LawRight Newsletter - September 2025
Save the date for our AGM, new resources for pro bono lawyers, and farewell to a legend of the community sector
We're happy to share some updates from LawRight's work in the past few months.
As we hurtle toward the end of the year, please save the date for the LawRight AGM, which will be held at 5.30pm, Monday 17 November. We hope you can join us as we celebrate a year of collaborative work, with so many positive outcomes for clients and the legal system.
If you or your firm is a LawRight member, we have just sent membership renewal emails. Please keep an eye out and renew your membership ahead of the AGM – and don't hesitate to contact us if we can help.
Karen Dyhrberg, CEO
Announcing Everyday Law in Queensland
LawRight is proud to share our innovative, tailored legal resource, Everyday Law in Queensland.
This unique Queensland resource has been collaboratively designed and developed by the specialist team from LawRight's Homelessness Law, following extensive consultation and support from Queensland’s pro bono and community legal sector. Everyday Law in Queensland provides practical guidance, client-centred examples, specialist legal information, and relevant case studies summaries, so that Queensland lawyers can resolve more everyday legal issues connected to housing insecurity, financial hardship and experiences of violence.
LawRight expresses our gratitude to Queensland Gives for their visionary, generous support of this project, and acknowledges TBD Design and CloudThree for their website development work with us.
Farewell to Rob Reed
Rob Reed recently finished up his many years as pro bono coordinator at MinterEllison. Rob was also on LawRight (then QPILCH)'s founding management committee and served as our President for several years.
To acknowledge his contribution, we gathered to watch The Sacred Run, the Lotus and the Feather, a film featuring a young Rob determined to run 29km on his 29th birthday on the Sacred Run in Japan. Rob has become a legend of the pro bono and community legal sector who has led the way – in his work for the community and on the footpath.
We thank McCullough Robertson, MinterEllison, MurphySchmidt Solicitors and Barry Nilsson, who joined forces to make the event possible.
Building LawRight's cultural capability
In early September, LawRight staff were honoured to be joined by Uncle Charlie Waters for a day of learning about cultural frameworks and structural racism, as well as begin development of an artwork that reflects our organisational values. Uncle Charlie has done important work closing the gap by helping organisations to improve their cultural capability, and we look forward to continuing this journey with him.
Supporting risk management in the sector
Our many loyal volunteers will be familiar with the Risk Management Guide, a vital tool in promoting consistent best practice across the community legal sector.
A new updated edition of the Guide was recently released and LawRight contributed to this long-term sector-wide work through the contribution of Ben Tuckett, Director of our Court and Tribunal Services.
The recent changes are intended to better communicate expectations and guidelines, as well as encompass more scenarios that arise in everyday practice.
LawRight has offices in Meanjin and Gimuy. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands and waters throughout Australia and offer our respect to Elders past and present.
We recognise the resilience of First Nations peoples despite historical and ongoing injustices, benefit from their knowledge and generosity, and support their right to self-determination.
LawRight Copyright 2025
LawRight Newsletter - June 2025
Thank you for your support over the past financial year
As we head into 2025-26, we're pleased to share some good news: LawRight has secure funding for the next five years.
With our existing core funding ending on 30 June, we've worked closely with the sector, government and supporters like you to ensure we can keep delivering vital legal services.
But while secure funding is welcome, it doesn't allow for the increasing legal need that comes with dual cos-of-living and housing crises. As demand has grown, at times we have had to pause new client intake so we can properly help our existing clients.
The challenge ahead of us is to address this increasing justice gap, and to work collaboratively to tackle to root causes of disadvantage. We are grateful to have our amazing partners at our side - dedicated pro bono firms and barristers, volunteers, law schools, courts, tribunals and colleagues in the community sector.
Our quarterly newsletter below shares more about the impact of your work with LawRight, how you can support us, and reports on recent work including Everday Legal Training for Frontline Workers and a wrap-up of the Queensland Legal Walk.
We're grateful for your support as we continue our work towards greater access to justice.
Karen Dyhrberg, LawRight CEO
Your impact
We recently conducted a client survey, and here's a few words that our clients had to say about LawRight's impact:
How you can support LawRight
Make a tax-deductible donation
It's that time of year. Your donation to LawRight increases access to justice by helping people who can't afford a lawyer to address their legal challenges.
Become a Friend of LawRight
Friends of LawRight pledge to donate $1,000 a year for three years. Since 2018, these generous donors have provided a secure income stream to help LawRight build new services that address the legal needs of highly vulnerable communities.
Everyday Legal Training for Frontline Workers
In April and May, LawRight provided targeted and practical training to over 120 community workers in Brisbane and Cairns.
Across both trainings, LawRight’s Homelessness Law partnered with ATSILS, Basic Rights Queensland, Tenants Queensland, the Salvation Amy, the Mater Hospital’s Young Adult Support Unit, Cairns Community Legal Centre, ICAN, the MARA Project, Victim Assist Queensland, Legal Aid Queensland, and NQ Women’s Legal Service to deliver 18 sessions on various everyday legal issues connected to an experience of disadvantage.
Interest in the training was extremely high: without significant promotion, the 130 registrations across both training days were filled within the first week, with a further 30 people requesting to be placed on a waitlist.
In reflecting on the training, one frontline worker shared: "The LawRight training session for frontline workers was absolutely fantastic. The content covered from passionate speakers made the whole day easy to absorb, very interactive and always open to delving further into specific topics. Highly recommend."
We thank Barry Nilsson and James Cook University for their support.
Wrapping up the Queensland Legal Walk
Thank you to everyone who supported the Walk on 20 May. A record 1,157 walkers across Queensland got up early to show their dedication to justice!
Your donations support:
- LawRight's Disbursement Fund, helping out the clients of pro bono and community legal centres with the out-of-pocket costs that come with legal proceedings
- LawRight services, helping to meet demand where government funding isn't enough
- a $10,000 contribution to Townsville Community Law, to enable them to continue outreach work after the devastating floods
Our final fundraising tally was $125,000 - a little less than originally reported after we discovered a glitch doing some duplicating in the background! If you didn't make it this year, it's not too late to donate and help us climb back to $130,000.
Many thanks to our sponsors ActionStep, Queensland Law Society and the Bar Association of Queensland.
LawRight acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land and waters throughout Australia and pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We benefit from the gifts of First Nations peoples; acknowledge the historical and ongoing injustices they bear and support their call for power over their destiny.
LawRight Copyright 2025
LawRight Newsletter - December 2024
Merry Christmas and Thank You from LawRight 2024
Thank you for your support of LawRight in 2024. To our member firms, ILPs and barristers, law schools and students, government, our colleagues across the sector, the community agencies and court offices who host our staff and volunteers, to our Friends of LawRight and all who supported our fundraising, and of course to all our hard-working volunteers, I extend my deepest thanks on behalf of LawRight's staff and management committee.
It's a pleasure to share a few highlights from 2024 with you below.
Here's a few words that our clients had to say about your impact:
We were proud to publish our 2023-24 annual report.
Last financial year, LawRight's 35 staff partnered with 137 members and around 500 volunteers. We took more than 3,318 enquiries but could not help everyone.
Several times this year, we had to pause intake of new clients, due to capacity.
- 527 clients of our Court and Tribunal Services
- 491 clients through Homelessness Law and Multicultural Law
- 842 people through Pro Bono Connect
Australian Young Lawyer of the Year
Congratulations to our very own Kate Adnams, who was named the Law Council of Australia's Young Lawyer of the Year.
Kate is a Senior Lawyer in our Homelessness Law practice and leads the Stable Futures for Young Queenslanders project. Kate was recognised for her commitment and contribution to helping vulnerable young people, especially those experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.
Committee farewells the Honourable Roslyn Atkinson AO
At our AGM in December, our management committee returned for another year, with the exception of past president the Honourable Roslyn Atkinson AO, who we farewelled and thanked for her many years of support to LawRight, which we hope will continue in some other form!
LawRight President Jacqui Wootton, LawRight CEO Karen Dyhrberg,
and outgoing committee member the Honourable Roslyn Atkinson AO.
Submissions
This year we made various submissions, including on:
- Blue Card changes, particularly for First Nations people and disadvantaged communities
- Changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act
- Independent Review of Queensland's Human Rights Act
- Victims of Crime and the creation of the Victims' Commissioner
- Consumer advocacy and responsible Buy Now Pay Later changes
- Changes to youth justice laws
Through the project, LawRight has helped clients to resolve over $2,739,000 in consumer debts.
LawRight will be closed from Friday 20 December and re-open on Monday 13 January.
From everyone at LawRight, we wish you a Merry Christmas, a great holiday break, and look forward to working with you in 2025!
Karen Dyhrberg
LawRight CEO
LawRight acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land and waters throughout Australia and pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We benefit from the gifts of First Nations peoples; acknowledge the historical and ongoing injustices they bear and support their call for power over their destiny.
LawRight Newsletter - May 2024
LawRight News, May 2024
Why We Walk - a message from LawRight's President
With one week to go until the Queensland Legal Walk, this is Why We Walk...
Dear Colleagues,
As president of LawRight’s management committee, I’m reaching out to thank you for your support of LawRight, and to invite you to make a donation to the Queensland Legal Walk appeal.
LawRight was created by the legal profession in Queensland to direct our pro bono efforts in the most strategic and impactful way possible. Government grants fund around 70% of LawRight services, with the rest being subsidised by fundraising such as the Walk.
I’d like to share with you the impact of your contributions, and how your ongoing support continues to make a meaningful difference to LawRight’s services and support for vulnerable Queenslanders.
Supporting young people at risk of homelessness
One of the programs that your donations have made possible is Stable Futures for Young Queenslanders, which is part of Homelessness Law and includes health justice partnerships at Mater Young Adult Health Centre and Brisbane Youth Service.
Through this project, since 2020 we have helped 254 children and young people to resolve 730 distinct legal issues, including:
- accessing over $800,000 in victims assist payments to help their recovery; and
- resolving more than $390,000 of money and debt issues that push people into homelessness.
However, we often have to pause services due to limited capacity. Currently, homeless young people face a two-month wait for an appointment.
In our Court and Tribunal Services, when our services reach capacity and we are unable to take new clients, many people are left to represent themselves without any help, or court matters are delayed until we could assist.
Why now is such a crucial time
Our 5-year government funding ends in June next year, and while we hope and expect the next funding round allows us to continue growing our services, the reality is that funding announcements traditionally arrive very late, and in the meantime, we operate with uncertainty and the risk of losing staff to more secure contracts.
I am very proud of our staff. Our legal team has an average of 5.5 years at LawRight, an incredible feat in the community sector. They hold a wealth of knowledge of how to do pro bono well.
Through leveraging our pro bono volunteers across the profession, we achieve a lot with a little – and to add a paralegal for a day to a service costs us $18,000 annually and greatly increases the amount of pro bono work we can do.
Thank you for your donations
Donations can be made online here, and all donations are tax-deductible.
Along with my fellow management committee members, (representing the firms, barristers, Law Society and Bar Association of Queensland) I assure you your contributions will be used efficiently and effectively to improve access to justice.
I look forward to seeing you at the Walk!
Yours faithfully,
Jacqueline Wootton
President, LawRight Management Committee and Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills
LawRight Newsletter - April 2024
LawRight News, April 2024
3 weeks until the QLD Legal Walk
The 17th annual Queensland Legal Walk is coming up on Tuesday 14 May. Led by the Chief Justice, the Walk is an opportunity to celebrate the good work done by the pro bono community.
We have over 40 teams registered and $20,000 raised already. Register or donate at www.qldlegalwalk.org.au.
Who LawRight helps
We aim to put pro bono lawyers where they are needed most. While the statistics around our clients are confronting, we can see that we are targeting and reaching communities in need of increased access to justice.
39% of our clients are facing homelessness, 46% are representing themselves in court, 26% reported a disability or mental illness and 24% have experienced domestic violence. We reached communities affected by disaster, rural/regional/remote, older people, children and young people, culturally & linguistically diverse, and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities.
LawRight thanks Friends with stories of impact
On 7 March, we gathered to thank some of our many supporters and Friends of LawRight.
Kindly hosted by Mccullough Robertson, the crowd heard LawRight Chair Jacqueline Wootton (also of Herbert Smith Freehills), Co-CEO Karen Dyhrberg, Tom Ritchie of Counsel, and past LawRight secondees Adam Connolly of Clayton Utz (seconded from Minter Ellison) and Beth Royan of Barry Nilsson Lawyers.
LawRight Newsletter - March 2023
LawRight News, March 2023
Queensland Legal Walk – 16 May 2023
Mark your calendars for this annual celebration of your pro bono contribution. We look forward to sharing more details of how to walk + give to support LawRight and increase access to justice.
In case you missed it…
Our Annual Report is full of stories about the impact our members have on some of the challenges faced by our clients. Enjoy them here as well as these highlights:
Refugee rights
Mary is a single mother and English is not her first language. She needed to work but as she was not considered a resident, she was not eligible for the government childcare subsidy and could not afford childcare. Mary applied for an exemption to the residency requirement under hardship provision, but was rejected. A member firm helped Mary have the decision reviewed and Mary is now eligible for the subsidy.
Domestic violence debt
Marie had experienced domestic violence for over 15 years and didn’t know she was liable for a $60,000 debt. She didn’t know the creditor and suspected the debt was from a contract her ex-partner had entered into. She was also reluctant to provide bank statements to the creditor, as they might disclose her location to her ex-partner. LawRight’s pro bono duty barrister at Enforcement Hearings in the Brisbane Magistrates Court negotiated with the creditor’s agent to provide redacted statements and appeared in court to explain why Marie wasn’t complying with the court summons. Marie felt relieved and safe.
Fighting for rehab
Jay wanted to attend residential rehab for his addiction issues but he faced many barriers. The landlord of the room he rented wanted to charge him a heavy penalty for breaking the lease while he was away. Jay also owed thousands of dollars of debt to payday lenders and his options to get ahead were limited. LawRight collaborated with Jay’s homelessness support workers to help Jay end the lease without penalty. He found alternative suitable housing, got waivers for his debts and got himself to rehab.
Changes at LawRight
Later this month, we will farewell our Joint Director, Sue Garlick, who leaves LawRight on 23 March. She has no immediate plans other than a period of recharging to prepare her for a new chapter at the right time.
Sue joined LawRight in 2006 as the Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic policy officer and also served as the HPLC Senior Lawyer and our Deputy Director. In 2017, together with Linda Macpherson, she became our Joint Director. Throughout her time with LawRight, Sue initiated and developed a wide range of access to justice innovations including an annual legal literacy training day for front-line community workers; LegalPod – a boutique legal service for young people transitioning from the Child Safety system; and, the Legal Health Check project, which developed over several years into state, national and Indigenous projects, including the Law Yarn. Sue’s deep commitment and contribution to LawRight, our most vulnerable clients and the sector has been tremendous, and we will miss her greatly.
We look forward to sharing with you news of LawRight’s next leadership chapter.
LawRight Newsletter - December 2022
LawRight News, December 2022
LawRight Annual Report
We have once again elected to publish an Annual Report over-flowing with stories and statistics. We enjoy the opportunity to reflect on the impact of our collective efforts– whether as members, volunteers, students, judges or community and health workers.
As our Patron, the Honourable Chief Justice Helen Bowskill observes in the Report’s foreword:
“Access to justice is an essential element of the rule of law: in essence, it is the means by which we as a society give practical content to the principle of equality before the law. But although there are now more lawyers than ever before, paid legal services are not accessible to all. LawRight’s services are essential to bridging that gap.
The many legal practitioners, solicitors and barristers, who have volunteered their time to enable LawRight to provide those services over the past year are to be congratulated and applauded.
As Ruth Bader Ginsberg has observed, that is a sign of true professionalism: doing something that makes life a little better for others who are less fortunate.”
Thank you to all of you and we hope you enjoy some positive summer reading here.
New LawRight President
At the AGM on 21 November, a new Management Committee and President were elected. Thank you to the Honourable Roslyn Atkinson AO for her energetic and effective leadership over the last three years and we welcome Jacqueline Wootton, Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills as our new President. We farewelled Gabriella Ritchie of McCullough Robertson and Francesca Bartlett of The University of Queensland and thanked them for their service.
The new Management Committee is:
President – Jacqueline Wootton, Partner Herbert Smith Freehills
Secretary – Tania Boal, Partner MurphySchmidt
Treasurer – Tony Denholder, Partner Ashurst
Binari De Saram – Queensland Law Society
Andrew Crowe KC – Bar Association of Queensland
Stephen Knight, Partner Minter Ellison
Tim Longwill, Partner McCullough Robertson
Hon. Roslyn Atkinson AO
Hamish Clift of Counsel
Angela Rae of Counsel
Farewell Law Society House and hello holidays!
After four and a half years at Law Society House, LawRight’s main office is moving! All LawRight services close for the summer break on 23 December and reopen on 9 January. Our application form and head office phone lines will close on 16 December.
We wish you all safe and relaxing holidays.
LawRight Newsletter - October 2022
LawRight News, October 2022
Proactive pro bono
Housing crisis
LawRight is on the frontline of the national housing crisis, which has now broadened to impact many groups in our community but has pressured vulnerable populations for decades, compounding other systemic inequities. LawRight was created to serve these communities, and we have included our clients’ voices in many proactive law reform activities. However, it is still our strategic pro bono collaborations with community support services that offer the greatest impact, especially at the “eleventh hour” when the client needs a legal help to avoid significant consequences.
Emergency help to avoid eviction into homeless
Last week, a young mother and her children faced eviction into homelessness. Her community worker connected her with us as she needed to defend a QCAT application just a few days later. Pro bono lawyers prepared submissions to which the landlord had no satisfactory response and the application was immediately dismissed. Her community worker wrote: “Thank you again for the most amazing support for [our client] during this time… this has bought [her] some more time to find a new residence.”
Crypto scam impacts Centrelink payments
Another client was caught by a cryptocurrency scam, which Centrelink interpreted as assets and stopped our client’s payments. This in turn impacted their access to housing. Our advocacy to Centrelink saw their payments reinstated.
Supporting women in prison
Our financial counsellor and staff lawyers deliver regular tenancy and financial literacy training to women in prison, strengthening their capacity to sustain housing post-release.
The long shadow of Robodebt
We shared our concerns at the first robodebt inquiry in 2017 and will be supporting people who want to engage with the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.
Joanna, a survivor of family abuse, mental illness and homelessness found casual employment as a teenager, but her life was so chaotic that she did not report this income to Centrelink. Almost a decade later, when her life was getting back on track, she received robodebt letters from Centrelink, alleging a $20,000 debt. She said: “I cried… I thought – my life is ruined now. I’m going to be forever paying this back. I already had pressure and anxiety and it made me want to jump in a hole.”
Joanna entered into a payment plan which would take her more than 38 years to pay off. She continued to receive letters which “petrified” her the debt and took away her hard-won hope.
Red Wine for Justice
All our amazing LawRight services rely on fundraising. After 18 months of delay, we are ready for record bids at Red Wine for Justice on Friday, 14 October. Even if you can’t attend, nominate an agent, form a consortium or sort out your Christmas shopping list (not to mention your bragging rights!) with these auction highlights
- Picnic for eight, hosted by the Hon Roslyn Atkinson AO and the Hon Ann Lyons
- High tea for five, hosted by the Hon Margaret McMurdo AC and the Hon Margaret White AO
- A dozen bottles of 2016 E.Guigal Hermitage Rouge, donated by Craig Rogers of King & Wood Mallesons
- 2008 Penfolds Grange Vintage, donated by Andrew Crowe QC
- 1980 Lindemans Bin 5734 Vintage Port, donated by the Hon Catherine Holmes AC
There are just a few tickets left if you want to register to attend. Book here: www.lawright.org.au/redwineforjustice.
LawRight Newsletter - September 2022
LawRight News, 15 September 2022
Real estate agents and domestic violence
The disturbing interplay between domestic violence and insecure accommodation is addressed by many LawRight services, as we bridge the gap between laws and lived experience. Despite legislated protections for tenants impacted by violence, neither tenants nor their real estate agents can easily navigate these complex scenarios. Community lawyers are needed to ensure a just and appropriate outcome.
Jess lived in rooming accommodation with her abusive partner. When she confronted him about withdrawing money from her account he became violent, damaging the property and kicking down the door so it couldn’t be locked. Jess called the police, who made a police protection notice on the spot to protect Jess from further violence.
However, a week later, the real estate agent evicted her on the basis of ‘disturbing the peace’ and damage, required her to vacate in a fortnight, left her with a large repair bill and took her bond. All of these actions, even where lawful, miss the legislative intent. Jess tried to self-advocate and provided the agent with a copy of the protection order, but she was ignored and her experience of violence was minimised. On top of everything, the agent (black)listed Jess on a tenancy database, restricting her access to alternative accommodation. She moved in with her parents.
When Jess had a premature birth months later, the Mater hospital social workers were concerned about her housing stress and connected her to our on-site Health Justice Partnership. LawRight successfully advocated to withdraw the blacklist. We connected Jess to DV legal assistance to vary the protection order to include her child and are now addressing a number of debts and payday loans that Jess accumulated when leaving the relationship.
The social worker told us: “…access to onsite legal support has directly supported the best healthcare outcomes and a safe discharge from hospital for this vulnerable family. Great work and a great outcome”.
Bid by phone at Red Wine for Justice
If you are unable to attend Red Wine for Justice on Friday, 14 October, you can still help LawRight raise funds and emerge with a wine to prize. You can nominate a friend as your bidding agent – just let us know before the event who your agent is, and we will provide more details and ensure you receive the catalogues for the main and silent auctions on the night. Contact us at [email protected].
There are still a few tickets still left if you want to register to attend. Book here: www.lawright.org.au/redwineforjustice.
September law reform
Decriminalising begging, public intoxication and urination offences
Our Community and Health Justice Partnerships recently made submissions about these offences with the assistance of our member firms. We noted how public spaces offences increase and exacerbate homelessness, rather than resolve it. We also traced the impact of charges for these offences on training and work opportunities – with Blue Card Services routinely deeming these offences as unsuitable for people working with children. Understanding and addressing the causes of these behaviours in the homeless population, enabling people to access relevant health and social supports and not imposing unmanageable fines are all better uses of policing resources. We also met with Inquiry staff and our community worker colleagues at the Anglicare Homelessness Hub in Cairns to discuss the causal links between public offences and homelessness. Read our submission here.
These views also informed our public response last month to comments from a Gold Coast councillor who advocated for a return of the vagrancy act in response to homelessness.
Defamation
LawRight has been extensively involved since 2019 in the reshaping of national defamation laws, given that these matters represent up to 18% of the practice of the State Courts office of our Court and Tribunal Services. We want to ensure that the challenges faced by self-represented litigants who manage or comment on social media platforms are properly considered, as they are indicative of people with low household income who struggle to navigate complex processes. Our recent (and fifth) submission argued for a simpler, fairer complaints and defence process. Read it and our other submissions on the Model Defamation Provisions here.
LawRight Newsletter - 31 August 2022
Bridging the gap
LawRight positions lawyers at locations and into processes where people who are already vulnerable need legal help. Without lawyers, their situations are likely to worsen and opportunities for stability inevitably reduce. This newsletter highlights three processes where the impact of our members’ pro bono intervention is profound.
Victim survivors of violence
People who are homeless (or at risk of homelessness) experience higher rates of violence, including sexual violence, but accessing support for victims is not easy. Liaising with bureaucratic systems and obtaining relevant medical and psychological reports is complicated and can potentially re-traumatise.
Our Community and Health Justice Partnerships lawyers help bridge this gap and deliver this support in conjunction with the health and social workers at the community locations we partner with. Over 15% of our files are Victim Assist applications and in 21/22 we secured >$146,000 of financial support and access to support services to help victims recover. Many more clients were guided to advocate for themselves. Some of these outcomes have taken years to secure or have been rejected initially, so we are also working on systemic change with the agencies involved.
Access to work and training
LawRight assists with almost 30% of Blue Card reviews at QCAT, and >50% of our clients with Blue Card reviews are referred to us by QCAT. Over 20% of clients we assist with Blue Card matters have the decision of Blue Card Services set aside. While the safety of children is paramount, the reasons why a person is denied a Blue Card (working with children check) often intersect with their vulnerability. People from remote Indigenous communities or with a history of living with domestic violence may be denied Blue Cards for reasons that are typical of systemic disadvantage (such as lack of opportunity to respond effectively to criminal charges). These same reasons are barriers to meaningful participation in BCS’s assessment of their circumstances, yet adverse decisions impact their access to employment or further training and frequently take over two years to review. LawRight’s co-location at QCAT (and our research into these challenges) is critical to disrupting these cycles of inequity.
Complex litigation
Litigation in the District and Supreme Courts is high-stakes financially and technically difficult to navigate. LawRight relies on the resources and skills of pro bono barristers and law firms to bridge the gap – for the whole of Queensland. Over 60% of our clients are referred by Legal Aid Queensland or other Community Legal Centres that do not have the expertise or resources to support clients in these matters.
Proceedings discontinued for massive debt
A defendant named in a Supreme Court claim for more than $500,000 believed he was not responsible for the debt and the co-defendant agreed. Without funds to afford a lawyer, they prepared and filed an inadequate defence. It took multiple appointments with pro bono and staff lawyers to prepare amended defences, make and respond to requests for particulars, undertake disclosure, prepare for various review hearings, and draft affidavits setting out their side of the story. These are complex processes that most typical Australians cannot navigate by themselves. Eventually, the plaintiff agreed to discontinue proceedings against both defendants. Our clients told us the assistance they received was “invaluable” and that they could not have done it without our help.
“Kind soul” whose representation ended decade-long case
Irene has severe and complex mental health issues which impact her ability to engage in the legal process. She was the defendant in District Court proceedings that started in 2008 and limited progress had been made. The Court asked LawRight to assist and a member barrister took a direct brief to represent Irene at mediation, where the matter finally settled after more than a decade. Irene appreciated the “kind soul” who gave “some of the professional time to assist the less privilege[d]”.
We agree that LawRight members are kind, but perhaps they are motivated even more by the essential and strategic link between access to justice and the rule of law, which protects us all.
Red Wine for Justice – Friday 14 October 2022
Red Wine for Justice is another opportunity to be kind and increase access to justice! Secure the fabulous auction wines and raise funds to support all LawRight services. We are sorry the event has changed dates so often – if you aren’t sure if you (and your friends) are registered or not, please email [email protected] to check. Additional tickets are available at www.lawright.org.au/redwineforjustice.