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No home, no justice? The legal needs of homeless people  

, 2005 This report into the legal needs of homeless people explores the capacity of homeless people in NSW to obtain legal assistance; to participate effectively in the legal system; and to obtain assistance in legal processes from non-legal advocacy and support agencies. It also examines the role of non-legal support workers and agencies in assisting homeless people to identify and address their legal issues. It is based on a review of existing literature and consultations with legal and non-legal service providers and homeless people themselves....

Ch 6. Legal assistance services in NSW


The discussion to this point has indicated that homeless people in NSW:
These observations have significant implications for the nature and type of legal assistance which is appropriate for homeless people in this State. Accordingly, this chapter discusses three broad topics:


What is legal assistance?


Legal assistance describes a range of legal services, from the provision of generic legal information and advice, to representation by a legal professional in court. The definitions and descriptions of different types of legal assistance used in this report are given below. We acknowledge that, in practice, it can be difficult to differentiate between these different forms of legal assistance.

Plain language legal information

Plain language legal information is generic material presented in non-legal language about legal issues that people might face. It may be information about specific laws, legal problems or legal processes, or about where to get legal advice or representation. It is usually made available in the form of pamphlets, comics,1 multi-media (e.g. videos, DVDs, audio), by telephone (person-to-person or via recorded information) or on the internet. Legal information may be distributed directly to clients or passed on verbally through support workers. In this report, ‘legal information’ refers only to the plain language legal information described above, not that found in text books, case law and legislation.

Legal advice

Legal advice involves the application of legal information to the individual circumstances a person is facing. Legal advice may be given face-to face, by telephone or, in some cases, by email. An example of legal advice is when a solicitor advises a client about a particular course of action, after she has received a letter of demand to pay a debt.

Initial legal assistance

Initial legal assistance is when a lawyer advocates or negotiates a matter for a client, without having to lodge formal court proceedings or commence litigation. An example of legal assistance is when a solicitor writes a letter on the client’s behalf in response to a demand to pay a debt. The vast majority of legal problems are resolved through initial legal assistance avenues, by direct negotiations or correspondence from a legal professional to the other party or their representative.2

Legal representation

Legal representation covers services provided by legal professionals that go beyond initial legal assistance. These services may include drafting documents (e.g. wills, contracts) and representing a person in a legal matter (e.g. negotiating child residency and contact agreements). Legal representation also includes preparing documents for court appearances (e.g. statements of claim, affidavits) and representing people in court and tribunal processes.



Legal assistance in NSW


The level of legal assistance available to homeless people in NSW depends upon the area of law for which they require assistance, their location, their special needs and/or characteristics (e.g. youth, gender, Aboriginality) and their capacity to overcome the barriers discussed in Chapter 5. This section will discuss the accessibility of different types of legal assistance to homeless people in NSW, and the major legal services providing these forms of assistance. It should be noted that most legal assistance services provide more than one type of assistance (e.g. information and advice, or advice, initial legal assistance and representation). In addition, a great deal of legal information and ‘advice’ may be provided to homeless people by non-legal workers and agencies. Some of these workers have specialist knowledge (e.g. tenancy workers, financial counsellors, government workers). Others are generalist workers (e.g. caseworkers) and support agencies. Legal assistance provided by these groups is discussed in detail in Chapter 7.

Plain language legal information

As a form of legal assistance available to homeless people, plain language legal information has a number of benefits. It may, for little or no cost to the user:


In consultations for this study, a youth service provider stressed the need for information to let his clients know “they can do things legally, without taking the law into their own hands”.3

Legal information is most valuable if it is provided when and where it is pertinent, and in a form that is accessible to clients. One example of the provision of timely legal information that may help prevent homelessness for victims of domestic violence, is when police provide them with information about AVOs, and exclusion orders (see Chapter 4).4

Challenges to homeless people using generic legal information

There are a number of factors that reduce the value of plain language legal information as a form of legal assistance to homeless people. First, the legal information provided may be too general to be applied in an individual case, without interpretation or support.5 This is particularly so for homeless people facing multiple or complex legal issues, or who may have a limited capacity to ‘interpret’ and apply the information to their own situation.

Secondly, accessibility to written legal information by much of this population is limited by poor literacy levels, limited education and lack of access to internet and private telephone services.6 The LCRC observed among its clients:


It should be noted, however, that the LCRC tends to have older clients who, generally speaking, use the internet less than younger people.8 Also of note is that there are several projects sponsored by welfare and commercial organisations that aim to increase the access of disadvantaged people, including homeless people, to free or low-cost internet services.9

Finally, consultations for this study suggest that, at least in the first instance, homeless people may seek advice about legal problems from a range of sources, including friends and families, welfare agencies and other non-legal services.10 The quality of the legal information they receive will vary with the capacity of the support person or organisation to provide the information. The role of non-legal agencies, workers and friends in providing legal information to homeless people is discussed in Chapter 7.

Given the complex needs of homeless people, it is reasonable to conclude that they often need more active support than can be provided by generic written legal information alone to recognise and pursue their legal issues.

Major statewide sources of legal information in NSW include Legal Information Access Centres and Chamber Magistrates and other court staff. LawAccess NSW provides both legal information and advice. These are discussed below.

Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC)

LIAC is run by the State Library of NSW and operates through public libraries throughout NSW. While all public libraries have plain language legal information, 76 libraries (‘public library LIACs’) have additional legal information and staff trained to assist people in accessing legal information. Staff do not provide legal advice.11

LIAC can provide information from published works and/or refer clients to particular legal texts or websites or to other experts (e.g. Legal Aid NSW or CLCs).12 One of the homeless people consulted in the current study spontaneously indicated that he had gone to the library for legal information.13

Given their geographic distribution throughout NSW, libraries are valuable sites for written legal information and assistance. However, LIAC is best suited to library users who have the time, capacity and literacy skills to actively address their legal issue. As mentioned in Chapter 5, homeless people are less likely to have these characteristics and therefore to use LIAC services.

Chamber magistrates and other court staff

Chamber magistrates in NSW local courts are another source of legal information for the community. Chamber magistrates provide a free, non-means tested legal information and assistance service in all full-time local courts, as well as outreach services to more than 50 locations. The service provides:


Chamber magistrates must also remain independent, and are not permitted to provide legal advice or represent people in court.

It would appear from the current study and a previous Foundation study on pathways to legal support15 that chamber magistrates and other court staff are an important point of contact between the court and court users. In the consultations for the current study, staff from one rural court described how some people with poor literacy in their area would ring or call into the court after receiving a letter with the court’s letterhead on it, to ask what the letter was about. The local court Aboriginal Client Service Specialist also told of people stopping him in the street to ask whether their matter was coming up in court in the next few days.16

Challenges to homeless people accessing chamber magistrates

Homeless people, like other disadvantaged people may face some barriers in accessing chamber magistrates. For example, barriers that Aboriginal people are reported to face in accessing chamber magistrates include lack of community awareness of the service, the formality of language used, their location in court houses and lack of access to transport to reach the court house.17 These are similar to the barriers identified in Chapter 5 as facing homeless people accessing legal services.

A court staff member consulted for this project also highlighted the issue of being able to identify a person as homeless. Unless a person self-identifies as homeless, or cannot provide an address for a form, court staff may not be aware that the person has no fixed address.18

LawAccess NSW

LawAccess NSW is a legal information, advice and referral service.19 LawAccess provides legal information by telephone, through LawAccess Online and through LawTalks. LawAccess Online is a web-based search facility that draws together legal information from a range of sources by topic.20 LawTalks can be accessed through the main telephone number at any time, and is a series of pre-recorded legal information sessions on more than 30 topics, including family law, crime, debt, wills, problems with lawyers and information for young people.21

However, LawAccess also has qualified solicitors, including crime and family law specialists, who provide free telephone legal advice to anybody with a legal problem in NSW. LawAccess is of particular interest as a potential link to legal support for people at imminent risk of homelessness, homeless people who have no contact with support agencies, and those who are simply unable to reach legal services, through lack of transport, disability or family responsibilities.

LawAccess has a number of features that increase its accessibility and utility to homeless people, including those isolated from legal and other services. First, callers can ring LawAccess with any legal issue. LawAccess notes that callers often have more than one issue, and the staff will assist the person to identify the most urgent legal issue that needs to be addressed.22 If LawAccess is not the most appropriate service to provide advice, they can ‘warm refer’ callers to appropriate services. That is, they can contact the appropriate legal service, introduce the client and transfer the call directly.23

Secondly, because LawAccess maintains information and databases that are updated with changes to the law, legal processes and legal services, they have the capacity to provide the most up-to-date information, and to make appropriate referrals. For instance, they can transfer a call from a client to a service that has the capacity to assist the client, has the relevant expertise and (where possible) is close to where the client lives. Recognising the limited resources of different services, LawAccess ‘filter’ clients referred to CLCs, referring only those clients who cannot be supported though alternative legal services (e.g. private solicitors, Legal Aid NSW or other government services). Clients will be told if there is no legal support available for their particular issue.24

Thirdly, if callers who require legal advice ring from a public telephone box or do not have a return telephone number, they will be put straight through to a solicitor, rather than having the solicitor call them back at a later time.

As will be discussed in Chapter 7, homeless people may rely on the support of their caseworkers to address legal issues. While LawAccess prefers to speak with the client directly, with the client’s permission they will speak with a caseworker or support worker about the client’s legal issue.

Finally, another significant benefit of LawAccess is that it operates from a single telephone number. As such, it is easier to communicate the contact details to homeless people and to the diverse range of people and agencies that support them (see Chapter 7), increasing the potential for a client to reach appropriate legal support more efficiently.

Barriers to homeless people accessing LawAccess

Given the features of LawAccess described above, LawAccess has the potential to link isolated homeless people in NSW with legal assistance. However, homeless people do face some barriers in accessing and using this service. First, LawAccess was not well known among the homeless people and service providers consulted for this project. In order to be a source of legal assistance and referral for this group, LawAccess would need to increase its profile among those supporting homeless people as well as the community generally. Recognising the need to do this, LawAccess staff attend community events and provide information sessions to workers statewide.25

Other barriers homeless people face in using LawAccess and telephone-based services in general, as identified by people interviewed in this study were:


Thus, while LawAccess is a key part of legal assistance services that may be used by homeless people in NSW, some barriers remain to homeless people using this service.

Community Legal Centres (CLCs)


CLCs are independent, non-profit community organisations that provide free community legal education, information, advice, referrals and, in some cases, legal representation. At a broader level, they also undertake preventative and capacity building work, including community development, strategic litigation, law reform and policy advocacy. CLCs are staffed by paid and voluntary legal, community education and administrative workers. CLCs assist socially and economically disadvantaged people, some of whom may not be eligible for legal aid for the legal problem they face.

There are 38 CLCs in NSW, including 19 CLCs providing generalist legal support in defined geographic areas (e.g. Marrickville CLC, Northern Rivers CLC). Eleven CLCs are in regional or rural areas and 8 are in metropolitan Sydney. In addition, there are 19 CLCs with expertise in particular areas of law (e.g. NSW Consumer Credit Legal Centre, Tenants Union of NSW) or in the legal needs of particular groups (e.g. WLS, Intellectual Disability Rights Service (IDRS)) .29 Recognising that clients may face multiple legal and non-legal issues, CLCs may also refer clients to other legal and non-legal services for assistance, when the issues cannot be addressed by the service itself.30

While no CLCs in NSW specifically target the needs of homeless people, all the CLCs consulted in this study had clients who fall within the broad definition of homelessness outlined in Chapter 1. For example, the Inner City Legal Centre estimates that 10–20% of their ongoing casework relates to the legal needs of homeless people. Indeed, homelessness is one of the factors they consider in the decision whether to take-on a person requesting legal assistance.31 The Northern Rivers CLC also reported supporting homeless clients with a range of other complex needs, including mental health, alcohol and drug issues.32

In discussing CLCs as a source of legal support for homeless people, we have to return to the definition of homelessness. It became very clear in the consultations that many people experiencing homelessness did not see themselves as homeless, even when they fell well within the definition provided in Chapter 1. Those not identifying as homeless included people living temporarily with family and friends, long-term boarding house residents, people in medium-term SAAP accommodation and some people working as prostitutes.33

The term ‘homeless’ is often reserved for clients ‘sleeping rough’. For instance, in 2002–03, the WLS counted only 26 ‘activities’ (services) carried out for women who were described as ‘homeless’. However, if ‘activities’ for this period are counted using the broader Chamberlain and MacKenzie definition of ‘homelessness’, then nearly 3000 ‘activities’ were for ‘homeless’ clients (18% of the total, where accommodation was recorded). The vast majority of this group were women living with family and friends—sometimes described as the ‘hidden homeless’. The remaining homeless women were living in boarding houses, women’s refuges, and a small number in residential parks.34

Thus, while CLCs are an important source of legal assistance to homeless people in NSW, the number of homeless clients currently being assisted by CLCs is not routinely counted and may be underestimated. Accordingly, funding provision is not necessarily made for the level of legal support required by this group of clients. CLCs are now implementing a new national data collection system known as the Community Legal Services Information System. It would be valuable if this system had the capacity for CLCs to record whether clients are ‘homeless’ within the broader Chamberlain and Mackenzie definition.

Barriers to homeless people using CLCs

Given their geographic distribution, local knowledge and specialist skills in delivering legal services to disadvantaged people, CLCs appear well placed to deliver legal services to people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness throughout NSW. However, CLCs are reported to be ‘chronically under-funded’,35 reducing their capacity to provide services, particularly in rural areas.


Limited resources affect the number of services that can be established statewide and, therefore, the distance that people must travel to access face-to-face legal assistance. Insufficient funding can also affect the level of legal support which can be provided by existing CLCs. In a roundtable discussion for this study, a non-legal service provider suggested:
Chronic underfunding may also mean that experienced staff burnout and are not retained by CLCs. The report of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice noted from a submission by Legal Aid NSW:
The decline of funding for legal aid, including CLCs, and the need to redress this was recognised by the Senate Committee.39

Related to this is the CLCs’ reliance on students and other volunteers. Some experienced solicitors do voluntary work in CLCs. However, student volunteers are often relatively inexperienced in both legal practice and in communicating with and recognising the complex needs of homeless clients. With the movement of volunteers through CLCs, the quality and continuity of service provided may be variable. As one CLC observed:


Some non-legal workers consulted for this study, who had referred clients to CLCs, described delays in their clients getting an appointment. One CLC also raised this delay as an issue and noted that some homeless clients had giving up on seeking advice while waiting for the appointment. If people have an urgent matter, which, as highlighted in this report, is often the case with homeless people, the delay in getting appointments with a legal service may mean that assistance will simply come too late.41

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services

As indicated in Chapter 3, Aboriginal people in NSW are over-represented in the homeless population, particularly among those in SAAP accommodation and those living in improvised dwellings. In addition, Aboriginal people in NSW may move more commonly between homes within their extended family network.42 However, as discussed in Chapter 1, living temporarily with family and friends is not necessarily considered ‘homeless’ in this cultural context.43 Aboriginal people, homeless or otherwise, can access Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (commonly known in NSW as Aboriginal Legal Services (ALSs)) for legal assistance.

There are six ALSs in NSW, each with a number of offices. ALSs in rural areas also have outreach services to courts throughout their regions. ALSs are staffed by solicitors, field officers and administrative staff. Field officers are usually local Aboriginal people, who, among other tasks, support Aboriginal clients through legal processes.44 This may include picking up people and driving them to court when their matters are on45 and supporting people at court.

ALSs mainly provide assistance in criminal matters. Most ALSs also provide at least initial advice and assistance in some family law matters, including child protection applications (though contested family law matters are usually referred to Legal Aid). The Western Aboriginal Legal Service (WALS) also does some debt recovery, bankruptcy, discrimination claims, consumer claims advice and tenancy advice.46

Challenges facing ALSs in supporting homeless people

A rural ALS was consulted for this study. Some of the challenges the solicitor reported in providing legal support to his clients included:


It should be noted that some of these challenges relate to providing legal services in remote areas and are not particular to ‘homelessness’.

Pro bono services

Pro bono legal services are provided by private solicitors, legal firms and barristers free or at a reduced fee to clients who cannot afford the legal assistance that they need. Services can include legal advice, court representation and other legal work, including drafting documents. It may also include community legal education and legal assistance to non-profit organisations.48 Pro bono services may be provided on a relatively ad hoc basis by individual lawyers or law firms, or in a more coordinated way through the Law Society Pro Bono Scheme, or projects such as the Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinics. To be assisted by the Law Society Pro Bono Scheme:


Limitations of pro bono services

Speaking of pro bono services generally, one service provider in this study noted:


In its submission to the Senate Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, Legal Aid NSW recognised the value of properly administered quality pro bono services, but indicated a concern that pro bono work by lawyers tends to reflect individual solicitors’ or firms’ priorities and interests, rather than any formal assessment of legal need in the community.51

There may be greater scope for pro bono resources to more systematically address the legal needs of disadvantaged people when pro bono services are coordinated to address an identified need, and the impact of these services are evaluated against the needs of the clients. Legal Aid NSW suggests that this involves firms engaging in cooperative planning, delivery and evaluation of services with the government and community sector.52 Most of the specialist homeless person’s legal services discussed below are examples of the coordinated delivery of pro bono services.

Specialist homeless person’s legal services and clinics

There are a number of volunteer or pro bono legal services in Sydney specifically established to meet the legal needs of homeless and other disadvantaged people. Most of these services operate on a part-time basis, mainly providing legal advice and initial legal assistance (see Table 6.1). Where appropriate, clinic staff will refer clients to other services, such as Legal Aid NSW. Only Shopfront is permanently staffed with full-time solicitors and other volunteer staff.

Table 6.1: Specialist legal assistance services for homeless people in NSW

Legal Counselling and Referral Centre (LCRC)

The LCRC is one of a number of social services offered by the St John’s Church, Darlinghurst, to homeless and disadvantaged people.

Staffed by volunteer solicitors it runs two legal advice sessions a week. The clinic does some casework but also refers matters to the Inner City Legal Centre. The LCRC has been operating since March 1995, initially as a referral agency only.53 It can provide legal information, advice, assistance and/or referral for criminal, civil and family law matters. It has also established outreach legal services in the Campbelltown area.

Service statistics for 2003 indicate that two-thirds of the LCRC’s 127 clients were male, with most clients aged over 30. Three in four clients were on social security benefits, with nearly 40% on the disability support pension. About 11% of clients were sleeping rough, 13% were living in boarding houses or backpacker hostels and 3% in SAAP accommodation.54

Shopfront Youth Legal Centre

Shopfront (assisting young people aged 25 and under) in Darlinghurst is the only full-time legal service specifically established to meet the legal needs of young homeless people in NSW. Started in 1993 in response to the Burdekin report (see Chapter 1), Shopfront “assist[s] clients to see the legal problem in its wider context and to use a legal crisis as a catalyst for change”.55 Shopfront is staffed by the law firm Freehills and run with the Sydney City Mission and the Salvation Army. Shopfront uses its interagency base to address the issues facing young people in a holistic way.

The bulk of Shopfront’s practice is criminal work, including both summary and indictable matters. One-third of new matters in 2002–03 involved representing clients in court for criminal matters. A further 30% concerned advice on criminal matters. Shopfront also acts for applicants and respondents in AVO applications and some family law and care proceedings (usually where the parents are young adults). In 2002–03, Shopfront dealt with approximately 600 matters on behalf of its clients.56

Pro Bono Clinics at Exodus and Lou’s Place

Law firm Blake Dawson Waldron (BDW) funds and operates pro bono legal clinics at two services for homeless and disadvantaged people in Sydney—the Exodus Foundation (Exodus) in Ashfield, a service predominately used by older male clients, and Lou’s Place, a drop in service for women in Kings Cross. BDW’s solicitors are seconded to these services for six months, for an afternoon (Lou’s Place) or a day (Exodus) a week. Some of the matters require ongoing work that can be taken on by BDW.57

In 2003–04, BDW saw 99 clients at Exodus in 312 visits. The legal matters most commonly dealt with at this clinic in this period were crime (29%), family (20%), government and other debt (20%), housing (16%) and personal injury compensation (10%). Approximately 20% of clinic clients were ‘homeless’ as defined in Chapter 1 and a further 26% were renting public housing. 87% were on social security or had no income.

In 2003–04, BDW saw 49 clients at Lou’s Place in 191 visits. Of the 74 matters dealt with for these clients, family law was the single largest area of law dealt with (28%), followed by crime (12%), AVOs (12%) and personal injury compensation (8%). Eight per cent of the matters concerned debt and 6% housing issues. More than 40% of clients seen at Lou’s Place were staying in refuges or emergency accommodation.

Homeless Person’s Legal Service (HPLS)

In May 2004, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre/Public Interest Law Clearing House NSW (PIAC/PILCH) established the HPLS, with legal clinics in five crisis accommodation and welfare agencies—four in inner-city Sydney and one in Parramatta. At least two lawyers visit each of the five services weekly. The HPLS is staffed on a pro bono basis by lawyers from Henry Davis York, Ebsworth & Ebsworth, Gilbert + Tobin, Clayton Utz, Allens Arthur Robinson and Minter Ellison. The clinics are staffed by a number of PIAC/PILCH member law firms and are modelled on similar services in Victoria and Queensland.

In its first six months of operation, the HPLS assisted 189 clients with 267 legal problems. In this time, 10% of the problems dealt with were criminal law issues, 9% were housing/tenancy issues, 8% were credit/debt matters and a further 8% were family law matters. Seven per cent of matters were fine-related, 6% were civil law matters (including commercial and tax issues) and 5% were each of personal injury matters and social security issues. In this period, 27% of the HPLS’s clients were in crisis accommodation, 16% were sleeping rough or squatting, 12% were in a boarding house or private hotel/backpacker hostel and 4% were living with family and friends.58 Eighty per cent of the clients were male and 60% (of those who stated their age) were between 36 and 55 years old.

The HPLS provides legal assistance for civil, administrative and some summary criminal legal matters.

The types of legal matters dealt with by these specialist services vary. For instance, the bulk of Shopfront’s practice is crime, with one-third of new matters in 2002–03 involving their representing young people in court for criminal matters. In contrast, the work of the HPLS has been described as follows:


The types of matters dealt with are likely to reflect a range of influences. These include the needs of the clients or the expertise of the legal staff (e.g. if they are civil law specialists, not family lawyers) and the types of legal assistance already available. For instance, specialist services may not take on a matter for which a client could get a grant of legal aid.

Homeless person’s legal services have been specifically designed to meet the needs of this client group. By way of example, PIAC describes the model on which the HPLS are based in the following terms:


Thus, these services address the particular needs of homeless people by providing face-to-face legal assistance in or near SAAP or other welfare services accessed by this client group (allowing longer appointment times) and by considering the legal issues together with the other issues faced by the client. Services and their lawyers also develop expertise in providing assistance to people with complex needs, and in dealing with the types of legal problems that they commonly face.

Armed with the expertise about the particular legal issues facing homeless people, some specialist homeless person’s legal services also play a lobbying role in advocating for the rights of homeless people. This involves lobbying government decision-makers to implement certain human rights as defined in international law into domestic law, as well as lobbying for change to existing Australian law that may adversely or disproportionately affect homeless people.

The coordinator of the NSW HPLS indicated that, given the high level of fear and lack of trust homeless people have of the legal system, another of the lawyers’ tasks is to engage in a ‘legal dialogue’ with clients, to address their fears and misconceptions about legal processes. This may occur informally, while solicitors are at the host welfare agencies, and may be before clients are given any formal legal advice.61

A list of features that make legal services more accessible to homeless people is provided later in this chapter. These specialist services demonstrate many of these features.

Limitations of specialist homeless person’s legal services and clinics

While presenting a valuable model of legal service delivery to homeless people, specialist homeless person’s legal clinics tend to be relatively small-scale services, and may not be able to deal with all the legal matters facing a client. Clients may still need to be referred elsewhere.

Further, most of the specialist homeless person’s services in NSW are in the inner-city areas of Sydney, where there are relatively high rates of homelessness, appropriate host agencies and close proximity to law firms with the capacity to provide pro bono assistance on this scale. Hence, due to the size and location of these specialist clinics and services, there are groups of homeless people who are unlikely to use these services. These include:


This is not to imply that it is the responsibility of pro bono services to address the needs of those homeless people who cannot access these specialist services. As suggested by some commentators, pro bono services should not be seen as an alternative to properly funded legal aid services:
Finally, while pro bono legal services were appreciated, some clients and workers also felt that some of the lawyers placed in legal clinics were junior and/or ‘inexperienced’ in the types of legal issues faced by homeless clients, and in communicating with these clients.65

Legal Aid Commission of NSW

The Legal Aid Commission of NSW (also known as Legal Aid NSW) provides legal representation, legal advice, legal information services and community education to disadvantaged people across NSW. Services are provided through a Sydney head office, 21 regional offices and private practitioners.66 While the Commission does not collate information specifically on the housing status of their clients, consultations for this study suggest that Legal Aid NSW is a major source of legal assistance, advice and particularly legal representation for homeless people in this State.

This section will focus particularly on the role of Legal Aid NSW in providing legal representation to homeless clients. Representation may be provided through two avenues:


These avenues of gaining legal representation and their accessibility to homeless people are discussed below.

Grants of legal aid


A grant of legal aid is when Legal Aid NSW pays a private lawyer or provides a Legal Aid lawyer to help a person with their case. Basically, Legal Aid NSW uses four tests to decide whether a person should be granted legal aid:

Jurisdiction test: Looks at the type of case and the area of law of the matter for which aid is sought and whether it falls within Legal Aid NSW guidelines.

Merit test: Looks at whether the case will succeed and other issues.

Means test: Looks at the income and assets of the person applying for legal aid and usually also the means of any persons providing financial support to them (these are called ‘financially associated persons’)

Availability of funds test: Legal aid will only be granted if the Commission determines that sufficient funds are available.69

Table 6.2 provides information about the types of matters for which legal aid assistance may be granted. It indicates that legal aid is generally available for criminal matters (mainly through the duty lawyer scheme), family law matters relating to children (divorce in certain circumstances and some property matters), and a range of Commonwealth and State civil law matters, including social security, veteran’s pensions, migration, consumer protection, discrimination, civil liberties and cases where there is a likelihood that the person will lose their home.

To be eligible for a grant of legal aid in most personal injury, employment law, small debt (less than $3000) and guardianship matters, clients need to meet the criteria for “an unusual or special disadvantage”. An applicant at special disadvantage is defined as “a child; or a person having substantial difficulty in dealing with the legal system by reason of a substantial psychiatric condition, developmental disability, intellectual impairment, or physical disability”.70 Thus, homelessness is not of itself an “unusual or special disadvantage” by this definition.

In earlier consultations for the Foundation’s Access to Justice and Legal Need research program, Legal Aid NSW reported that there were areas of law where there is a lot of demand for assistance, which it cannot meet either because of Commonwealth restrictions on its funding or because of resource limitations. These areas of law included migration law (particularly refugee matters), employment, motor vehicle accident and property dispute matters and small debts under $3000, particularly arising from credit card payments, utilities debts, mobile and other telephone services.71

Table 6.2: Availability of legal aid assistance in NSW by type of legal matter

Type of matter Availability of NSW legal aid assistance

Merit and means tests apply below unless otherwise stated

CIVIL

Personal Injury: Available where questions of civil liberties are raised, or for people at a special disadvantage72 in exceptional circumstances.

Debt: Only available where the size of the claim is $3000 or more, unless proceedings are taken by or for the benefit of applicants at a special disadvantage in exceptional circumstances.

Tenancy: Not available for applications to determine fair rental where no point of law is involved.

Employment: Available to applicants at a special disadvantage in limited circumstances.

Discrimination: Available in all State law matters, and in Commonwealth law matters where there are strong prospects of substantial public benefit.

Police Practices: Only available in matters involving breach of civil liberties.

Other civil: Available under State law in matters where there is a likelihood that the person will lose their home as a direct result of proceedings; in civil liberties matters; and in certain consumer protection matters.

Guardianship and Available for proceedings in the Guardianship Tribunal only where applicants are at a special disadvantage (merit and means tests do not apply).

administration:

Mental health: Available in magistrates’ inquiries under the Mental Health Act 1990 (NSW); most proceedings before the Mental Health Review Tribunal; representation of forensic patients; Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW) matters and Protected Estates Act 1983 (NSW) matters. In some instances, merit test and means test do not apply.

Administrative Appeals Representation available if the applicant may incriminate himself or herself; the case is complicated; the applicant cannot adequately prepare or present the case without legal Tribunal, including assistance; or the appeal raises important or complex questions of law.

social security matters: Legal aid may be granted to obtain instructions and necessary reports, and prepare submissions for appeals to Administrative Appeals Tribunal if: the case concerns an overpayment over $5000 by Centrelink; the applicant is at significant risk of prosecution; the applicant cannot afford to pay for medical reports; the appeal is about the health of the applicant or of someone for whom the applicant has parental responsibility; the applicant, because of a disability or disadvantage, cannot adequately prepare or present the case without legal assistance; the appeal raises important or complex questions of law.

CRIMINAL: Available for most criminal matters commenced by a police charge: committal proceedings, Drug Court matters (not subject to means test) and applications for an ADVO in most circumstances. Merit test does not apply to criminal law matters (except appeals and Supreme Court bail applications.) Means test does not apply in first appearance bail applications.

FAMILY

Family law and de Available in most areas of family law, including parenting plans and orders, separate representation of children (merit test does not apply), other orders relating to children and facto relationships: injunctions relating to family violence.

Children: Available in children’s criminal matters, including proceedings in the Children’s Court (merit and means tests do not apply), all committal proceedings, and children’s care matters.

Source: Legal Aid website, particularly section on Legal Aid policies: <http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=242> (accessed July 2004).

Barriers to homeless people accessing grants of legal aid

A number of the homeless people interviewed for this study spoke about the difficulties they had experienced in accessing grants of legal aid. One interviewee who had recently been released from prison and was living in supported accommodation wanted to address discrepancies in the child support he was paying. However, he found he was ineligible for a grant of legal aid under the means test. He stated:


A community-based worker noted:
In a submission to the Foundation early in the Access to Justice and Legal Need research program, the Law Society of NSW indicated:
A number of the homeless participants we consulted for this project had been granted legal aid for various matters. On the whole, these people appreciated both the support they were given and the challenges facing the lawyers assisting them. For example:
To be granted legal aid, homeless (and other) people need to meet a range of criteria, relating to the type and merit of their matter, their capacity to pay and whether or not they face any ‘unusual or special disadvantage’ that would increase their need for legal assistance. While homelessness is not, of itself, an ‘unusual or special disadvantage’, some homeless people may meet the criteria for this classification due to their other complex needs (e.g. substantial psychiatric condition, intellectual impairment, or youth).

Criminal and family law duty lawyer schemes

A number of the homeless people interviewed had used Legal Aid duty lawyer services.77 Duty lawyers are available at 157 local courts throughout NSW to represent clients in criminal cases.78 Clients may be directed to the duty lawyer on the day of their matter by a support worker or a court officer, or they may seek out the duty lawyer themselves. According to Legal Aid NSW, most of their contact with street-based homeless clients and some people who live in boarding houses is through this service, when people come to court on the first day that their matter is listed. Initial contact with homeless clients may also occur when the clients are in police custody at the court.79 For some of the people interviewed in this study, duty lawyers provided the only legal assistance they had received.

Family law duty lawyer services are also available in some family courts and federal magistrates courts to assist clients on list days. The scheme currently operates in the Federal Magistrates Court and Family Courts at Sydney, Parramatta and Newcastle, and will be expanded in 2005 to include four regional centres (Dubbo, Wollongong, Lismore and Coffs Harbour).80 Family law duty solicitors provide legal advice, assist in negotiating settlements, appear in court to obtain adjournments and other orders, and deal with urgent applications on behalf of self-represented litigants and clients who have not been aware of or able to access legal aid assistance prior to coming to court.

Barriers to using the duty lawyer schemes

In a consultation with Criminal Law Division of Legal Aid NSW, a number of challenges faced by duty lawyers in addressing the multiple legal and other needs of homeless clients were raised. First, duty lawyers have a high volume of clients, particularly on list days. This limits the amount of time they have to spend with each client. This is problematic for homeless clients, who often present with multi-layered legal and other problems, in addition to the criminal or family law issue they are facing in court that day. Given this workload, duty solicitors necessarily have to focus on the legal matter that the client is in court for that day, with little or no opportunity to identify or address other legal issues that may be contributing to a client’s homelessness. Furthermore, there is little opportunity to link homeless clients to support for their non-legal needs, which often affect their legal issue.81

Secondly, given the prevalence of mental health and other disorders among homeless people, duty lawyers need advanced communication skills to take comprehensive instructions from these clients. It was also reported that because it can take a long time to take instructions from these clients, their matters may be deferred until later on in the day when the solicitor has more time to assist them. This is reported to be frustrating for clients, some of whom will simply leave, rather than waiting all day until they can see the solicitor and have their matter heard.82

Finally, homeless people and workers consulted in this study reported having to instruct different solicitors each time they came to court.


One worker described a client who had had a different legal aid solicitor on each of the five occasions he went to court. Furthermore, “each time, the solicitor was unprepared”, only being briefed by the client immediately before entering court. Based on her long experience working with ex-prisoners, she believed that “people are going to jail because of the process”.84

Legal Aid NSW is a key legal assistance service to homeless and other disadvantaged people in NSW. However, faced with the types of barriers described above, some clients become cynical about the level of service they can expect from Legal Aid:


A major factor affecting the level of service that Legal Aid NSW can provide is funding. Observations made in this study indicated that the demands for legal aid services were greater than its resource capacity.86 Highlighting the vital role of legal aid, one worker noted:
In its submission to the Senate Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, Legal Aid NSW directly linked the need for increased funding to the complex needs of their client groups. It recommended as follows:
Issues related to the decline in real terms of public funding for legal aid were raised in a keynote address by Justice Sackville to a Foundation Access to Justice and Legal Needs workshop, together with submissions to the Foundation and reported in the first stage of the Access to Justice and Legal Needs research program.89


Features of accessible legal assistance services


A major focus of this project was on the attributes of legal assistance services that increase accessibility for homeless people. These can be summarised as:
Below is a discussion of each of these features and how they may enhance the delivery of legal services for homeless people.

Accessible location of services/outreach services

The coordinator of the VPILCH HPLS argues:


The specialist homeless person’s legal services and clinics in NSW are located in, or have very close links with, generalist welfare services. Administrative data provided by the existing homeless person’s legal services indicate that homeless clients will access these legal services in these locations.92 Issues related to the co-location of legal and other services are discussed in Chapter 7.

However, the needs of homeless people who do not or cannot access homeless person’s services must also be considered. Legal Aid NSW, CLCs, the Chamber Magistrates Service and LawAccess all have a role in reaching homeless and other disadvantaged people statewide. CLCs such as the WLS conduct outreach to health clinics in disadvantaged areas of Sydney as well as outreach in rural areas.93 Legal Aid NSW also provides a statewide outreach program of legal advice and education to neighbourhood centres, court houses, and some Aboriginal legal services.94 In 2004, the LCRC started providing a legal clinic through two Community Technology Centres in Western Sydney.95 Given the numbers of homeless people living with family and friends, in boarding houses and caravan parks around the State, the value of providing legal assistance to homeless people in places that they can comfortably access cannot be underestimated.

Less formality


Some service providers interviewed for this project noted the need for legal services to be ‘less formal’, so that homeless people are not intimidated and deterred from using these services.97 To this end, a number of legal services for different disadvantaged clients (e.g. homeless people, women, Aboriginal people) aim to provide a less formal atmosphere, in areas and/or services their client groups already visit. For example, the Violence Prevention Service (VPS) in Walgett is a legal and support service for local Aboriginal women, which is provided in a less formal atmosphere. The VPS is under the auspices of the WLS, and staffed by solicitors and court support workers. While the service does not specifically target the homeless, it serves a group of women who are vulnerable to homelessness—that is, women living with, and/or escaping from domestic violence.

One feature of the VPS is that clients can access the service for assistance other than legal advice. For example, the VPS is also an agent for Chrisco98 and The Smith Family. Women can also simply come in for a chat and a cup of tea. This latter feature is considered particularly important by the service, for women who may be reticent to approach, or be seen to approach, a legal service. As the manager stated:


Time to see clients

A number of legal service providers indicated in consultations for this study that homeless clients with complex needs require longer appointment times with their lawyer. They need time to tell their stories at their own pace and for the lawyer to talk them through their legal options. The LCRC observed:


The need for more time to spend with clients was also raised as an issue for Legal Aid duty lawyers and for ALS solicitors, who represent a list of clients on a court day.101

Lawyers with good communication skills

Consultations for this study also suggested that lawyers working with homeless clients require both high-level communication skills and an appreciation of the complex needs of their clients. One SAAP worker suggested that lawyers need to be straight forward with clients and to avoid patronising tones.102 Lawyers also need to be able to provide advice in language the clients can understand.


Thus, the skill of a lawyer is not just in communicating with clients, but in appreciating the clients other needs and limitations.
Continuity of service

Together with legal staff skilled in communication is the need for continuity of legal staff—where a client sees one solicitor on an ongoing basis. This issue was raised in the Burdekin Report and, as consultations indicated, remains a need today.105 The impact of having a different solicitor each time the client went to court was noted in particular, in relation to the duty lawyer scheme for criminal matters. Recognising the need for continuity of staff, the pro bono homeless person’s legal services second solicitors to the clinics for six-month blocks of time.

Provision of timely advice

A number of participants in this study have indicated that, in many cases, homeless people may not seek assistance for a legal issue until their matters are at crisis point (if at all).106 When legal advice is sought, action is often required promptly to avoid harsh consequences or compounding problems. Legal services for homeless people need the capacity to respond accordingly.107 However, making legal services more accessible to begin with may also encourage clients to access the service before issues compound. Early intervention is discussed in Chapter 7.

A legal case management approach

In consultations for this study, an experienced solicitor working with homeless youth noted: “because of their chaotic lifestyle [homeless people] need an intense legal case management strategy which is client based rather than matter based” (emphasis added).108 Legal case management involves considering all the legal issues facing one particular person and providing a coordinated legal response to those needs. However, based on consultations for this study, the reality is that legal service provision to disadvantaged people in NSW, particularly at the stage of legal assistance and representation, tends to be ‘siloed’ by matter type. For instance, a Legal Aid duty lawyer will assist with a person’s criminal matter; a grant of legal aid may be provided to a private solicitor for a family court matter; a tenancy advice service may support the client with a housing issue and their debt may remain unaddressed. Not only is a person’s legal assistance drawn from multiple agencies (or different sections of the same agency), it appears that often there is no communication between, or coordination of, the services provided.

Given that homeless people’s problems tends to involve multiple and often interrelated legal and other issues, their needs may not be best served by such a fragmented system. Furthermore, considering the barriers they face in seeking assistance for these problems, ideally contact with a legal assistance service for any one of these issues should lead to assistance for their other legal needs.

Another legal case management issue is that homeless clients may also require ongoing support. This is the type of support provided by Shopfront. As its Principal Solicitor remarked:


The development of individual case plans for homeless clients may require increased communication and coordination between legal agencies about the needs of individual clients.

Holistic service delivery: coordinating legal and other needs

As discussed above, homeless people and their service providers may benefit from a coordinated approach to legal assistance. However, given their complex lives, homeless people may also benefit from having their legal and other needs addressed in an integrated and holistic manner. As the IDRS noted:


In its submission to the Foundation during its public consultations in the early stages of the Access to Justice and Legal Need research program, Legal Aid NSW noted:
While the individual needs of homeless people vary considerably, we found that, generally, this group of people has compounding legal and social issues. Some people will need intensive support for a short time (e.g. to clear debt, find stable accommodation, separate from a partner and/or gain employment), while others, particularly those with disabilities may require longer term support to manage their lives (e.g. to maintain a tenancy, receive alcohol and drug treatment). It would seem from the views expressed by participants in this study that the overall outcome both legally and socially may be enhanced by coordination between legal and other support services. Hence, ‘one-stop shop’ type models, where people can be assisted with different legal problems, as well as with access to crisis accommodation, Centrelink, health and other services, may best meet the needs of homeless people. The role of non-legal services in supporting homeless people through legal services is discussed further in Chapter 7.

Empowering the client

As described in Chapter 1, services such as the HPLS place their work within a ‘rights-based approach’. In terms of legal service delivery, Goldie described this approach as one that places “homeless people at the centre of the processes that develop solutions and in control of decision-making that affects them”.112 With an emphasis on capacity building and skills transfer, the National Association of Community Legal Centres also suggests the participation of community members in the management of legal services and making the lawyer–client ‘exchange’ an empowering one for the client.113



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:


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.




1  Such as those produced by Streetwize covering a range of legal and other issues. See <http://www.streetwize.com.au/publications_legal.html> (accessed November 2004).
2  Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice and Legal Needs Program, Background Paper, 2002, <http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/access/background.html> (accessed November 2004), p. 8.
3  Caseworker no. 5.
4  One study found that a barrier to women applying for exclusion orders (to keep the perpetrator out of the family home) is the invisibility of exclusion orders, and lack of information about them. Edwards, p. 15. See Chapter 4 for information on how exclusion orders can be used to prevent homelessness for victims of domestic violence.
5  See also S Scott & C Sage, Gateways to the Law: An Exploratory Study of How Non-Profit Agencies Assist Clients with Legal Problems, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Sydney, 2001, p. 18. They report studies indicating that legal information is of limited value by itself, but is useful if complementing other strategies.
6  As discussed in Chapter 5.
7  Submission by Prue Gregory on behalf of the LCRC.
8  ABS, Use of the Internet by Householders, Australia, cat. no. 8147.0 Canberra, ABS, 2000.
9  E.g. Salvation Army/Centrelink StreetNet Bus. See M Barton, Internet bus offers a ticket of hope for young homeless in Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August, 2004, p. 7, on Community Technology Centres see The Smith Family, Australian State-based Community Technology Centres, 2004, <http://www.smithfamily.com.au/> (accessed November 2004).
10  See Chapter 7 for examples.
11  State Library of NSW, LIAC, <http://liac.sl.nsw.gov.au/about>, (accessed July 2004).
12  LIAC website.
13  Interview no. 11. This cannot be taken as indicative of the level of library or LIAC usage by homeless people as we did not directly ask whether or not they had used this service.
14  Submission from the NSW Attorney Generals Department to the Foundation reported in Access to Justice and Legal Needs. Stage 1: Public Consultations, p. 92, The Law Handbook p. 112.
15  Scott & Sage.
16  Consultation with Court staff, Walgett, February 2004.
17  NSW Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council, p. 7. This paper also discusses the innovative strategies undertaken by one Chamber Magistrate to address these issues.
18  Consultation with Court staff, Walgett, February 2004.
19  LawAccess can be contacted on a 1300 phone number, at the cost of a local call from fixed line phones within NSW.
20  See <http://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au>.
21  See also Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice and Legal Needs. Stage 1: Public Consultations, pp.935.
22  Information session provided by Law Access, 9 June 2004.
23  Law Access NSW, Referral of Customers to Specialist Legal Services, Private Solicitors and Other Legal Advice or Related Assistance Services, <http://info.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/lawaccess/lawaccess.nsf/pages/legal_specialist> (accessed November 2004).
24  Law Access NSW, Referral of Customers.
25  LawAccess are also involved in a pilot project where phone calls to Chamber Magistrates at specific local courts are redirected to LawAccess. If further information is required after LawAccess has assisted the client, LawAccess will make an appointment for the client with the Chamber Magistrate. See <http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/information/referral/together.html> (accessed November 2004).
26  1300 numbers are the cost of a local call to the caller from a fixed line phone, but may be charged at higher rates from a mobile phone. 1800 calls are free from most fixed line phones but may be charged at higher rates from mobile phones. See <http://www.telstra.com.au/products/product.cfm?prod_id=2990> (accessed February 2005).
27  Consultation with Bob Morgan, River Towns Project, February 2004. LawAccess has recently employed two Indigenous Customer Service Officers.
28  Submission of NACLC, as reported in Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, para. 11.3.
29  See <http://www.nswclc.org.au>.
30  M Noone, Comment: The Activist Origins of Australian Community Legal Centres, Law in Context, vol. 19, 2001, pp. 12837, L Schetzer, Community Legal Centres and the Future of Law Reform, Alternative Law Journal, vol. 23, no. 5, 1998, pp. 25455, 257, NACLC, Doing Justice.
31  Consultation with Natalie Ross, ICLC, September 2003.
32  Consultation with Steve Bolt, Northern Rivers CLC, December 2003.
33  Consultations with WLS, November 2003, Grace Abrams, the Gender Centre, January 2004, and Women and Girls Emergency Shelter, February 2004.
34  Drawn from data provided by WLS on activities in 200203.
35  See submissions from Law Society of NSW, North and North West CLS, Court Support Scheme and Inner West Tenancy Advice Service together with roundtable consultations cited in Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice and Legal Needs. Stage 1 Public Consultations, pp. 76336. See also Senate Legal & Constitutional References Committee, Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice.
36  Combined Community Legal Centres Group NSW, Impact of Current Arrangements Regarding Legal Aid and Access to Justice on NSW CLCs. Submission to the Senate Legal & Constitutional Committee Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, Sydney, 2003, section 5.1, also noted at the NHHIN Forum.
37  Roundtable Consultation, 27 August 2003. It should be noted that different CLCs have different levels of funding and the services they can provide vary accordingly. Most provide advice and many provide further assistance in appropriate cases.
38  Senate Legal & Constitutional Committee, Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, para 11.17.
39  Senate Legal & Constitutional Committee, Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, paras 11.4611.53.
40  Consultation with Natalie Ross, ICLC, September 2003, see also Roundtable Consultation, 27 August 2003.
41  Consultation with Natalie Ross, ICLC, September 2003.
42  Chamberlain & MacKenzie, Counting the Homeless 2001: NSW, p. 63, see also Memmott et al., p. 13.
43  See Chapter 1, particularly on Memmott et al., Final Report, Consultation with Richard Ikkafu, WALS, Walgett Office May 2004.
44  See Coalition of Aboriginal Legal Services (COALS) website, <http://www.coalsnsw.com.au>, (accessed February 2005).
45  Consultation with Richard Ikkafu, Walgett WALS, May 2004.
46  COALS, Western Aboriginal Legal Service at <http://www.coalsnsw.com.au>, (accessed February 2005), also Consultation with Richard Ikkafu, WALS, Walgett Office, May 2004.
47  Consultation with Richard Ikkafu, Walgett WALS, May 2004.
48  National Pro Bono Resource Centre, About Us, <http://www.nationalprobono.org.au/about/index.html> (accessed November 2004). See also Law Society of NSW, Pro Bono Scheme, <http://www.lawsociety.com.au/page.asp?partID=6744> (accessed November 2004). See Law Society website for eligibility criteria.
49  Law Society of NSW, Pro Bono Scheme.
50  Roundtable Consultation, 27 August 2003.
51  Legal Aid Commission of NSW, Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice, Sydney, 2003, pp. 414. < http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/legalaidjustice/submissions/sublist.htm> (accessed May 2005).
52  Legal Aid NSW, submission to the Senate Inquiry, p. 41.
53  Submission by Prue Gregory on behalf of the LCRC.
54  91% provided details of their income. Data provided by the LCRC.
55  Shopfront, <http://www.theshopfront.org/> (accessed November 2004).
56  Legal service data provided by Shopfront.
57  Consultation with Anne Gregan, BDW, July 2003.
58  Statistics provided by the PIAC/PILCH HPLS for the period 28 May 2004 to 27 November 2004. Accommodation statistics on the basis of 172 people who indicated where they were living.
59  PIAC, Homeless Persons Legal Service, <http://piac.asn.au/legal/hpls.html> (accessed November 2004).
60  PIAC, 2004.
61  Consultation with Emma Golledge, Coordinator, PIAC/PILCH HPLS, February 2005.
62  NHHIN Forum.
63  Consultation with Phil Lynch, VPILCH HPLC, October 2003.
64  Roundtable Consultation 27 August 2003, see also Legal Aid NSW, submission to the Senate Inquiry, pp.412.
65  Roundtable Consultation, 27 August 2003, Consultation with Brian Hocking Matthew Talbot Hostel, November 2003.
66  See Legal Aid NSW, Annual Report 20032004, Legal Aid NSW, Sydney, 2004, <http://lacextra.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/internet/ar0304/legalaidannrpt.pdf>, p. 1.
67  Legal Aid NSW, Outreach Programs, <http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=68> (accessed November 2004).
68  Interview no. 15
69  Legal Aid NSW, Policies in Brief, <http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=242> (accessed November 2004).
70  Legal Aid NSW, Policies in Brief.
71  Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice and Legal Needs. Stage 1: Public Consultations, p. 39.
72  An applicant at a special disadvantage is defined as a child, or a person having substantial difficulty in dealing with the legal system by reason of a substantial psychiatric condition, developmental disability, intellectual impairment or physical disability.
73  Interview no. 15.
74  Roundtable Consultation, 27 August 2003.
75  Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice Research Program. Stage 1: Public Consultations, p. 37. The Henderson Poverty Line calculates the amount of money that individuals and families of different sizes need to cover basic living costs.
76  Interview no. 20, also Interview nos. 15 & 28.
77  Interview nos. 8, 10, 11 & 20.
78  See <http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au>
79  Consultation with Brian Sandland, Criminal Law Division, Legal Aid NSW, October 2003.
80  Consultation with Louise Blazejowska, Legal Aid NSW, March 2005.
81  Consultation with Brian Sandland, Criminal Law Division, Legal Aid NSW, October 2003.
82  Consultation with Brian Sandland, Criminal Law Division, Legal Aid NSW, October 2003 (see Chapter 8 for the problems arising from this).
83  Interview no 10, see also NHHIN Forum, Working Group 1. This was also raised as an issue in the Burdekin report (para. 21.26).
84  NHHIN Forum, Working Group 1.
85  Interview no 10, also Interview 19.
86  E.g. Caseworkers 1 & 2, Interview nos. 6, 7, 10, 15, 25 & 27, see also Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice and Legal Needs. Stage 1: Public Consultations, pp. 326.
87  Roundtable Consultation, 27 August 2004.
88  Legal Aid NSW, 2003, p. 3.
89  L Schetzer & J Henderson, Access to Justice and Legal Needs: A Project to Identify Legal Needs and Barriers for Disadvantaged People in NSW, Public consultations, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Sydney, 2003, pp. 367.
90  Suggestions drawn from consultations with Brian Hocking, Matthew Talbot Hostel, November 2003, Jane Sanders, Shopfront, September 2003, Phil Lynch, VPILCH HPLC, Brian Sandland, Criminal Law Division, Legal Aid NSW, October 2003, Natalie Ross, ICLC, September 2003.
91  Lynch & Klease, section 5.3.
92  See Table 6.2, which includes information about the numbers and types of clients accessing these services.
93  Consultation with WLS, November 2003.
94  Legal Aid NSW, Outreach Programs.
95  Personal communication, Prue Gregory, LCRC, December 2003.
96  Roundtable Consultation, 27 August, 2003.
97  E.g. Consultation with Brian Hocking, Matthew Talbot Hostel, November 2003.
98  This is a Christmas savings club.
99  Consultation with Doreen Walford, VPS, Walgett, November 2003.
100  Submission to the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW by Prue Gregory on behalf of the LCRC.
101  Consultations with Brian Sandland, Criminal Law Division, Legal Aid NSW, October, 2003, Richard Ikkafu, Walgett WALS, May 2004.
102  Consultation with Brian Hocking, Matthew Talbot Hostel, November 2003.
103  Consultation with Doreen Walford, Manager, Walgett VPS, November 2003.
104  Caseworker 1.
105  Burdekin report, pp. 263-4.
106  Consultations with Jane Sanders, Shopfront, September 2003, Natalie Ross, ICLC, September 2003, Caseworker 2, Interview no. 25. See also MacKenzie & Chamberlain, Counting the Homeless 2001: NSW, p. 37.
107  NHHIN Forum, Working Group 2, Consultation with Natalie Ross, ICLC, September 2003.
108  Consultation with Jane Sanders, Shopfront, September 2003.
109  Consultation with Jane Sanders, Shopfront, September, 2003.
110  Consultation with IDRS, October 2003.
111  Submission from Legal Aid NSW, reported in Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice Research Program. Stage 1, Public Consultations, p. 38.
112  Goldie, Rights Versus Welfare, p.133.
113  NACLC, Doing Justice.