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
