sudanese government began destroying villages eventually leading to the rise of the People's Liberation Army. Two years later, six-year old Deng Thiak Adut was taken away from his family's banana farm in South Sudan and conscripted into the Army. After undergoing military training, several years of army service and witnessing numerous atrocities, Deng was still a boy when he was shot in the back while running through a village.

A further two years later, a chance meeting led to Deng reuniting with his brother who helped smuggle him out of the country by hiding him in a corn sack on the back of a truck. The two brothers befriended an Australian family and eventually arrived as refugees in 1998.

After working at a local service station to learn English, Deng enrolled at TAFE and completed his Advanced Diploma in Accounting before deciding to study law. In 2005 he enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws at Western Sydney University and became the first person in his family to graduate with a law degree.

Deng now works as a lawyer in Blacktown, where he is determined to ensure that other Sudanese refugees have the legal advice and support they need before entering the court system.
(Source: University of Western Sydney)

Experiences and Opportunities

Adut, who was conscripted at six years old, had never been to school. He came to Australia as a refugee aged 14, taught himself to read, write and speak English, and won a scholarship to study law in 2005.


He is a partner in the AC Law Group, a firm which he co-founded, and works seven days a week. He takes on fee-paying criminal trials and family law, and refugee pro bono cases. (Source: SMH)

Links:

SMH: 21 January 2016

ABC: News 10 September 2015

Awards

On 27 October 2016 Adut was awarded the 2016 Law Society of New South Wales President's Medal. Society president Gary Ulman said the award is "testament to [Adut's] personal and professional achievements over a number of years, and to his outstanding contribution to the community of Western Sydney."

Also in 2016 Adut was named New South Wales Australian of the Year for 2017. The announcement was made by the state Premier Mike Baird, who said Adut "has channelled his success into helping hundreds of people in the state's Sudanese community navigate their way through the Australian legal system."

Look at his Australia Day Speech [below]

An acrylic and oil on linen portrait of Adut titled Deng by artist Nick Stathopoulos won the People's Choice Award in the 2016 Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

(Source: Neos Kosmos)

YouTube: Deng Thiak Adut Unlimited Western Sydney University 2015
https://youtu.be/_lfeX8h4vSo

YouTube: Deng Thiak Adut's Australia Day Speech 2017
https://youtu.be/xocVehUd7q4

YouTube: Deng Thiak Adut ABC interview - Racism and Moving to Australia
https://youtu.be/twUAzShQnMY

YouTube: Deng Adut's Incredible Journey From Child Soldier To Community Leader
https://youtu.be/1xFbRa3pPS4

YouTube: Deng Thiak Adut ABC 7.30 Report interview - Racism and Moving to Australia
https://youtu.be/twUAzShQnMY