Highlights of NLAF Meeting held on 23 May 2007Meeting Community NeedLegal Services to Aboriginal People The Working Group on Legal Services to Aboriginal People will be reconstituted with the primary task of working on the availability of civil law services to Aboriginal people in NSW. Carol Thomas (Director of Aboriginal Legal Services, Legal Aid NSW) will be the new Chair and Raymond Brazil (Policy and Law Reform Officer, Aboriginal Legal Service) will convene the meetings. Working Group on Mental Illness and Access to Justice Key areas for the Working Group are building closer links with NSW Health, identifying gaps in the delivery of services to people with a mental illness and how these needs could be met, and ethical issues in relation to capacity. The Group is also liaising with Courts 2010 in relation to the needs of people with a mental illness. The Group is continuing to work on a proposal for a funded developmental model which will build capacity in existing services, explore a lay advocates program and support public policy interaction. Rural Regional and Remote The Legal Aid NSW Regional Solicitor Program provides salary subsidies and other incentives to private law firms in identified rural areas to employ an additional lawyer in return for the lawyer undertaking an agreed amount of legal aid work. NLAF will raise with ALAF and the NSW Law Society the possibility of implementing a HECS debt relief scheme to assist recruitment of lawyers in rural areas. Older People and the Law The National Pro Bono Resource Centre submitted a report from the Older People and the Law Roundtable. This roundtable brought interested groups together, identified key issues and explored possible strategies for action. Legal Aid NSW is currently investigating strategies to better meet the needs of older people. NLAF will consider Legal Aid's report at the next forum meeting. Policy / Law reformCourts The Director of Court Services, Craig Smith, gave a presentation on Courts 2010. NLAF members have been invited to provide feedback on a number of the initiatives including registry redesign, outreach services, client service excellence standards and simpler products. New Local Court Assistant Director positions have been filled, and Senior Registrars are being recruited. The location of "stand- alone" chamber registrars is being reviewed. The issue of psychiatric reports accompanying a prisoner from the local court to a correctional facility was discussed. Practice Note 4 2007 Provision of psychiatric reports to correctional facilities has been implemented to address this. Working Group on Conflict of Interest The Working Group submission to the Law Society will be considered by the Ethics and Rules Committees. Co-ordination of legal assistanceLegal Information and Referral Forum (LIRF) LIRF is working to ensure that Service Link is a useful tool for service providers and will be used by them. LIRF is also working to promote legal service agencies to general practitioners. Legal Services Training Reference Group PIAC is evaluating their pilot of the Law for Non- Lawyers course, for which there has been good interest and demand. The Group is identifying training needs through the Cooperative Legal Service Delivery (CLSD) program and is working on the issue of Aboriginal cultural awareness training. Cooperative Legal Service Delivery (CLSD) Blue Mountains and Central Coast are the two new regions for CLSD, with another two regions being rolled out next year. Emerging IssuesNLAF members will keep a watching brief on the issue of the establishment of hub courts with AVL facilities.
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