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Summary

Legal assistance may take the form of plain language legal information, legal advice, initial legal assistance (such as drafting a letter in response to a claim) and representation in a court or tribunal. In NSW, legal assistance is provided to homeless people by a number of different agencies.

It has been argued in this chapter that Legal Aid NSW, CLCs and ALSs are the primary legal service providers to homeless people throughout NSW, even though legal service provision to homeless people (as defined in this report) by these agencies is not separately identified or specifically resourced. LawAccess also appears to have a major role in providing legal assistance to this client group, and in linking isolated homeless people to other legal services.

In addition to these generalist agencies are the specialist legal services and clinics for homeless people: the LCRC, Shopfront, the legal clinics at Lou’s Place and Exodus and the PIAC/PILCH HPLS. The model offered by specialist homeless person’s legal clinics specifically addresses barriers faced by homeless people in accessing legal services (see list of features below). However, most of these services are pro bono services, which are most viable in city locations where there are high rates of homelessness and where there are law firms with the pro bono capacity to service these clinics. For these reasons, specialist services are best examined for the model of legal service delivery they provide, rather than as a primary source of legal support to homeless people in NSW.

Given the particular legal needs of homeless people and the barriers they face in seeking assistance for those matters, it appears that homeless people benefit from legal services that:

• are located in places that are accessible to homeless people throughout NSW
• have longer appointment times to spend with clients
• are staffed with legal officers who are skilled in communicating with people with complex needs
• can provide continuity of service
• can provide timely legal advice and support
• have the capacity to address or coordinate a response to a range of legal issues
• can be coordinated with the provision of non-legal services (e.g. caseworker support, accommodation services, drug and alcohol treatment)
• assist and empower clients to address their legal rights.

Homeless people also benefit from legal assistance provided as soon as possible after the legal issue has arisen and before it has reached crisis point and affected other areas of their lives. Scope for ‘early intervention’ is further discussed in Chapter 7.

A final but important point is that, at present, legal service delivery in NSW tends to reflect the separate jurisdictions of the courts and tribunals, and be ‘siloed’ by the type of legal matter. Thus, one person may see a pro bono service about a debt, get a grant of legal aid for a family law issue and see a Legal Aid duty lawyer for a criminal matter. This partitioning of legal support contrasts to the experience of homeless people, where legal (and social) issues are often intertwined. Recognising these multiple and related needs, we now turn to the key role of community agencies in linking homeless people with legal assistance, and supporting them through the legal process.