15 August, 2016
“We believe all individuals should be able to have access to the legal system to protect or assert their rights, irrespective of their nancial situation. This belief is at the heart of our global pro bono practice, ensuring that we focus our efforts where access might otherwise be denied.”
PAUL JENKINS, ASHURST MANAGING PARTNER
Justice
Asisting marginalised and disadvantaged inidividuals
For people experiencing poverty and for vulnerable members of society, community-based free legal advice services are invaluable. Once identi ed, some problems are straightforward and easily resolved; others prove more complex and require longer term assistance. A legal problem can have significant impact on a number of areas of everyday life, especially for marginalised and disadvantaged individuals.
We are fortunate to work with many excellent community-based advice organisations to provide pro bono assistance. This assistance ranges from running clinics which address everyday legal problems, through to secondments. Some of our projects include:
Everyday advice
Our long-standing clinic at Toynbee Hall’s advice centre in London provides the local community with a resource for accessing legal advice on civil and consumer problems. Following signi cant funding cuts in the UK, many everyday legal problems are no longer covered by legal aid, creating an increasing gap in provision for people who need advice but cannot afford to pay for it. In response to this growing demand, we partnered with Tower Hamlets Law Centre to open a new clinic for people with social welfare benefit concerns, and with Lambeth Law Centre and DLA Piper to create an unpaid wages clinic for people facing unauthorised deductions
from their salary.
Each week a lawyer from our Canberra of ce attends the Women’s Legal Centre, a community legal centre which is run by women and aims to improve women’s access to justice. The Centre prioritises the most vulnerable women in the community including those who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander; culturally and linguistically diverse; dealing with family violence; and disabled.
Preventing elder abuse
Elder abuse is mistreatment of an older person that is committed by someone with whom the older person has a relationship of trust such as a partner, family member, friend or carer. Elder abuse can take various forms including physical, financial and psychological abuse and appears to be becoming more frequent due to the ageing population. By providing free legal assistance to older people who have experienced such abuse, we are able to assist them to protect their rights and protect themselves from homelessness.
Our client was an elderly man with signi cant health issues who spent approximately A$50,000 to convert a shed on his family’s property into a flat, on the understanding that he would be able to live there for life. Five years after moving in, a family member commenced eviction proceedings against our client. We defended our client at eviction proceedings and had the proceedings dismissed. We also lodged a caveat against the property to protect our client’s financial contribution. Our client subsequently received a financial settlement for his investment in the property, allowing him to purchase his own caravan and maintain his independence. He told us that his health has significantly improved since leaving the property.
Supporting victims of crime
Victims of crime often suffer injury or loss in the process of, or as a result of, the offence. Where the offence results in death, this loss can extend to others, including close relatives. Many countries operate criminal injuries compensation or victim support schemes to provide nancial compensation in such situations, and this work is an important part of our pro bono practice in Australia. Lawyers in our Perth of ce provide legal assistance with preparing and submitting applications to the Of ce of Criminal Injuries for consideration under its compensation scheme. Lawyers in our Sydney of ce have also helped victims of crime make applications for compensation under the New South Wales (NSW) government scheme. In 2013 the scheme was significantly altered and we continue to assist victims of crime who need assistance in navigating the new system.
Going to court
When legal problems escalate and court proceedings are commenced, not everyone can access legal aid or afford legal representation. Therefore, self-representation is becoming an increasingly common feature in some jurisdictions. Self representation can be very challenging for individuals who are unfamiliar with the law, court processes and the courtroom environment.
In recognition of the practical challenges of providing pro bono representation to every self-represented litigant, a number of pro bono schemes have been developed to provide “touch points” for self-represented litigants to receive guidance on various matters including relevant laws and procedures, the identification of legal arguments, the evidence required, and making a decision on whether to try and resolve the dispute outside a court setting.
Our London office assists a College of Law litigation clinic through which trainee solicitors provide initial assistance to individuals in the early stages of court proceedings. Where an appeal is in progress, the Royal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau helps self-represented litigants understand the legal and procedural issues they may be facing in the appeal, and offers pro bono help to determine how to proceed. Our lawyers provide pro bono legal advice through this scheme.
A similar scheme operates in Brisbane, where the Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House (QPILCH) Self Representation Service provides free legal advice and assistance to self-represented litigants for the duration of their proceedings in Queensland courts. Through the scheme, our lawyers advise self-represented litigants on court and tribunal procedures, assist in drafting court documents and provide general advice around mediation and dispute resolution options.
WORKING TO ENSURE JUSTICE AT A STRATEGIC LEVEL
Ensuring individuals can access the justice system is fundamental to our global pro bono practice. In instances where an individual’s legal issues cross borders and require action on a regional or global scale, we work with specialist organisations to address these issues.
Equality Now is an international human rights organisation dedicated to action for the civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women. Our lawyers assisted Equality Now by undertaking a review of sexual violence laws in over 50 countries worldwide. Separately, an Ashurst secondee in New York was able to support Equality Now’s strategic litigation at national, regional and international levels to establish legal precedents on women’s and girls’ rights.
The Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (AIRE) Centre is a specialist charity whose mission is to promote awareness of European law rights and assist marginalised individuals and those in vulnerable circumstances to assert those rights. The Centre achieves this in a range of ways, including strategic litigation. We assist the Centre on strategic litigation linked to European fundamental rights relating to migration, gender based violence and discrimination. In 2015 the Supreme Court of England and Wales heard joint appeals on the scope of the “right to reside” test for social assistance bene ts such as income support. We assisted the Centre to intervene in both appeals.
The International Child Redress Project (ICRP) is a non-pro t organisation working to ensure that all child abuse victims have access to civil justice. We participated in a cross-of ce research project for ICRP relating to transnational claims against perpetrators of child abuse and exploitation.
SUPPORTING FAIR TRIALS AND DUE PROCESS
Alongside our pro bono work on civil matters, we maintain long-standing relationships with several organisations working to secure fair trial and due process rights for individuals in the criminal justice system.
The quality of representation in a capital trial can make all the difference to the outcome of the case. Unfortunately, capital defence lawyers in the United States (US) are often overworked, under-resourced and under-funded. Research also shows that the death penalty is disproportionately imposed on the most vulnerable members of society, violating their right to due process and the concept of equal justice before the law.
Amicus is a small legal charity which helps provide representation for individuals facing the death penalty in the US. Through the Amicus casework programme, we provide remote support to lawyers acting as capital defenders in the US, supporting them in the preparation of appeals.
Through Amicus, our lawyers are assisting US capital defenders in a case where the client is on federal death row. The case involves complex issues of fact and law including the client’s background and mental health, the adequacy of legal representation at trial and the conduct of the trial and jury deliberations. Our team in London and Glasgow has been able to help review over 40,000 documents covering a period of 50 years and over a decade of legal proceedings.
Reprieve is a London-based legal action charity that promotes the rule of law around the world. Reprieve’s objective is to secure each person’s right to a fair trial. We support Reprieve’s death penalty team through the provision of remote casework assistance, together with research on procedural and ethical issues relating to the death penalty.
“We believe that a young person’s success in life should be determined by how hard they work and the skills and talents they develop, not by their background or family income.”
BEN TIDSWELL, ASHURST CHAIRMAN
Opportunity
Supporting Young People
Young people today will be our leaders tomorrow. We are proud to work with a number of community organisations which work to support and inspire young people to develop their skills and aspirations for the future.
Through our corporate responsibility programme our of ces deliver or are involved in a number of work experience, mentoring and student support programmes which include:
A long-standing relationship with Bonner Primary School in Tower Hamlets, London where approximately 45% of students are eligible for free school meals compared to a national average of 15%. In partnership with Future First, we run the “First Steps”
programme with Bonner Primary School. Through a series of workshops with our volunteers, the programme aims to inspire Year 6 students (10 -11 years of age) to start to think about future career pathways and to start building con dence and skills that will help them as they pursue their goals.
In partnership with Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership, we founded InterACT, a programme which uses an innovative combination of drama and volunteer support to help young people learn how to cope with situations of con ict. With encouragement from our volunteers, young people work with actors to explore possible paths of action, developing ways to communicate and respond effectively to situations of con ict.
PRIME is an alliance of law rms and legal departments across the United Kingdom (UK) who have made a commitment to broaden access to the legal profession. Members, including Ashurst, are committed to providing fair access to quality work experience. Each year approximately 25 school-aged students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds attend PRIME work experience placements in our London of ce. Students interested in a career in law or business are recruited for these work experience placements through our partnership with education charity Teach First, from a range of their schools inside and outside of London.
Led by ITV, the Legal Social Mobility Partnership (LSMP) is a collaboration of law rms, their clients and commercial organisations across several cities in the UK. LSMP offers promising state school students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds access to a Work Insight and Skills Programme, with the aim of broadening access to the legal profession and developing students’ career aspirations. The LSMP consists of two weeks’ intensive skills training coupled with work insights. Students rst spend a week in a private practice law rm and then spend a further week visiting four different in-house legal teams. A day is also spent with various sports clubs in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham to learn about resilience and the psychology of achieving goals from the clubs’ performance coaches. We are proud to partner with Nomura on LSMP.
The Law Firms Encouraging and Assisting Promising Students (LEAPS!) Mentoring Programme in Sydney focuses on sharing skills, encouraging students to set career and life goals and empowering them to effectively deal with challenges and opportunities they will encounter throughout their lives. Ashurst volunteers have participated in LEAPS! for the last 12 years, mentoring students from a high school in Western Sydney. In 2016 we are proud to be partnering on the Programme with nbnTM for the fth consecutive year.
The Access Project has a proven track record of helping students boost their grades and gain places at university. Our volunteers in London have provided tuition and support to Access Project students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds since 2013.
The Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) aims to make a practical improvement in social mobility for young people from around the UK from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Social mobility refers to the relationship between an individual’s starting point and where they end up as adults, usually in terms of their job, salary or household income. SMF supports more than 1,000 young people every year who have the ability to ourish in universities and professions but may lack the encouragement and support networks to help them get there. Volunteer e-Mentors from our Glasgow and London of ces advise 16 and 17 year-old students on a range of topics, increasing understanding of various career pathways and university applications.
The Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice (SLJ) is a public high school in Brooklyn, New York. Many students who attend the school would be the rst in their family to attend college. Volunteers in New York have established a “Career Day” event, which aims to expose SLJ students to a variety of professional options.
The Drive Forward Foundation is a UK charity which aims to provide young people who have left the care system with skill development training designed to build con dence and support the young people into career pathways. We have partnered with Benefacto, a social enterprise that works in collaboration with local charities to organise volunteering opportunities, to enable our employees to support the Foundation’s activities.
In Australia we work in collaboration with a range of organisations to support young Indigenous Australians as part of our reconciliation work (see page 17).
“34% of care leavers aged 19 and over are not in education, employment or training. Drive Forward Foundation provides an essential service for young people leaving the care system”.
LINZ DARLINGTON, BENEFACTO FOUNDER AND CEO
TEACH FIRST
Founded in 2002, Teach First is an education charity which works in partnership to transform the life chances of children from socially and economically disadvantaged communities, by creating a movement of inspirational teachers and leaders. Teach First works to achieve the vision that, one day, no child’s educational success will be limited by their socio-economic background.
In 2015 we formed a partnership with Teach First and Burnt Mill Academy Trust (BMAT), a school based in Essex. The partnership supports both the recruitment and training of new teachers at BMAT’s schools, and will also support students directly through a range of employability and skills based opportunities including: work experience, insight days, skills workshops and mentoring.
“The inequalities in our educational system are most acute in communities outside big cities, where truly excellent teaching can be the strongest change factor in enabling children from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed. Ashurst’s support will allow us to reach more pupils in disadvantaged communities across the UK and ensure that all children regardless of background are able to unlock the bene ts that a high-quality education can bring.”
BRETT WIGDORTZ OBE, TEACH FIRST FOUNDER AND CEO
Projects around the globe
Further corporate responsibility support for young people across our network includes:
London
in collaboration with our own LGBT network, SPECTRUM, and charities Create and METRO we launched the LGBT Youth Creative Arts Programme, providing long-term support to LGBT young people across South London and Medway. Through participation in creative arts workshops with Ashurst volunteers, the Programme aims to give young people the opportunity to express themselves in creative arts workshops and build supportive and trusting relationships with peers in a fun and safe environment.
India
supporting Nayee Asha, a school in India for children of parents suffering from leprosy; also sponsoring a school graduate on a four year engineering course at college.
New York
supporting the Children’s Magical Garden, a community garden located on New York City’s lower east side between four local schools which aims to connect urban youth and their communities to nature.
Paris
supporting Petite Maman, an organisation assisting disadvantaged young mothers in the suburbs of Paris, by arranging of ce clothing collections.
Ethiopia
using the Ashurst Madrid Solidario Prize to support an orphanage in Meki, Ethopia via Fundación Pablo Horstmann.
Philippines
supporting the Little Bamboo Foundation which in turn supports children in the harbour of Cebu City in the Philippines, through early education.
Beijing
supporting Blue Sky Healing Home, a small private medical foster home in Beijing that helps orphans and children from disadvantaged families to receive medical care.
Tokyo
supporting Book for Smiles, an initiative by the British Chamber of Commerce, by donating books to be sold, where the proceeds are used to provide tuition for young people leaving social welfare facilities in Japan.
Assisting organisations which support marginalised and disadvantaged people
Opportunity is a theme that repeats frequently across our pro bono work. We regularly advise charities, non-pro ts and social enterprises on many of the same legal issues that are faced by our commercial clients. Through this support, each pro bono client is better placed to make the most of an opportunity presented to them, in order to better support marginalised and disadvantaged people of limited means.
The Spanish credit crunch exposed many families to the reality of wage earners being made redundant and losing the ability to pay for rent, bills and food. Our Madrid of ce assisted a group of individuals in the incorporation of Fundación Tengo Hogar which is now helping families recover from nancial instability through the provision of low cost housing.
The Hospice Africa Organisation (HAO) is a non-pro t organisation operating out of seven countries delivering teaching courses to doctors and nurses all over Africa. HAO strongly advocates for the delivery of palliative support to patients who may otherwise be unable to nd the support they need. Over the last 20 years, HAO has treated over 21,000 patients along with their families. Our Paris of ce has assisted HAO, offering corporate structure and governance advice.
Social enterprise is a growing global sector that now sits alongside charities and traditional non-pro t organisations. Social enterprises aim to address social or environmental concerns and improve communities and people’s life chances. Unlike charities, social enterprises generate the majority of their income from selling goods and services; pro ts are reinvested back into the business or the local community. The majority of social enterprises start small, with limited funds available for legal advice. We are providing support to the sector by focusing on social enterprises that assist people in need.
The legal heatlh check project
The Legal Health Check Project, rst piloted in our Sydney of ce in 2015, is an intensive one day capacity building initiative which we offer to organisations which assist people who are marginalised and disadvantaged. Board members and employees in management positions are invited to attend a morning of seminars in key legal areas including corporate and governance, employment, and tax. In the afternoon the organisations participate in separate advice sessions with our lawyers across a range of areas. We regard this project as a valuable way we can support our pro bono clients with understanding key legal areas relevant to their operations.
“The best aspect of the day was the quality of the lawyers that presented and their ability to address speci c issues relevant to my organisation.”
DOUG TALBERT, THE HOUSING CONNECTION RETIRED CEO
“We aim to support those in the community at the point when help is most needed, whether this is through pro bono legal services, volunteering, fundraising or awareness raising.”
MARY PADBURY, ASHURST VICE-CHAIRMAN
Empowerment
Supporting marginalised and disadvantaged individuals on their ourney to self-empkloyment.
Through our pro bono and corporate responsibility work, we aim to support marginalised and disadvantaged individuals on their journey to self-empowerment.
Our corporate responsibility activities in this area are typi ed by the relationship between our Glasgow of ce and Finding Your Feet, a charity created by single parent Corinne Hutton whose hands and feet were amputated after she suffered pneumonia and septicaemia in 2013. The charity works to support those affected by amputation or limb deficiency, providing assistance aimed at increasing rehabilitation and independence. Our Glasgow office joined together to support the charity’s valuable work, raising thousands of pounds through fundraising activities including bag packing, manning water stations, sponsored assault courses, abseils, cycles and marathons.
A similarly supportive relationship exists between our Jeddah office and Open Skies, a therapeutic riding school which supports people with disabilities.
“Finding Your Feet is a young charity and we can say with con dence that our recent growth and success rests to a large extent with the positive partnership and rapport we have enjoyed with Ashurst. For this, Finding Your Feet, its members and all who bene t from our work, are enormously grateful.”
CORINNE HUTTON, FINDING YOUR FEET FOUNDER
Assisting clients with cognitive impairments, mental illnesses or disabilities.
People with cognitive impairments, mental illnesses or disabilities often experience barriers to accessing or fully participating in aspects of society, including transportation, employment, education and the justice and political systems. Through our global pro bono practice, we seek to challenge the structures which act as barriers and remove them.
Independent Parental Special Education Advice Tribunal Support
In England and Wales, local authorities have a duty to assess and provide for children diagnosed with special educational needs. UK charity Independent Parental Special Education Advice (IPSEA) offers advice to parents and carers who may wish to challenge assessments before the Special Educational Needs Tribunal. Our lawyers in London support IPSEA through providing individual casework support and advocacy.
National Deaf Children’s Society remote clinic
Personal Independence Payments (PIP) are designed to help with the extra costs associated with disability or long-term ill-health and can be provided to children with a hearing disability from the age of 16. Our London of ce has partnered with the National Deaf Children’s Society in a new remote clinic to assist children with the legal process of appealing PIP application decisions.
Through the remote clinic two associates from our London of ce recently assisted a 16 year-old boy who is profoundly deaf in both ears after contracting meningitis as a baby. Although the boy can hear through an electronic implant in one ear in certain environments, he experiences difficulty communicating with others, undertaking a journey without support and reading complex information. We prepared the supporting documentation to appeal the decision that this young person was not entitled to PIP. The Tribunal overturned the original decision and awarded PIP to our client. We are delighted that our client will continue to receive assistance in this key transition period from school to the working world.
NSW Direct Payment Scheme
The Direct Payment Scheme in NSW, introduced by the Department of Family and Community Services, is designed to facilitate the self-management of funding for people living with disabilities. Our lawyers in Sydney are advising individuals who are considering entering into Direct Payment Agreements. We advise clients on their contractual obligations under these agreements, as well as the increased opportunity to engage services and support workers by using a variety of different employment arrangements.
Mental Health Legal Centre Justice Project
The Mental Health Legal Centre is a specialist legal service for users of mental health services in Victoria. In 2006 the Centre established the Pro Bono Justice Project to address the low level of legal representation for people subject to enforced psychiatric treatments in their hearings before the Mental Health Tribunal. With the need for representation far greater than the Centre’s own resources could meet, the Justice Project enables the Centre to train, supervise and support our lawyers to represent clients in the Melbourne metropolitan area who are subject to Community Treatment Orders.
NSW Wills Project
In addition to helping meet the needs of Indigenous clients through preparing wills, our NSW Wills Project also supports parents or carers of individuals with cognitive impairments or mental illnesses.
Assisting vulnerable communities affected by migration
Migrant workers can face challenges and vulnerabilities during their journey across borders, while working in a foreign country and when they return to their countries of origin. These challenges can be compounded if individuals do not speak the local language, do not have local support networks or are unfamiliar with the law and local customs of the country to which they are migrating. Our pro bono work seeks to assist organisations that are engaged in efforts to educate employers and support migrant workers.
Justice Without Borders
Justice Without Borders (JWB) is an organisation which works to empower victims of labour exploitation and human traf cking to pursue legal remedies against their abusers in host countries. We have recently expanded our existing support of JWB by seconding a pro bono of cer to JWB’s Singapore office to help build JWB’s capacity and coordinate the involvement of our lawyers and commercial clients in their work in Jakarta, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.
Migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates
Our corporate responsibility programme in the United Arab Emirates focuses on providing support to low-income migrant workers.
In Dubai, we partner with Youth India to visit and donate essential groceries and toiletries to male workers in labour camps where groups of four to six men frequently share a room and work outside in the desert heat, sending the majority of their wages home to support their families in the Indian subcontinent. These trips provide an invaluable experience for our people to see another, less publicised, side of Dubai, and an opportunity to see for themselves how their donations are put to good use.
Feel Great Helping is a volunteer group based in Abu Dhabi which supports low paid female workers. We donate bed linen, towels and toiletries which are given to the women. Feel Great Helping also organises workshops, outings and social events. This year, we are proud to have sponsored the West Coast Warriors Volleyball Team (includes several women supported by Feel Great Helping) in the 2016 Inspire Women’s Volleyball League season.
Supporting migrant domestic workers
Around 700,000 migrant workers leave Indonesia each year to work in the Middle East, with the vast majority taking up domestic work.
Migrant Care, Mideast Youth and Hivos have collaborated to establish The Migrant Domestic Workers Shelter Me Project, which has an initial focus on Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The project aims to empower migrants in their jobs as domestic workers, by addressing the concerns of employers and generating dialogue on how to improve and monitor the situation of migrant workers. Ashurst, in association with Oentoeng Suria & Partners (OSP), has provided pro bono support to the initiative through conducting relevant research.
Ashurst, in association with OSP, has also provided advice to the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), a charity dedicated to upholding the rights of migrant workers in Singapore, including victims of human traf cking and forced labour. As part of HOME’s advocacy, welfare and empowerment work with Indonesian domestic migrant workers, we provided HOME with a translation of relevant Indonesian laws and regulations and general advice on migrant worker’s insurance rights under Indonesian employment laws and regulations.
European Refugee Crisis
Europe is experiencing one of the most signi cant in uxes of migrants and refugees in its history. 2015 saw over one million people entering Europe as refugees and migrants by land or boat via the Mediterranean, with approximately 4,000 dying in the Mediterranean crossing.
The Refugee Law Clinic is a practical training programme at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen in Germany. Designed as a clinical legal education course, the Clinic allows law students to deepen their knowledge of asylum and migration law and then apply that in advising individual asylum seekers at local refugee reception centres in Gießen. In 2015 our lawyers in Frankfurt began supporting the legal work carried out by students at the Clinic.
Our Frankfurt of ce’s corporate responsibility programme supports Frauenrecht ist Menschenrecht e.V. (FIM), an intercultural counselling centre for immigrant women and their families in Frankfurt am Main. FIM supports the victims of severe human rights violations such as forced marriages, female genital mutilation, human traf cking and domestic violence. FIM is committed to education, empowerment and promotion of integration of immigrants from all over the world.
In recent years, makeshift camps have existed in the French port of Calais, acting as temporary homes for approximately 1,000 refugees and migrants who have sought to come to the UK. With the refugee crisis reaching its peak in Autumn 2015, this number grew to approximately 8,000 individuals (5,500 in Calais and 2,500 in Dunkerque), drawing principally from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Darfur and Eritrea. Grassroots organisations such as CalAid, Help Refugees and L’Auberge des Migrants formed to meet the needs of people in the Calais camps by collecting donations to improve living conditions. Our London of ce collected and donated urgently needed items for the camps. Several of our staff also volunteered with L’Auberge des Migrants and its Refugee Community Kitchen, which provides 2,000 hot meals a day at the camps in Calais.
“It has been brilliant working with Ashurst over the past six months in support of our Calais unaccompanied children work. The team at Ashurst have been an amazing support, both ready and willing and highly expert.”
GEORGE GABRIEL, CITIZENS UK SENIOR ORGANISER
Unaccompanied child refugees
Interpol has reported 95,000 unaccompanied child refugees on European soil in the last year, with 10,000 children now reported as missing. Many of these children will have lost their parents, or have been separated from family members, and have experienced the trauma of war, from bombings to forced conscription. Help Refugees UK has reported 450 unaccompanied children in the Calais camps between the ages of 8 to 17. At least 150 of these children have family members who are legally resident in the UK and have a legal right to be reunited with them. Our lawyers in London are working in partnership with Citizens UK, Islington Law Centre and Bhatt Murphy to provide pro bono assistance to unaccompanied refugee children in Calais to reunite them with their family members in the UK.
Supporting homeless members of our communities
Over 100,000 people are homeless on any given night across Australia. People who are homeless are often confronted with a complex range of pressures and issues, including financial, social, psychological, medical, health issues and various legal issues.
Through our pro bono practice our lawyers work to support people who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness:
QPILCH LegalPods: Brisbane
Young people leaving state care often have signi cant needs in terms of legal and social support. Individuals who have been in state care also experience disproportionately poor outcomes in education, employment, health and housing. Of the 500 young people leaving the Queensland Child Protection system each year, at least 34% will experience homelessness within 12 months. The LegalPod is an initiative of the Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House (QPILCH), designed to support young people as they transition from state care. A group of three to four lawyers commit to assist a young person with their legal needs (typically housing and debt) as they transition from state care to independence. We have six LegalPod groups in our Brisbane of ce, who are each supporting a young person with their legal needs as they transition from the child protection system.
The Exodus foundations: Sydney
The Exodus Foundation, founded by Reverend Bill Crews in 1986, delivers various community services to those in need, including education programmes for children, free meals for the homeless and dental and medical services for families. The Foundation’s tutorial schools educate over 130 students each year, and its Loaves and Fishes restaurant serves over 400 free healthy meals each day to people who are homeless. Since 2002 we have provided a legal clinic on a weekly basis to individuals who use the Foundation’s services, working with the team at the Foundation to understand and address the root causes of the clients’ legal issues.
Lou’s Place: Sydney
Lou’s Place is a community-based refuge for women who are in crisis, homeless, feeling isolated or in need of support. For the last 18 years we have seconded a lawyer for one morning each week to provide legal advice and assistance to the clients of Lou’s Place. Our lawyers work with Lou’s Place staff to try to ensure clients receive the legal help they require at Lou’s Place, without having to travel elsewhere for such assistance.
YouthLaw: Melbourne
There are estimated to be over 22,000 Australians in Victoria who are homeless or living in unsuitable or unsafe housing, about half of whom are young people under the age of 25. YouthLaw is a community legal centre in Melbourne which provides free legal advice to young people. YouthLaw is the only legal centre in Victoria speci cally for people aged under 25. The service was established in 2001 through a partnership between Ashurst and the community legal sector. In addition to providing general pro bono assistance and community legal education support, we also second a full-time lawyer to YouthLaw to provide advice and casework assistance in a variety of areas including crime, credit and debt, victims of crime compensation and Infringement Court nes.
“During my seven months at YouthLaw, I found that the young people’s legal issues were closely related to their homelessness as they lived out their private lives in public spaces. Fines for using public transport that they could not afford to pay or being reliant on unregistered cars for transport and accommodation, for instance, were common. Generally reliant on little-to-no income, such infringements quickly mounted up and became overwhelmingly dif cult to pay. There are provisions under Victorian law to have infringements withdrawn or dismissed on the basis of people’s “special circumstances” (homelessness, substance abuse or mental illness). However, most young people I saw did not even know of their right to make such an application. And, even if they did, the review process can be slow, complex, and dif cult to navigate. I regularly assisted clients with these Special Circumstances Applications.”
YOUTHLAW SECONDEE
QPILCH Homeless Person’s Legal Clinic: Brisbane
We have supported the Homeless Person’s Legal Clinic (HPLC) since it was launched in 2002. HPLC provides assistance on civil law problems to individuals who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. There are 17 HPLCs operating at various homelessness service agencies across Queensland, all co-ordinated by QPILCH. Our lawyers assist at a Brisbane HPLC, offering advice in a variety of areas including debt, housing and tenancy, fines and infringement notices, social security, guardianship, administration and victims of crime application assistance. Our lawyers deliver workshops on topics including voting, gaining early access to superannuation and human rights. Our lawyers have also instructed barristers acting on a pro bono basis, assisted HPLC clients to obtain non-custodial sentences and prepared many active referrals to other free legal services.
Street Law: Perth
Street Law is a non-pro t organisation which offers outreach legal services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Western Australia. Since 2013 we have operated an on-going, one day per week, secondment with Street Law through which one of our lawyers spends four months undertaking pro bono work with the organisation. Ashurst lawyers carry out a wide variety of work in areas such as tenancy, criminal injuries compensation, debt, nes and administrative law, re ecting the diversity of the client base.
“Sometimes the last thing that a homeless person is concerned about are the legal problems they face. The barriers that
need to be overcome in order to access justice do not make it easy for them. Street Law’s efforts and the way it conducts its practice (by reaching out to the disadvantaged in our community through outreach centres around Perth) have broken down some of those barriers.”
STREETLAW SECONDEE
ORANGE SKY LAUNDRY
Orange Sky Laundry is the world’s first mobile laundry service for the homeless, founded by Nicholas Marchesi and Lucas Patchett (2016 Young Australians of the Year). We are providing on-going pro bono support to Orange Sky laundry, which started in Brisbane and has expanded to nine vans across Australia.
“Ashurst’s support has been invaluable to us as an organisation and no task is too difficult. Their help makes us safer, smarter and more sustainable to continue allowing us to provide our free mobile laundry to our homeless friends all across Australia and eventually worldwide.”
LUCAS PATCHETT, ORANGE SKY LAUNDRY CO-FOUNDER
Homelessness corporate responsibility initiatives
In addition to our pro bono work, many of our of ces also support homeless members of our communities through their corporate responsibility programmes. Many of our of ces organise volunteering initiatives, fundraising and collection drives. Some of the organisations our of ces have recently supported include:
New York
running a food drive to support City Harvest, an organisation which is responsible for delivering more than 50 million pounds of food to kitchens, food pantries, and other community food programmes each year.
London
supporting Whitechapel Mission, a charity which assists homeless and marginalised people by providing day centres, skills training, activity programmes and specialist support for complex needs, as well as supporting the Mission’s Women’s Centre.
Munich
supporting HORIZONT e.V., a charity which assists homeless children and their mothers in Munich.
Hong Kong
supporting the Crossroads Foundation, a non-profit organisation which brings together those in need and those who can help.
Paris
supporting Entraides- citoyennes, a charity which assists those directly affected by homelessness and refugees throughout Paris.
Brussels
supporting L’Ilot, an organisation which assists homeless people in Brussels. organising food and clothing drives to support disadvantaged families in partnership with San Carlo Alla Ca’Granda church.
Brisbane
supporting Micah Projects Inc., an organisation which provides vital housing and other services to the community.
For further information please contact:
Sarah Morton-Ramwell , Partner, Ashurst
sarah.morton-ramwell@ashurst.com
