Legal problems follow flood damage

Joan was triaged to Pro Bono Connect as she could not get help elsewhere. Joan owned her own home but then found herself in a financial hardship a few years ago. At the time, the client’s sister agreed to assist our client by jointly signing a mortgage for the property. Both our client and her sister were noted on the title as tenants in common. The sister made no financial contributions to the property. In the 2022 floods, the property was severely damaged, and a cash settlement was provided by the insurer. The sister spent the insurance money on other things because she had no need to live in the house. Joan was left with not enough money to carry out repairs of the property. She couldn’t afford to maintain the mortgage and now needed to sell the property, but the property remained damaged and not in a state fit for sale. Joan was unable to get help anywhere else, and came to LawRight’s Pro Bono Connect service, where we assessed her application and considered her legal options.

LawRight referred Joan to a law firm for full pro bono representation to resolve her challenges.

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Flood Forum Story

Emergency Funding

LawRight was one of five Community Legal Centres that, together with Legal Aid Queensland, received three months of emergency funds in April 2022. This funding was extended in July 2022 by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General and augmented by the new federal government’s October 2022 budget.

Bill Mitchell, Principal Solicitor at Townsville Community Law, has been providing and researching disaster legal response since the 1990s and recently noted the following about LawRight to a sector flood forum:

“[LawRight] have always been a fantastic partner, have always very supportive of us and helping find connections. Well set to make connections between you, your client and lawyers with more capacity to help. So this is the time they really come into their own (not to make it sound like they’re not busy the rest of the time) so make use of those connections.”

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Tara’s Story

From Crisis to Capability

Teenager Tara had no trusted and responsible adults to turn to. When she had to vacate her regional student rental to access treatment and rehabilitation at the Mater, the landlord (who had been advised of her circumstances) demanded additional rent and issued a breach notice. LawRight’s Mater Health Justice Partnership negotiated the withdrawal of the breach notice, waiver of the remaining rent, the return of the bond and the reinstatement of Tara’s clean rental record.

After learning to trust us, Tara disclosed a history of sexual abuse. We helped her apply to Victim Assist and linked her with Mater clinicians to provide trauma support and counselling. Tara reached out to resolve a driving offence and we helped her self- advocate. Her fine was downgraded to a caution.

When Tara was impacted by the 2022 floods and couldn’t access disaster payments, she reached out to LawRight again and we linked her with our Financial Counsellor. Together, they are building Tara’s financial literacy, increasing her resilience and helping Tara access her entitlements.

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