Tekan at the House of Parliament, Victoria, for the Apology to First Peoples by the Victorian Government on December 9, 2025. Photo used with permission.
Tekan Cochrane is an Australian Indigenous lawyer with Kooma, Yuwaalaraay and Torres Strait Islander heritage, as well as diverse European heritage. Raised on a farm in central Queensland, away from major population centres, and the first in her family to attend university, Tekan’s work is grounded in lived experience, community accountability, and a deep commitment to justice and systemic reform.
In 2025, Tekan was a finalist for the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Law Award, selected from more than 100 national nominations and recognised for her work supporting First Nations peoples and individuals in disadvantaged and marginalised communities.
Tekan is the Executive Officer of Tarwirri Indigenous Law Association of Victoria, a not-for-profit membership organisation representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal professionals, graduates and students. Tarwirri is funded through the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement due to the strong need for more Indigenous lawyers in Australia.
Tekan is also the founder of TC Law & Consulting, a member of the Law Council of Australia’s Indigenous Legal Issues Committee, the Chair of the Law Institute of Victoria’s Reconciliation Advancement Committee and was formerly a Non-Executive Director of Women of Colour Australia.
Previously, Tekan played a key role in the creation and management of the Victorian Stolen Generations Reparations Package, which acknowledges and addresses the trauma and harm caused by the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families, culture and Country. Her work continues to focus on First Nations justice, truth-telling, and structural reform across legal, policy and governance systems.
Tekan recently completed a Master’s in international relations, completing her dissertation on Indigenous peoples at a global level with a comparative study on Australia and Colombia.
On January 18, 2026, Global Voices’ author Kevin Rennie interviewed Tekan about her work for First Nations justice.
Kevin Rennie (KR): Given the tough-on-crime policies of Australian state governments, what can be done to reverse the growing trend of incarceration of Indigenous people in Australia, especially youth?
Tekan Cochrane (TC): In my view, the over-incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is not a failure of individuals but a failure of systems. The ‘Tough on crime’ policies disproportionately criminalise poverty, trauma, disability and racialised policing, particularly for our young people. Reversing this ‘trend’ requires a decisive shift away from punitive approaches and toward prevention, properly resourced community-led diversion programs, culturally safe youth services, justice reinvestment, and genuine accountability for police and child protection agencies. Most importantly, solutions must be designed and led by First Nations communities themselves. However, we need governments fully on board.
KR: We are living through a new “stolen” generation with many Indigenous children being forcibly removed from their families. What action can we take to stem this shocking trend?
TC: The fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to be removed at alarming rates should shame the nation.