Who we are
Dominic Beckett Legal & Consulting are experienced and skilled legal, policy and governance professionals with particular expertise and experience in Indigenous land and resources law, community development projects and organisational governance.
After more than two decades working in the public, private and community sectors, Dominic established DBLC believing his client base would be better served by a more agile and flexible alternative to traditional firms.
DBLC provides legal and consulting services to non-government organisations, Aboriginal land councils and service providers, communities, corporations, government agencies and independent regulators.
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Please contact us to discuss how we may be able to help.
Our approach
We work hard to provide a very high standard of services and take pride in the solutions and results we help our clients achieve.
We are valued by our clients for our:
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ability to grasp and understand their needs and objectives
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thorough understanding of the social, policy and economic context of our work
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sound and innovative legal and policy advice
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approachability
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ability to communicate clearly and effectively with a broad range of people
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clear and concise documentation
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effective dispute resolution and litigation skills
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commitment to our clients’ interests, and
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common sense and practical approach.
Our clients benefit from the hands on involvement of highly experienced professionals. Unlike most firms, we do not devolve important work to more junior staff.
Our clients also benefit from the network of other trusted professionals and experts we maintain and are able to draw on to expand our capability. This includes an alliance with respected environment and planning law firm Bick & Steele.
We frequently work, and enjoy working, in collaborative teams with others. Many of our clients have their own in-house advisers. We work seamlessly with them to enhance existing capabilities. We also often work collaboratively within project-based teams of external consultants.
We understand that our clients need our services to be cost effective. The depth and breadth of our experience, our practical and common-sense approach, our structure and our efficient systems enable us to meet this need.
Dominic Beckett
Dominic has more than two decades of professional experience in the public, private and community sectors working as an advisor, advocate, negotiator, law reform and policy consultant and mediator.
Clients and past employers include Commonwealth government agencies, statutory Aboriginal Land Councils and native title representative bodies (including the Northern Land Council, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council and various Local Aboriginal Land Councils), the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, private law firms, numerous non-government agencies and corporations, and native title claimant groups and Aboriginal communities. He has worked in every mainland Australian State and the Northern Territory.
Dominic has experience in a broad range of legal and policy areas including Aboriginal land rights and native title, administrative law, criminal law, commercial litigation, tax, customs, corporate structuring, community development, housing and environment and planning. Significant projects and proceedings in which Dominic has played a major role include:
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administrative law proceedings and appeals – including proceedings and appeals on behalf of Commonwealth government agencies and proceedings concerning aspects of the Northern Territory’s criminal justice system,
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native title claimant applications – including the Waanyi People’s claim in the lower Gulf of Carpentaria region of Queensland,
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statutory Aboriginal land claims and appeals – including proceedings in New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory,
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law reform projects – including extensive involvement in the development of aspects of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW),
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mining project negotiations – including uranium mining projects in the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory,
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advising Aboriginal land councils, representative bodies and other statutory and not-for-profit organisations about a broad range issues – including performance of statutory functions, strategic planning, policy development and organisational structuring, and
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land access, use and management negotiations – including negotiations in relation to national park joint management and pastoral land access and use.
Dominic holds an LLB (Hons) and BA from the University of Sydney. He is admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia and as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.
Dominic has a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance and Risk Management from the Governance Institute of Australia and is a Fellow of the Governance Institute.
He is also a trained mediator and has experience mediating a broad range of commercial, community and family disputes. He is a panel member on the Federal Court's Native Title External Mediator List.
Dominic is the secretary and a director of Marrickville Legal Centre.
