What are Community Legal Centres? How can they help me?

Australian community legal centres (CLCs) are independent, non-profit community organisations that provide free legal services to the public. Community legal centres that provide referral, advice and assistance to more than 350,000 people each year. These services are provided free of charge. About 20 centres receive no or very little funding and are staffed entirely by volunteers. All other centres receive funds from a variety of sources including state and federal governments and philanthropic organisations.

For more information about Community Legal Centres accross the country visit the National Association of Community Legal Centres www.naclc.org.au

Consultation Now On

Human Rights Protection in Australia

On 10 December 2008, the Federal Government announced a public consultation on the protection of human rights in Australia. The aim of the Consultation is to seek the views of the Australian community on how human rights and responsibility should be protected in the future.

Key questions of National Human Rights consultation are:

• Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?
• Are human rights sufficiently protected and promoted?
• How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?

The Consultation will be run by an independent committee, which will then issue a report on the findings to the Government. This report will be the basis for the Government to consider the human rights framework in Australia.

NSW Community Legal Centres encourage everyone to get involved in the public consultation and to share your views with the committee.

For full details, please visit www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au

You can participate in the consultation by: Emailing your submission to: humanrightsconsultation@ag.gov.au or typing your submission directly into the Consultation website www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au

Posting your submission to:

National Human Rights Consultation Secretariat
Attorney-General's Department Central Office
Robert Garran Offices National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600

Taking part in a Community Roundtable:

Community roundtables meetings will be held throughout Australia so that people can share their views about human rights in Australia. To attend a roundtable between February and May 2009 you should register your details online (www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au) or by calling 1800 086 134. The location and timetable for those meetings will be available on the Consultation’s “Calendar of Events” webpage.

You can also express your support for Australia having a Human Rights Act by either:

a) Filling in Amnesty International’s Human Rights form, which can be found at: http://www.amnesty.org.au/yourhumanrights/consultation/ OR;

b) Typing your submission in the GetUp! webpage: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/rights/407

Training / Seminars

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre is offering one-day training courses entitled “Protecting Human Rights – Train the Trainer”. These courses provide participants with the knowledge and skills to fully engage in the public consultation, and to conduct human rights education with your network, group, organisation or sector.

For details, see: http://www.piac.asn.au/training/trainingcal06.html

Submission Writing Workshop

On 27 February 2009 there will be a workshop on writing submissions to law reform bodies. The workshop will cover submission writing generally, and also will assist community organisations in preparing a submission for the National Human Rights Consultation. The workshop is organised by the Australian Human Rights Commission, and the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law. It will be held at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 9.30am-12pm on 27 February 2009.

For details, or to register, please contact Francine Johnson (francine.johnson@unsw.edu.au)

Speakers Available

Speakers on the topic of Human Rights Protection in Australia (or the lack thereof), are available to do a presentation to your organisation / school / office. For further details, please contact Brenda Bailey at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, on (02) 88986500.

Useful links and background reading:

• National Human Rights Background Paper
• Human Rights Consultation website
• The Australian Human Rights Group website
• Uniting Justice Australia
• Human Rights Law Resource Centre
• Australian Human Rights Commission
• UNSW’s Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law
• Illawarra Legal Centre

 Freedom, Rights, Equality and Dignity - Why Australia needs Human Rights Protection

Closing date: 16 March 2009

 Why Australia needs Human Rights Protection

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) on behalf of the NSW Charter Group is holding a video competition based on the theme - 'Why Australia needs Human Rights Protection'.

The NSW Charter Group is looking for videos that reflect the theme of the competition and provide a unique approach to a human rights subject. For some, the video will record a moment where a human right was protected, for others it may be an observation of what human rights means to you as an Australian. All Australian residents are eligible to enter the competition.

For more information visit: http://www.piac.asn.au/news/Competition.html To download the entry form click here.

 Prizes: The winner will receive an award to the value of $800. The runner-up will receive a prize to the value of $200.

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CCLCG Supports Consultation on National Human Rights Law for Australia

Australia remains the only democratic country without a national human rights law. Along with many prominent individuals, and over 50 organisations, the CCLCG has endorsed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for public consultation on the recognition and protection of human rights in Australia to commence by 10 December 2008 (which is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration). For details, click here.

The Social Issues Commitee of the NSW Legislative Council is conducting an inquiry into Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage in NSW. The CCLCG made a submission to the inquiry on the issue of legal strategies for addressing sexual assault, family violence and child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities.

To read the submission, click here

In response to the Interim Report produced by the Committee, the CCLCG provided additional comments in August 2008: click here.

Inquiry into the Sex Discrimination Act

The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs is conducting an inquiry into the effectiveness of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality. In August 2008, Kingsford Legal Centre, with assistance from other centres, made a submission to inquiry, on behalf of the CCLCG and the National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC).

The submission, which makes 45 recommendations, can be found here.

This website is sponsored by the Law & Justice Foundation of NSW.

Last updated 11th March 2009

Valuing Volunteers Kit

The Valuing Volunteers Project aims to develop volunteer training and resource materials with broad application to community legal centres.

The Project is a collaboration and partnership between the Peninsula Community Legal Centre and Chisholm Institute. This partnership has brought together the expertise and resources of both organisations and staff with relevant skills and experience. Initial project funding was received from the Victoria Law Foundation. Peninsula Community Legal Centre and Chisholm Institute also made financial and in kind contributions. The Victorian Law Foundation subsequently funded further development of the Kit and Project for Victorian community legal centres. In 2007, the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department provided funding to enable the adaptation of the Kit for all Australian States and Territories, with the exception of Victoria upon which the original kit was focused.

Volunteers are an important resource for many community legal centres. Their participation connects centres with their communities, provides access to a broad range of skills and expertise, and enables centres to extend services and activities. The value that volunteers add to community legal centres has been widely and gratefully acknowledged. Community legal centres understand that the incorporation and utilisation of volunteer resources requires planning and co-ordination. It is also understood that the provision of training and support will have benefits in terms of effective service delivery, volunteer satisfaction and the management of risk.

Download the Kit: