New Pro-Bono Agency to Replace PILCH
Tuesday 19 November 2013 @ 10.53 a.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure
A new legal organization will replace the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) service in Victoria and NSW. Justice Connect, a new free legal advice service, was launched in Melbourne late last week bringing together the who’s who of the legal community to mark the occasion.
Judges, human rights advocates and senior lawyers from leading firms attended the launch, which featured a special video with contributions from Human Rights Commission President Professor Gillian Triggs; Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC; former High Court judge Michael Kirby; Julian Burnside QC, director of the UNSW Australian Human Rights Centre Professor Andrea Durbach and Professor Denis Nelthorpe.
Justice Connect involves over 10,000 lawyers and barristers from over 50 firms as well as independent practitioners who are prepared to offer free legal advice. The agency, Australia’s biggest linking legal professionals offering pro-bono legal services, will be available to not-for-profit organisations, individuals and cases that would otherwise go without. The CEO of Justice Connect, Fiona McLeay said:
“Now more than ever we need Justice Connect to act as the lightning rod for those in the profession committed to pro bono – from the largest firms through to the smallest practices and individual barristers. We play a critical role in marshalling the resources of the legal profession to serve the homeless, the elderly, the socially and economically disadvantaged and the charitable and not-for-profit community organisations that support them...We can find the Goliaths who will work with the Davids out there so the odds are evened up and they can be heard in our legal system.”
High-profile matters with which PILCH NSW and Victoria have been involved include: the Tampa asylum seekers case; the Stolen Wages case; exploitation of international workers on 457 visas; copious challenges to asylum seeker and refugee policies, and discrimination cases dating back to 1994 when a single parents group was denied use of a hall by a local council on the ground that they were “immoral”, and the 14-year-old girl who fought the AFL for the right to play footy in 2008.
Pro bono work, particularly in Victoria, has been in the public eye lately, following legal aid funding cuts in the state; Victorian barristers have also recently arranged a pilot project to offer pro bono assistance in the civil division of the Court of Appeal. Speaking on the new organisation’s purpose, Ms McLeay commented:
“If not for PILCH in NSW and Victoria connecting these people and organisations with legal resources, they would not have had a voice. As Justice Connect, we are looking forward to seeing the spirit of pro bono thrive, where we can better connect resources and expertise across two states.”
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