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Conclusion

Recognising that homeless people live in diverse circumstances and may not approach legal services when they have a legal problem, this chapter has examined the non-legal support and services that are accessed by homeless people in NSW. These services may be viewed as possible sites for legal assistance or referral.

The study found that non-legal service providers, particularly SAAP services, are a key link between people experiencing homelessness and legal assistance services. However, some people who become and remain homeless are isolated from SAAP and other homeless person’s services. This group of homeless people may only turn to family and friends or more general services such as Centrelink, doctors or health services or schools for advice. In this context, it was recognised that if these general services are to refer clients to appropriate legal assistance, the message given to these agencies must be made as direct and simple as possible. One option for consideration is the wide distribution of the LawAccess contact number. This involves increasing general community awareness of the service as well as directing information to the types of agencies and services discussed earlier in this chapter. Another option is to consider telephone access points to LawAccess, in places such as Centrelink waiting areas. LawAccess can provide legal information and advice by telephone, and link people with local face-to-face legal services (see Chapter 6). An added benefit in using LawAccess as a referral point to legal services is that it may cut down the number of times a person is referred from place to place, reducing the prospect of referral fatigue.

This chapter has also highlighted the vital but often overlooked role that non-legal service providers, particularly those in the homeless service sector, often play in assisting homeless clients through legal processes. Non-legal workers may provide legal information and advice about legal processes, assist homeless clients to obtain or complete relevant documentation, refer clients to legal assistance and, when necessary, accompany clients to appointments, explain legal processes or legal advice provided, support clients in court, and assist clients with legal outcomes, such as obtaining and staying on bail. Specialist services such as tenancy services and court support workers also provide skilled, specific advocacy and support services.

As indicated in Chapter 5 and in Chapter 8 following, homeless people require significant support to engage in legal processes and manage the outcomes. Homeless people and other stakeholders consulted in this study reported the benefits of receiving support though legal process from non-legal workers. However, non-legal workers and services need to be resourced and supported to provide this support in a sustainable way. In this study, workers identified a need for access to timely legal information, legal advice and relevant legal ‘education’. Workers also stress the significant benefits of interagency collaboration for legal service providers, non-legal service providers and, most importantly, their homeless clients. This is consistent both with the views of legal service providers as found in Chapter 6 as well as directions highlighted in current policy and research: in short, that homeless people benefit from legal and non-legal services that are coordinated, with a focus on clients’ total needs.