North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency

What North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency does

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is an Aboriginal community-controlled, not-for-profit legal aid organization founded in 1972 and headquartered in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. NAAJA delivers culturally responsive criminal law, civil law, and specialized justice services to Aboriginal people and their families across the Northern Territory, employing more than 200 staff across offices in Darwin, Alice Springs, Palmerston, Katherine, and Tennant Creek. Its service portfolio includes court representation in NT courts and remote bush courts, a 24/7 Custody Notification Service, Adult and Youth Throughcare programs targeting recidivism reduction, the Kunga Stopping Violence Program supporting women in custody, community legal education, and policy and law reform advocacy.

The organization operates on a government-funded service delivery model rather than a technology platform. NAAJA is primarily contracted by the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department for core legal services, with additional funding from the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) for the Custody Notification Service and from the Northern Territory Government for justice programs. Services are free to clients, and the organization supplements government contracts with tax-deductible public donations. At scale, NAAJA represents approximately 65% of all people appearing in criminal matters in the Northern Territory, handles roughly 9,000 criminal matters and 1,900 civil matters monthly, and served 8,104 unique Aboriginal clients between July and December 2024.

In 2022–2024 NAAJA underwent significant governance reform following independent investigations by BDO Australia and KPMG into finance, credit card use, and corporate governance, and Federal Court findings (Atkins v NAAJA Ltd [2024] FCA 686) of unlawful adverse action against its former CEO. A new constitution adopted at the November 2024 AGM reduced the board from 16 to a maximum of 8 directors, introduced three independent specialist directors, and opened membership to all Aboriginal people in the NT. A new chair (Theresa Roe), deputy chair (Carol Dowling), three independent directors, and incoming CEO Ben Grimes (commencing 1 September 2025) anchor a leadership team tasked with stabilizing operations and restoring stakeholder confidence.

Name

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency

Legal name

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency Ltd

Website

https://naaja.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is an Aboriginal community-controlled, not-for-profit legal aid organization that provides criminal, civil, and family law services plus throughcare and custody notification programs to Aboriginal people across Australia's Northern Territory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Darwin

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: NAAJA is primarily funded through government contracts and grants, including funding from the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department for criminal and civil law services, the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), and the Northern Territory Government. NAAJA also accepts donations from the public.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NAAJA is an Aboriginal community-controlled, not-for-profit legal aid organisation that delivers free criminal and civil law representation to Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory. It supplements its legal practice with prisoner Throughcare programs (Adult, Youth and Kunga), Community Legal Education, a 24-hour Custody Notification Service, and policy and law reform advocacy aimed at reducing Aboriginal over-representation in the justice system.

Product overview

NAAJA is an Aboriginal community-controlled legal aid organization providing a comprehensive suite of legal and justice services to Aboriginal people throughout the Northern Territory. The core offerings include criminal law representation and civil law services, supported by specialized justice programs including Adult Throughcare, Youth Throughcare, the Kunga Stopping Violence Program, Community Legal Education, and University Programs. Additionally, NAAJA operates a Custody Notification Service providing 24-hour welfare checks for Aboriginal people entering police custody. The organization also engages in policy and law reform advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Criminal Law Services Legal representation and advice for Aboriginal people facing criminal charges in the Northern Territory court system, including appearances across Local Court, Supreme Court, Youth Court and remote bush courts.
• Civil Law Services Legal services covering housing, statutory compensation schemes, child protection, welfare rights, police and healthcare complaints, and adult guardianship for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
• Adult Throughcare Program Alice Springs and Palmerston-based program supporting Aboriginal people preparing to leave prison through intensive case management that continues post-release, aimed at reducing recidivism.
• Youth Throughcare Program Case management support for young Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system and their families, providing continuity of support through custody and post-release.
• Kunga Stopping Violence Program Alice Springs-based throughcare service delivering support to women in prison and following release to reduce recidivism and support transition back into community.
• Community Legal Education Culturally appropriate legal education, training and capacity-building delivered to groups and organisations across the Northern Territory.
• University Programs Program in partnership with tertiary institutions providing students with insight into the legal system from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, including student placements.
• Custody Notification Service (CNS) 24-hour welfare-check telephone service providing independent wellbeing checks and basic legal information to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering police custody, established to reduce deaths in custody.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of NAAJA's Throughcare clients from 2024 have not reoffended when released from prison
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Coalition of NT Legal ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2025Coalition including NAAFLS, CAAFLU, CAWLS, TEWLS, KWLS, DCLS and LANT working together on child protection law reform and joint advocacy against proposed NT child removal reforms.
• Territory Criminal LawyerssupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 February 2024Agreement with Territory Criminal Lawyers to provide lawyers for approximately 25 unrepresented defendants currently in Alice Springs Prison while NAAJA rebuilt its workforce.
• Victoria Legal AidsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 February 2024Partnership to recruit lawyers on secondment to help address staffing shortages at NAAJA.
• NSW Office of the Director of Public ProsecutionssupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 February 2024Partnership to recruit lawyers on secondment to help address staffing shortages at NAAJA.
• Gilbert + TobinsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 February 2020Law firm Gilbert + Tobin established a Legal Cadetship placed at NAAJA, with Mililma (Mili) May as the first recipient studying Bachelor of Laws.
• Australian Government Attorney-General's DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAAJA is contracted by the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department to provide criminal and civil law services to Aboriginal people and their families in the Northern Territory. This is the primary funding and service delivery partnership for NAAJA's core legal services.
• Tertiary InstitutionssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAAJA partners with tertiary institutions to provide students with unique glimpse into the legal system from perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including university programs.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Legal Aid NSW: Statutory legal aid commission for NSW providing criminal, civil and family law representation. A broader funder-style peer that partnered with NAAJA via secondments; overlaps in service delivery but lacks NAAJA's Aboriginal community-control positioning.
• Victoria Legal Aid: Victoria's statutory legal aid provider, partnering with NAAJA on lawyer secondments in 2024. Comparable in mission and service mix but as a mainstream government-funded body rather than an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation.

Direct peers

• Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT: NSW and ACT provider of culturally appropriate legal services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Comparable service mix and Aboriginal community-control structure; NSW DPP secondment partnership highlights NAAJA's operational ties to this peer network.
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS): National peak body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services across Australia. Comparable mission and advocacy posture; NAAJA's coalition activity places it as a constituent of this peer network.
• Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM): South Australia's Aboriginal-controlled legal aid provider, delivering criminal, civil and family law services to Aboriginal people. Closest analogue to NAAJA in mission, funding model and community-controlled governance, with overlapping staff history (NAAJA's Principal Legal Officer Anna Gill previously practised at ALRM).
• Central Australian Women's Legal Service (CAWLS): NT coalition partner delivering legal services with an Aboriginal women's focus, including the Kunga Stopping Violence Program intersection. Highly comparable as a small, community-controlled NT legal aid peer within the same coalition.
• Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ALSWA): Western Australia's Aboriginal community-controlled legal aid organisation providing criminal, civil and family law services across metro and remote regions. Comparable in scale, multi-office footprint, cultural-responsiveness mandate and reliance on state/federal government funding.
• North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Service (NAAFLS): NT-based Aboriginal family law service operating as part of the Coalition of NT Legal Services alongside NAAJA. Comparable Aboriginal community-controlled model and NT-specific geographic focus, but specialised in family law rather than criminal/civil.
• Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QATSILS): Peak body and service delivery organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services across Queensland. Direct functional peer for criminal, civil and throughcare service delivery to Indigenous clients under a community-controlled model.
• Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS): Aboriginal community-controlled legal aid provider for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria. Shares NAAJA's model of criminal/civil representation, throughcare-style programs and policy advocacy, with David Parsons SC (NAAJA independent director) having deep Victorian sector ties.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/follow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-australian-aboriginal-justice-agency-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency