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Highlights - August 2009

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Highlights of the NSW Legal Assistance Forum (NLAF) meeting on 26 August 2009

The work of NLAF is focused on three strategic areas: meeting community need; policy and law reform; and co-ordination and communication. Further information on NLAF’s activities is available at www.nlaf.org.au.

Meeting Community Need

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Working Group

A new sub-group has been established to look at the legal information and referral needs of newly arrived migrants and refugees. In addition to NLAF members, the group includes representatives from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, International Humanitarian Settlement Services, Adult Migrant English Program, Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre and the University of Western Sydney.

Working Group on Availability of Lawyers for Disadvantaged People in Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) areas

The Group has been successful in its application for a funding grant from the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department for a Law and Justice Foundation of NSW-led research project. The project will both map public/community sector lawyer positions across the state and survey lawyers in selected areas.

The Law Society of NSW will host a seminar on 16 November 2009 to raise awareness among experienced practitioners concerning the opportunities to work in public legal assistance agencies in RRR areas of NSW.

Working Group on Legal Needs of Prisoners

The Working Group on the Legal Needs of Prisoners is working with the Department of Corrective Services (DCS) to develop a legal information module for use on the computer network which DCS is rolling out to NSW correctional centres. It is also contributing to the development and implementation of a number of DCS initiatives aimed at facilitating inmate access to legal advice. These include an automated phone booking system for legal advice; a legal practitioner webpage to provide information about lockdowns; and the trialling of a webcam system for legal visits.

Domestic Violence Working Group

NLAF decided to establish a new Domestic Violence Working Group, to be chaired by Legal Aid NSW. The aim of the group is to improve the coordination of legal services for people in domestic violence situations in NSW by:

  • mapping current legal services and initiatives
  • assessing the usefulness of further collaboration in the areas of:
    • referral
    • screening and risk assessment tools
    • training
    • community legal education
    • best practice guidelines.

The Group will run from August 2009 to November 2009 and will be chaired by Legal Aid NSW.

Public Interest Careers for Law Students

NLAF has prepared a paper on ways in which NLAF members can assist Law Schools and student associations to promote public interest careers to law students.

Policy and Law Reform

Conflict of Interest Working Group

The Ethics Committee of the Law Society of NSW has agreed to look at scenarios put by NLAF members on common situations that may arise in advice-only services and to provide an opinion on whether a conflict exists.

House of Representatives Inquiry into the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on regional Australia

NLAF was invited to give evidence to the Inquiry’s public hearings in Sydney and Broken Hill in support of its written submission.

Transcripts of the evidence are available at http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/commttee/R12202.pdf

Australian Treasury Issues Paper “Consumer Voices: Sustaining Advocacy and Research in Australia’s New Consumer Policy Framework”.

NLAF prepared a submission in response to this paper.

A copy is available at: http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1593/PDF/New_South_Wales_Legal_Assistance_Forum.pdf

Coordination and Communication

Legal Information and Referral Forum

The quarterly meeting focused on credit/debt issues, with a presentation from the Financial Ombudsman’s Service. Issues discussed included the new duty solicitor roster for the Supreme Court repossession list and the lack of referral pathways for small business owners seeking advice on debt issues.

Training Reference Group

The quarterly meeting focused on domestic violence. Womens Legal Services (WLS) will be holding a workshop in screening and assessment for domestic violence at the National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC) Conference to be held in Perth from 14 to 17 September 2009. WLS has also recently published a range of resources to assist people working in legal settings to deal effectively with interpreters and clients from a CALD background. Legal Aid NSW is developing a training program for its staff on DV issues.

Other Issues

NLAF will be jointly presenting with the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum, Legal Aid WA and Commonwealth Attorney-Generals Department at the 2009 NACLC Conference on the topic of “Co-operative and Collaborative Working Relationships”.


The next meeting of NLAF will be on Wednesday 25 November 2009.