untitled

REDFERN

LEGAL

CENTRE

ANNUAL

REPORT

2012-2013

2 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

REDFERN LEGAL CENTRE IS AN

INDEPENDENT, NON-PROFIT

COMMUNITY CENTRE DEDICATED

TO PROMOTING SOCIAL JUSTICE

AND HUMAN RIGHTS.

Acknowledgement

Redfern Legal Centre acknowledges that we work on Aboriginal land,

tradi onally the home of the Gadigal people of the Eora Na on.

We pay respect to elders past and present.

Editor: Sophie Farrell

Design: Nicola Cooper

Design, publicaƟ on and distribuƟ on: Thomson Reuters

CONTENTS

Redfern Legal Centre

73 Pi Street

Redfern

NSW 2016

Phone: (02) 9698 7277

Fax: (02) 9310 3586

Email: [email protected]g.au

Web: www.rlc.org.au

Our Vision 5

Welcome from the Chair 6

Message from our CEO 7

Special Thanks 8

Domes c Violence (Sydney Women’s Domes c Violence Court Advocacy Service) 10

Tenancy and Housing (Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service) 12

Discrimina on and Human Rights 15

Interna onal Students 17

Credit, Debt and Consumer Complaints 19

Police and Government Accountability 21

Employment 23

Branch Oﬃ ce: Sydney University Postgraduate Representa ve Associa on (SUPRA) 24

Branch Oﬃ ce: TAFE (Sydney Ins tute) 26

Our Clients and Services (Sta s cs) 27

Our Volunteers 28

Our Staﬀ 30

Our Board of Directors 31

Financials 32

Get Involved 39

4 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

REDFERN

LEGAL

CENTRE

VISION

VALUES

EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

EMPOWERMENT OF INDIVIDUALS AND

COMMUNITIES TO ENJOY THEIR RIGHTS

RESPECT FOR CLIENTS, THE

COMMUNITIES WE WORK

WITHIN AND EACH OTHER

OUR VISION

That Redfern Legal Centre

(RLC) is acknowledged

as a leader in providing

quality legal services to the

community.

That RLC will deliver to the

needs of the community

through its development of

core specialist skills in:

> Domes c violence;

> Credit, debt and consumer

complaints;

> Tenancy and housing;

> Police and government

accountability;

> Employment;

> Discrimina on and human

rights; and

> An advice clinic for

interna onal students.

That RLC will also provide

generalist advice to clients

who experience disadvantage

such as:

> People with disability;

> Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people;

> People of culturally and

linguis cally diverse

backgrounds; and

> Students.

As a result, RLC will be seen

as a centre of excellence,

providing thought leadership

and cu ng-edge law reform in

these areas for the beneﬁ t of

the community.

OUR PURPOSE

RLC promotes social jus ce by:

> Providing free legal

advice, legal services and

educa on to disadvantaged

people in New South

Wales; in par cular to

residents of inner Sydney

and to the groups who

advocate for them; and

> Par cipa ng in ac vi es

that reduce inequali es

and defects in laws,

the legal system, and

administra ve and social

prac ces that impact on

disadvantaged people.

OUR VALUES

> Equity and social jus ce;

> Empowerment of

individuals and

communi es to enjoy their

rights; and

> Respect for clients, the

communi es we work

within, and each other.

OUR OBJECTIVES

1. LEGAL SERVICES

To assist disadvantaged people and their

representa ves to access jus ce and the legal

system.

2. LEGAL REFORM

To iden fy and seek to remove inequali es in the

laws, legal system, administra ve prac ces and

society as a whole that aﬀ ect disadvantaged people

by working for social and legal change to enhance

respect for human rights.

3. LEGAL EDUCATION

To educate disadvantaged people and their

representa ves in legal rights so they can resolve

problems and assert their rights.

4. ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCING

To sustain an infrastructure and administra on that

provides adequate resourcing for our ac vi es and

to eﬀ ec vely manage and maintain those resources.

6 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

WELCOME

FROM THE

CHAIR

Redfern Legal Centre is full of ﬁ ghters.

Staﬀ who work to make a diﬀ erence,

volunteers who run with challenges

and clients who ba le to be heard. This

year, RLC ignited its ﬁ gh ng spirit to rise

to numerous challenges.

The Centre faced savage funding

cuts, which threatened the existence

of our credit and debt service.

Our staﬀ advocated for new and

addi onal funding. Their persistence

and dedica on resulted in a grant of

$200,000 over four years from the then

Federal A orney General and ensured

the survival of our core services.

Our team uses its funding to target

systemic issues and aﬀ ect change for

the most disadvantaged members

of our community. This year the

tenancy team iden ﬁ ed that one third

of maintenance orders given by the

Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal

were not complied with by Housing

New South Wales (Housing NSW). Our

tenancy team lodged a complaint with

the New South Wales Ombudsman and

as a result new procedures and training

were put in place at Housing NSW,

which should increase the performance

of maintenance orders.

RLC represented the family of Adam

Le Marseny at the coronial inquest

into his death. The inquest iden ﬁ ed

that medical staﬀ are not available for

people in police custody a er 10 pm on

Friday and Saturday nights. As a result,

the State Coroner recommended that

Correc ve Services consider a trial

24-hour medical staﬀ , at least on Friday

and Saturday nights.

Our mandate to aﬀ ect change for the

disadvantaged stretches beyond our

locality. The Centre advocated for

the introduc on of the Human Rights

and An -Discrimina on Bill 2012 and

appeared before the Senate Standing

Commi ee Inquiry into the Bill.

Ul mately, the Federal Government

did not proceed with the Bill, but the

Centre s ll champions for reform to the

complicated and disparate legisla on

that governs those aﬀ ected by

discrimina on.

To extend our reach, in February 2013

RLC launched its Legal Assistance

with Armidale Project. By using video

conferencing programs, our solicitors

provide vulnerable interna onal

students at the University of New

England with free, conﬁ den al legal

advice. Locally, our branch oﬃ ces

at the University of Sydney and

Sydney Ins tute of TAFE assist many

interna onal students who are subject

to grossly inﬂ ated rent, unreturned

bonds, and unpaid wages.

While extending our reach, we con nue

to service our local community in

areas of known need. The consistent

presence and inﬂ uence of our domes c

violence team in the sector was

recognised by the appointment of RLC’s

Susan Smith to the NSW Domes c and

Family Violence Council by the Minister

for Women. The role of the Council is

to advise the NSW Government on all

aspects of domes c and family violence

policy and programs, a role Susan will

hold with aplomb.

I am immensely proud of the

achievements of the Centre. Despite

the adversi es, our staﬀ and volunteers

demonstrate that no ma er the

circumstances, we keep ﬁ gh ng

the good ﬁ ght for those that would

otherwise not be heard.

Amy Munro

Chair of the Board

RLC IS MUCH MORE THAN A PLACE TO

RECEIVE FREE LEGAL ADVICE. IT IS A

PART OF THE COMMUNITY – A SAFE

PLACE TO ASK FOR HELP.

MESSAGE

FROM

THE CEO

In June 2013 a generous injec on of

funding from the then Federal A orney

General went someway towards

reducing unmet need for our clients,

but we are s ll opera ng on short-

term funding contracts and at less than

op mal staﬃ ng levels.

Even in this climate, RLC has con nued

to pioneer and innovate. We have

restructured the way we deliver our

services to increase our reach and

impact. We focus now on six areas of

civil law that most o en aﬀ ect members

of our community. Each key area is

generously supported by a law ﬁ rm pro

bono partner. We have done this to

ensure that the legal needs of our most

disadvantaged clients are addressed in

one place, without the need to refer

them to another organisa on and risk

losing them on the referral round-a-

bout, which many clients never come

oﬀ . By se ng ourselves up in this way,

we are also be er placed to iden fy and

address systemic issues through policy

work and community legal educa on.

Thinking innova vely has enabled us

to develop new solu ons for gaps in

legal service delivery. By embracing

technology, in par cular the na onal

broadband network, and working in

partnership with local organisa ons,

we are able to increase access to jus ce

in rural and remote areas, all from our

home base in Redfern.

This year we launched our new website

which has increased our capacity

to provide legal informa on across

the state. We look forward to the

commencement of our Community

Engagement Oﬃ cer and our

Interna onal Students NBN Project

Solicitor, both of whom will be u lising

technology to increase access to jus ce

across the diverse communi es Redfern

serves.

We have also been able to increase our

service delivery through developing

teaching clinics with the University

of New South Wales. Our Police

Powers Clinic and our Housing and

Administra ve Law Clinic are the ﬁ rst

of their kind in Australia and have been

running with great success.

Most importantly, our greatest

innova on is that which our Centre is

founded upon. Our model, whereby

we deliver services through the use of

dedicated volunteers who are supervised

by a few paid staﬀ , means RLC can

con nue to deliver a huge volume of

legal advice with such limited ﬁ nancial

resources. In 2012-13 RLC had over 150

solicitor and law student volunteers,

who contributed a combined total of

23,550 hours of free assistance valued at

$2,677,000.

To all our staﬀ and volunteers, thank

you for your commitment over the last

year. It is an honour to work with such

a passionate group of individuals and

I look forward to working with you to

increase access to jus ce in 2013-14.

Joanna Shulman

Chief Execu ve Oﬃ cer

WE ARE ABLE TO

ASSIST LOCAL

PEOPLE WHO ARE

IN NEED WHILE

ALSO DEVELOPING

EXPERTISE IN

KEY AREAS…

It has been a challenging year for community legal centres across

Australia. A survey by the Australian Council for Social Services

showed that 63% of community legal centres (CLCs) were not able

to meet the demand for their services. Recent funding cuts have

increased this unmet need for legal services and the shor all has

been signiﬁ cant for Redfern Legal Centre.

8 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

SPECIAL

THANKS

FUNDING

RLC receives funding and in-kind

support from a range of sources.

We thank these Departments,

organisa ons and individuals for their

ongoing support of the Centre:

> the General Legal Service is funded

principally through the Community

Legal Services Program which is

administered by Legal Aid NSW

and the Commonwealth A orney

General’s Department.

> the Credit, Debt and Consumer

Complaints Service is funded by

the Commonwealth Department

of Family and Housing, Community

Services and Indigenous Aﬀ airs

through its Financial Counselling

Program, the NSW Oﬃ ce of Fair

Trading (concluded November 2012)

and NSW Family and Community

Services (concluded June 2013);

> the Women’s Domes c Violence

Court Advocacy Service is funded by

Legal Aid NSW;

> Women NSW (part of NSW Family

& Community Services) provides

funding for a Domes c Violence

Support Service;

> the Inner Sydney Tenants Advice &

Advocacy Service is funded by NSW

Fair Trading;

> the Sydney University Postgraduate

Students Service is funded by

Sydney University Postgraduate

Representa ve Associa on (SUPRA);

> the Sydney Ins tute of TAFE funds a

service for its students; and

> the City of Sydney provides the

Centre with concessional rent.

GRANTS AND DONATIONS

From  me to  me the Centre is

successful in gaining grants or

dona ons for speciﬁ c projects. We

thank:

> the Commonwealth A orney-

General’s Department for funding

to provide legal services via the

na onal broadband network to

interna onal students in Armidale;

> Thomson Reuters Australia support

the Lawyers Prac ce Manual;

> City of Sydney Council for grants for:

training for Community Workers,

mul -language leaﬂ ets to connect

the CALD community to jus ce,

crea on of informa on on USB

devices for women facing domes c

violence, Community Educa on

video ‘Stop the Violence’, and the

Legal Guide to Sydney Cycling;

> Individuals for dona ons to RLC; and

> Microso for so ware.

We would like to give special thanks

to the Gandevia Founda on for their

generous dona on this ﬁ nancial

year to increase access to jus ce for

Indigenous clients.

PRO BONO ASSISTANCE

We would like to express our gra tude

to the following ﬁ rms and organiza ons

for their assistance over the last twelve

months:

> Artemis Legal;

> Fragomen;

> Henry Davis York Lawyers;

> Lander & Rogers Lawyers;

> Slater & Gordon Lawyers;

> DLA Piper Australia;

> Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers;

> Ashurst;

> Wa s McCray Lawyers;

> Lexis Nexis;

> Pro Bono Publico;

> The Art of Mul media; and

> CostPlus.

BARRISTERS

Many thanks to the following barristers

for their pro bono assistance to our

clients:

> Nicholas Eastman;

> Steve Boland;

> Michelle Campbell;

> Dan O’Sullivan;

> Jeunesse Chapman;

> John de Greenlaw;

> Rajalingam Samuel;

> David Parish and

> Jim Pearce.

PARTNERSHIPS

RLC is highly apprecia ve of the

assistance and partnership of the

following ﬁ rms, each of which is

connected to one of our key areas of law.

King & Wood Mallesons Lawyers

RLC’s Inner Sydney Tenancy Advice and

Advocacy Service (ISTAAS) has been

fortunate to enjoy con nued support

from the Human Rights Law Group

at King & Wood Mallesons, formerly

Mallesons Stephen Jaques. We received

invaluable legal advice in a number of

our cases. ISTAAS is looking forward to

con nuing this successful partnership.

Ashurst

The Credit and Debt team con nued

its pro bono partnership with Ashurst

(formerly Blake Dawson). Lawyers

from Ashurst provided assistance with

research for casework and community

legal informa on, enabling the Credit

and Debt team to take on more involved

ma ers. This partnership is a highly

valuable resource to the RLC Credit and

Debt team.

Shine Lawyers

RLC is pleased to announce a brand new

pro bono partnership between Shine

Lawyers and our Police Powers prac ce.

We look forward to being able to extend

our Police Complaints service and oﬀ er

greater assistance to our clients as a

result of this new partnership.

Clayton Utz

RLC has con nued a highly successful

partnership with Clayton Utz in the

Unfair Dismissal Advocacy Scheme.

Seconded solicitors from Clayton Utz

represent RLC’s clients in unfair dismissal

concilia ons. The scheme has resulted

in excellent outcomes for many of RLC’s

clients, who would otherwise have been

unable to obtain representa on and

would have been unfairly disadvantaged

when represen ng themselves against

businesses or companies that may have

access to legal resources.

Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers

Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers have con nued

to act as the pro bono partner for RLC’s

Sydney Women’s Domes c Violence

Court Advocacy Service, accep ng

referrals for clients not eligible for Legal

Aid and assis ng with law reform and

policy submissions. RLC values the

assistance of Gilbert + Tobin and looks

forward to con nuing this partnership in

years to come.

10 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE

NSW DOMESTIC AND FAMILY

VIOLENCE REFORMS

Sydney WDVCAS has been at the

forefront of the current NSW domes c

and family violence reforms and has

made wri en submissions to the NSW

Parliamentary Inquiry into Domes c

Violence Trends and Issues, and to ‘It

Stops Here’, the NSW Domes c and

Family Violence Reforms. The service

has also been involved in round tables

and public consulta ons regarding

the reforms. The main priority of the

reforms is a pro-ac ve and collabora ve

response to domes c and family

violence with a strong focus on early

interven on and preven on.

From early 2014 senior oﬃ cers from

NSW Police will have the authority to

issue Apprehended Violence Orders and

under the soon-to-be implemented NSW

Domes c Violence Jus ce Strategy, all

female vic ms of domes c violence will

be immediately referred to a Women’s

Domes c Violence Court Advocacy

Service by NSW Police. Together these

reforms will mean an increase in police

ini ated pre-court referrals to Sydney

WDVCAS.

The Sydney WDVCAS Coordinator,

Susan Smith, has been appointed to the

NSW Domes c Violence Council, which

has been formed to advise the NSW

Government on domes c and family

violence policies and programs and the

implementa on of the reforms.

Sydney Women’s Domes c

Violence Court Advocacy

Service (Sydney WDVCAS)

Redfern Legal Centre’s Sydney

Women’s Domes c Violence

Court Advocacy Service

(Sydney WDVCAS) assists

women and children in court

proceedings for apprehended

domes c violence orders

(ADVOs) at Downing Centre,

Balmain, Newtown and

Waverley courts.

CASE STUDY: ADVOS AND THE RISK OF CRIMINALISING THE

BEHAVIOUR OF A PERSON WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

Sarah and Will (not their real names) both had an intellectual disability. They were both in their early

twen es and had been in a rela onship for almost two years. Sarah lived with her parents and Will lived

independently. A er their rela onship broke down, Sarah went to Will’s apartment to speak to him, and

Will asked her to leave. When she didn’t leave, he pushed her out the front door.

Police charged Will with assault and applied for an ADVO. Will told the police he had asked Sarah to

leave his apartment but she had refused, and the charges against him were dropped. Police would not

however withdraw the ADVO against Will, and Will’s father assisted him to apply for a private cross

applica on for an ADVO against Sarah. When the ma er went to court, an ADVO was made protec ng

each party from the other.

If Sarah or Will breach the ADVO against them, they may be charged with a criminal oﬀ ence.

LEGISLATIVE REFORMS

The Crimes (Domes c and Personal

Violence) Amendment (Informa on

Sharing) Act 2013 has been enacted

to allow the sharing of personal

informa on about vic ms and

perpetrators of domes c violence for

the purpose of providing domes c

violence support services to vic ms.

This legisla on will permit police

to make an automa c referral to a

Women’s Domes c Violence Court

Advocacy Service so that vic ms may

be contacted and oﬀ ered support

services immediately a er a domes c

violence incident.

The review of the Crimes (Domes c

and Personal Violence) Act 2007 is

s ll not ﬁ nalized. Sydney WDVCAS

made a comprehensive submission

to the review and has con nued to

contribute to the review through

membership of the Apprehended

Violence Legal Issues Consulta ve

Commi ee (AVLICC) at the Criminal

Law Division of the Department of

A orney General and Jus ce.

The new Vic ms Support Scheme has

commenced and Sydney WDVCAS has

begun referring clients to the Scheme

for counselling and ‘immediate needs’

ﬁ nancial assistance.

YELLOW CARD REFERRALS

The Yellow Card Project accepted 556

Yellow Card referrals from Redfern,

Surry Hills, The Rocks, Kings Cross and

City Central local area police commands

during the past twelve months. Yellow

Card referrals were also received

directly from Waverley, Botany Bay,

Maroubra and Rose Bay local area police

commands. Marrickville Legal Centre’s

DVPASS project also refers clients from

Leichhardt, Newtown and Marrickville

police commands for women a ending

Newtown and Balmain courts.

Most Yellow Card referrals are now

made electronically by police, which

allows our service to contact vic ms

very quickly a er a domes c violence

incident. On contact, women are

provided with informa on and referrals

prior to their ﬁ rst court date. Sydney

WDVCAS sta s cs show a strong

correla on between pre-court contact

and the vic m engaging in the court

process, o en with an early resolu on

of the AVO.

Sydney WDVCAS staﬀ members have

provided Yellow Card training to police

during the repor ng period, and have

provided Domes c Violence Liaison

Oﬃ cers with resources to promote the

use of the Yellow Cards to general du es

oﬃ cers.

USB PROJECT

With a grant from the City of Sydney,

Sydney WDVCAS has been providing

clients with a USB pre-loaded with

informa on about domes c violence.

Further informa on, tailored to the

client’s individual circumstances, is

added each  me the client a ends

court. For example a Thai-speaking

client with visa issues will have a

copy of the Immigra on Advice and

Rights Centre’s “Domes c and Family

Violence and Australian Immigra on

Law” wri en in Thai, added to her USB;

or a client who is separa ng from her

husband will have a copy of Women’s

Legal Services “Women and Family

Law” added to her USB. This ini a ve

has proved very popular with clients

with access to a computer.

VULNERABLE CLIENTS

Aboriginal women and culturally and

linguis cally diverse (CALD) women

con nue to be over-represented in the

Sydney WDVCAS sta s cs. The service

assisted 122 Aboriginal clients and 475

clients of CALD background during the

past twelve months. Sydney WDVCAS’s

Aboriginal and CALD Specialist Workers

have provided culturally appropriate,

specialist assistance to these clients.

During the past twelve months 149

clients iden ﬁ ed as having a disability,

and a large number of these clients

iden ﬁ ed as having an intellectual

disability or mental illness. Two Sydney

WDVCAS cases highlight the tension

between the need to protect a person

from behaviour perpetrated by a person

with an intellectual disability, and the

desire not to criminalise the behaviour

of a person with an intellectual disability

in the case of breach of an AVO.

PROSECUTOR CLINICS

NSW Police and the Women’s Domes c

Violence Court Advocacy Program

(WDVCAP) at Legal Aid have signed a

Memorandum of Understanding to roll

out Prosecutor Pre-Hearing Clinics in

partnership with individual WDVCASs,

for domes c violence vic ms with an up-

coming hearing. Sydney WDVCAS and

Waverley Court prosecutors commenced

the Clinics in August 2013. Downing

Centre prosecutors and Sydney WDVCAS

have been providing pre-hearing

informa on sessions to vic ms, but will

formally commence the Pre-Hearing

Clinics in November 2013.

The Pre-Hearing Clinics provide an

opportunity for vic ms to a end the

relevant court and to hear informa on

from a trained domes c violence

prosecutor prior to their hearing date.

Sydney WDVCAS will organize the clinics

and provide informa on to vic ms

about the clinics.

CASE STUDY: LILY’S STORY

Lily (not her real name) was in her late teens and had an intellectual disability. Police applied for an

APVO (Apprehended Personal Violence Order) against Lily a er a shop owner complained that she was

coming into his gi shop and being loud and abusive. Lily said that she liked to call into the shop on her

way home each a ernoon, but she agreed to give an undertaking not to enter the shop and to walk

home using a diﬀ erent route.

Ini ally police agreed they would accept an undertaking and withdraw the APVO, however the shop

owner gave instruc ons that he was not willing to withdraw the applica on and the ma er went to

a defended hearing. The court process was very trauma c for Lily and her mother. At the hearing the

magistrate decided that an APVO should be made against Lily, including an order that she not come

within 50 metres of the gi shop.

If Lily breaches the APVO she may be charged with a criminal oﬀ ence.

COSTS ORDER AGAINST POLICE

IN ADVO MATTERS

There has been a marked decline in

the number of police applica ons for

Apprehended Domes c Violence Orders

(ADVOs) during the past twelve months,

due mainly to concerns regarding costs

orders being made against NSW Police.

Since the ﬁ ndings in Constable Redman

v Willcocks [2010] NSWSC 1268 there is

a new reluctance on the part of police

to apply for an ADVO unless there is a

related criminal charge. Since Redman

NSW Police have reported a rise in

the number of costs orders against

them in ADVO ma ers and anecdotally

defendants’ solicitors are also using the

Redman decision to threaten police with

costs orders once an applica on has

been made. Although the magistrate

in Redman was careful to dis nguish

between the restric ons on costs against

police contained in sec on 99 (4) of the

Crimes (Domes c and Personal Violence)

Act 2007, which prohibits the court

from making an award of costs against

a police oﬃ cer unless sa sﬁ ed that

the police oﬃ cer made the applica on

knowing it contained ma er that

was false or misleading in a material

par cular, as opposed to sec on 214 of

the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 which

allows the court to make a costs order

against a police oﬃ cer in rela on to

procedural misconduct, it s ll seems

Redman and the threat of costs is being

used as an excuse not to apply for an

ADVO. There has been a slight increase

in the number of charge ma ers with

related ADVOs.

In Redman, the oﬃ cer in charge of the

case was aware that the vic m would

not be available to give evidence

on the second day of the adjourned

hearing, but did not advise the

defendant or his legal representa ve.

Both the defendant and his legal

representa ve a ended court on the

hearing date, and costs were awarded

pursuant to sec on 214 of the Criminal

Procedure Act.

12 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice

and Advocacy Service

(ISTAAS)

TENANCY AND

HOUSING

The Inner Sydney Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service has a long history of

providing advice, assistance and advocacy to the local community, with a key focus

on the provision of informa on and services to public and private tenants and strong

emphasis on the preven on of homelessness.

The high demand on our service is due to unique factors in our catchment area,

which includes vulnerable and marginalised tenants in both private and public

housing. The inner Sydney area has had a steady increase in rental proper es, as well

as a signiﬁ cant number of people living in public housing (there are now over 9,449

public housing dwellings in this area). Our clients have a wide range of complex

issues, with our sta s cs showing a signiﬁ cant propor on of our clients are:

> Culturally and linguis cally diverse (CALD);

> Indigenous;

> Newly se led migrants;

> People seeking asylum;

> People with mental illness;

> People with intellectual or physical impairment;

> Elderly people;

> Young people;

> Vic ms of domes c violence;

> People with substance dependence.

CASE STUDY: HOUSING NSW FAILURE TO REPAIR SEWERAGELIKE

LEAK FOR OVER 10 YEARS

Clive was 82 years old and was a carer for his 84-year-old wife who had a physical disability and severe

mobility issues. Clive contacted ISTAAS a er trying unsuccessfully for ten years to get Housing NSW to

undertake repairs to stop the seeping of brown, sewerage-like liquid from their bathroom ceiling. During

that  me a NSW Land & Housing Contractor had carried out a number of ineﬀ ec ve repairs on the

ceiling, a er which the leak had reappeared, in some cases just weeks a er the repairs were completed.

ISTAAS received no response from Housing NSW in regard to its request to have the repairs carried out.

ISTAAS then applied to the CTTT to resolve the ma er. The CTTT ordered that the NSW Land & Housing

Corpora on repair and repaint the bathroom as well as pay compensa on to the tenant.

HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION

ISTAAS’ intake policy is based on need

and risk of homelessness, resul ng

in almost 90% of our clients over the

past 12 months being public housing

tenants. These clients face social

disadvantage and would have great

diﬃ culty ﬁ nding accommoda on in

the private rental market. When a

public housing tenancy is terminated,

that tenant will have to wait for a long

period of  me to be rehoused and

in some cases will be permanently

ineligible for public housing. In

situa ons such as these, losing a

public housing tenancy o en results in

homelessness.

In the period from October to

December 2012, approximately 79%

of applica ons in the Tenancy Division

of the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy

Tribunal (CTTT) were lodged by

landlords. This percentage is greater in

the Social Housing Division of the CTTT,

where 97% of applica ons were lodged

by social housing providers (landlords)

and the overwhelming majority of the

orders sought were for termina on.

In the past year, ISTAAS collected

extra sta s cs over a three-month

period in order to gather data on

its homelessness preven on work.

During this period, the service assisted

76 tenants who were at risk of

homelessness. The work involved in

saving these tenancies included:

> Advocacy provided to 35 tenants;

> Preparing and dra ing of ﬁ rst  er

appeals for eight tenants;

> Preparing and dra ing of second

 er appeals to the Housing Appeals

Commi ee (HAC) for six tenants;

> Representa on at the CTTT for 23

hearings.

> The total number of casework hours

spent on the 76 tenants in a three-

month period was 327.75 hours.

Photo: Hanibaael

CASE STUDY: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ADDITIONAL OCCUPANTS

Shelly (not her real name) came to ISTAAS for assistance because her sister, Angela (not her real name),

a public housing tenant, had been issued a no ce of termina on for having too many occupants living

in her premises. Shelly and her two young children moved into Angela’s two bedroom Housing NSW

premises to escape extreme domes c violence. A er a serious assault, Shelly had ﬂ ed her family home

with her children at night, leaving with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Shelly’s domes c

circumstances meant that she had no access to bank accounts, was unable to work and had no other

family or support to turn to. Her sister’s home was the only safe place for her and her children to go to

and remain together. The only way for Angela to avoid evic on was to ask her sister and the children to

leave the Housing NSW premises.

ISTAAS lodged a ﬁ rst  er appeal on Angela’s behalf in rela on to the no ce of termina on. The appeal

was successful. ISTAAS also advocated on behalf of Shelly for Housing NSW to safely house her and her

children. This too was eventually successful.

This sample demonstrates the type of

vulnerabili es these clients who are

facing homelessness experience:

> The majority of these 76 tenants had

a disability;

> 18.5% were young people (under 25

years old);

> 14.5% iden ﬁ ed as Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islander;

> 13% were elderly people; and

> 4% were vic ms of domes c

violence.

In addi on to giving general tenancy

advice to over 600 tenants, ISTAAS

prevented 27 tenants and their families

from becoming homeless during those

three months.

HOUSING NSW REPAIRS

ISTAAS con nues to assist Housing

NSW tenants with the Tribunal process

to pursue their legal rights under the

Residen al Tenancies Act 2010 for

repairs. Many of ISTAAS’ clients over

the last 12 months lived under horriﬁ c

condi ons that were unhygienic and

dangerous to their health.

Applica ons by tenants to the Tribunal

are few in number. ISTAAS is focused

on advising clients of their legal rights,

including the right to have repairs

completed. The number of applica ons

by social housing tenants has increased

by 312% from last ﬁ nancial year. This is

a signiﬁ cant achievement by the tenants

who have had the determina on to

assert their rights in this forum and

ISTAAS hopes that its work in this area

has contributed to this signiﬁ cant

improvement in tenants u lising the

Tribunal.

HOUSING NSW NON

COMPLIANCE WITH TRIBUNAL

ORDERS

Another major concern is the issue of

Housing NSW non-compliance with

Tribunal orders to carry out repairs.

In response to a le er addressing the

concerning rate of non-compliance, the

Director-General of Finance and Services

acknowledged the need to make

changes to their system, given that 33%

of Tribunal maintenance orders are not

complied with on  me. Housing NSW

expects tenants to comply with their

legal obliga ons but fails to meet the

same standard.

The number of non-compliance cases

arising from repairs ma ers lead

ISTAAS to lodge a complaint with the

NSW Ombudsman. As a result of this

complaint, new procedures and training

have been put in place.

Redfern Legal Centre, Marrickville Legal

Centre, Eastern Area Tenants Service and

Kingsford Legal Centre are commi ed

to working for change through a new

project, Get it Fixed NSW. This website,

www.ge  ixednsw.com is now live and

states the following objec ves:

> More funding for Housing NSW to

carry out repairs and maintenance;

> Less waste and ineﬃ ciency;

> A process that works; and

> Compliance with Tribunal orders.

It is an ordeal for tenants to go through

the Tribunal process and many tenants

are afraid of termina on if they pursue

repairs orders.

HOUSING AND ADMINISTRATIVE

LAW CLINIC

ISTAAS and the University of New

South Wales conducted a Housing and

Administra ve Law Clinic in the second

semester of 2012. Students a ended

lectures in administra ve and housing

law at RLC and undertook casework

under the supervision of ISTAAS tenant

advocates. Students conducted client

interviews, engaged in casework,

undertook legal research, advocated

on behalf of tenants to landlords,

wrote appeals to Housing NSW and

the Housing Appeals Commi ee and

a ended hearings at the CTTT. One

student conducted concilia on at the

CTTT and went on to represent the client

at the full hearing. Students also gained

experience in making applica ons for

client records under the Government

Informa on (Public Access) Act 2009.

The clinic was a great success and

con nues in 2013.

14 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN

SHARE HOUSING

On 8 October 2012 RLC’s ISTAAS

service launched a new edi on of the

Share Housing Survival Guide, which

addresses legal and non-legal issues that

come up when living in a share house.

The Commissioner for Fair Trading,

Mr Rod Stowe, oﬃ cially launched the

guide. Many thanks to NSW Fair Trading

for funding the new edi on, which

helps tenants living in share housing

navigate their way through various legal

complexi es. The guide is available

online at www.sharehousing.org

Share housing is common in the inner

city area, especially amongst students.

ISTAAS deals with many ma ers where

people living in share housing are

excluded from the protec ons of the

Residen al Tenancies Act 2010. Unlike

all other tenants, a sub-tenant who

lives with the head-tenant, without a

wri en agreement, cannot apply to

the CTTT to resolve disputes arising

from their tenancy, such as having

their bond returned. A sub-tenant

seeking the return of a bond would

have to ﬁ le a claim in the Local Court,

which is more expensive and  me

consuming than an applica on to the

CTTT. Most sub-tenants, especially

interna onal students, ﬁ nd this prospect

overwhelming and usually forfeit their

bond money, rather than follow this

course of ac on. The Boarding Houses

Act 2012 is a new piece of legisla on,

which will give basic protec on to

boarders and lodgers through occupancy

agreements. As this Act only applies to

premises with ﬁ ve beds or more, the

majority of sub-tenants will again not

be able to use it to seek Tribunal orders.

Accordingly it is ISTAAS’ experience

that people living in share housing are

currently not provided with adequate

legisla ve protec on.

CASE STUDY: HOUSING NSW FAILS TO COMPLY WITH ORDERS FOR

REPAIRS AND COMPENSATION, TENANT WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

HIGHLY DISTRESSED.

Simon (not his real name) was a Housing NSW (HNSW) tenant who had experienced maintenance

problems with his property since 2008. He sought assistance from ISTAAS in 2012 and explained that

he had approached HNSW about the problems numerous  mes in the past four years. There were two

signiﬁ cant leaks in Simon’s home, which resulted in wet, mouldy carpet and moisture on the walls. A

corroded pipe behind the toilet leaked with every ﬂ ush and although HNSW repaired the pipe with

silicon, the leak persisted.

With the help of ISTAAS, Simon appeared before the CTTT and HNSW was ordered to repair the leaks,

replace or repair the damaged carpet, repaint the water damaged walls and ceilings and undertake

various other repairs. HNSW was also required to pay compensa on, however when Simon went to

HNSW to collect his compensa on cheque, he was sent from oﬃ ce to oﬃ ce and was ul mately refused

the cheque. HNSW did not carry out the repairs ordered by the CTTT. Simon suﬀ ered from mental illness,

which made this prolonged ordeal par cularly distressing for him.

Following extensive advocacy by ISTAAS in rela on to complying with CTTT orders, HNSW commenced

carrying out the repairs, paid the compensa on and also extended an apology to Simon. Simon’s story

shows how diﬃ cult it can be for people to assert their rights to live in premises in a good state of repair

without the assistance of a service such as ISTAAS.

BETTER PROTECTION FOR

BOARDERS AND LODGERS

On 23 October 2012, NSW Parliament

passed the Boarding Houses Act 2012.

The Act will provide greater protec on

for boarders and lodgers in premises

with ﬁ ve or more beds. Boarders and

lodgers will now be covered by an

occupancy agreement, which outlines

their basic rights and responsibili es.

The main issues raised by boarders

and lodgers who seek advice from

ISTAAS are bond disputes, immediate

evic ons and uncollected goods.

A er submissions by RLC and other

services, the Bill was amended to

allow residents to take bond disputes

to the CTTT. RLC’s recommenda on

that there be a minimum period of

seven days no ce for termina on

no ces was not adopted. The Act

provides that residents be given

“reasonable” no ce of termina on.

HOUSING PAYMENT DEDUCTION

SCHEME

On 11 April 2013 the Commonwealth

Government released an exposure

dra of its Social Security Legisla on

Amendment (Public Housing Tenants’

Support) Bill 2013. The Bill and some of

the associated regula ons introduce a

Housing Payment Deduc on Scheme,

which would allow a public housing

provider to deduct payments straight

from a tenant’s Centrelink payment if

they are in rental arrears.

RLC submi ed its opposi on to the

scheme over concerns that the policy

poses a real risk of causing further

hardship (including homelessness) to

the vulnerable people it was designed

to protect. Under the Bill, as it was

released, a public housing landlord could

request deduc ons from tenants’ social

security payments when there is an

outstanding liability due and payable or

even when the landlord considers that

there is a “risk” of non-payment or rent

liabili es by the tenant. Most of RLC’s

recommenda ons were adopted in the

ﬁ nal dra of the Bill.

Photo: MissionBeat – people lining up for Sydney Homeless Connect

DISCRIMINATION

AND HUMAN

RIGHTS

DRAFT HUMAN RIGHTS AND

ANTIDISCRIMINATION BILL

This year saw great poten al for

posi ve reform in the discrimina on

area, with the introduc on of the

Human Rights and An -Discrimina on

Bill 2012. It is disappoin ng that

the Bill has not been introduced to

Parliament.

Our current federal discrimina on

law is comprised of ﬁ ve separate

pieces of legisla on, each opera ng

with diﬀ erent tests and exclusions,

rendering it diﬃ cult for businesses and

most of our clients to understand their

rights and obliga ons.

The Bill went some way to addressing

this diﬃ culty. It introduced one

act with one set of obliga ons and

was accessible to individuals and

businesses alike. It also corrected

some of the ‘fair-go road blocks’ in the

current law.

Currently, a party who commences

a discrimina on ac on and is

unsuccessful in court is required to

pay the costs of the other party. Our

experience is that compensa on

oﬀ ered in concilia on is generally

very low, as are court awards in this

jurisdic on. Therefore, the decision to

li gate in a costs jurisdic on is made

even more diﬃ cult when legal costs

for the ma er could easily be three or

four  mes the poten al compensa on

awarded if you win.

The Bill’s introduc on of the principle

that each party pays its own costs

went some way to addressing this

‘fair-go barrier’. It also provided

consistency – it brought the Federal

discrimina on law into line with

similar provisions in the Fair Work Act

and state discrimina on acts.

Discrimina on on the basis of

protected a ributes was made

unlawful in any area of public life, and

an enforceable remedy for unlawful

discrimina

 on in employment on the

basis of industrial history, religion,

poli cal opinion and social origin,

na onality or ci zenship and medical

history (not criminal record) was

introduced.

During the complaints process, there

was to be a shi ing of burden of proof,

in that the party who allegedly acted

in a discriminatory manner must prove

their decision was based on something

other than a discriminatory ground.

There were also other changes such as

a new defence of ‘jus ﬁ able conduct’

done ‘in good faith for a legi mate aim,

in a manner appropriate to that aim’ –

an enhanced ability for the Australian

Human Rights Commission to dismiss

‘unmeritorious’ complaints and new

voluntary business assistance measures

to help businesses understand and

meet their own obliga ons.

A er wide consulta on, the Bill

was referred to the Senate Standing

Commi ee on Legal and Cons tu onal

Aﬀ airs. RLC appeared before the Senate

Standing Commi ee Inquiry into the Bill

on behalf of the Na onal Associa on

of Community Legal Centres, and

encouraged the Commi ee to pass the

Bill.

In March 2013, the Federal

Government announced that it would

not be proceeding with the Bill,

despite recommenda ons from the

Senate Inquiry held in January that

it be passed. RLC was disappointed

to see that the Bill will not go ahead,

as it had the capacity to introduce a

more eﬀ ec ve and eﬃ cient regime for

organisa ons and individuals to address

unlawful discrimina on.

SHADOW REPORT ON THE

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION

ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS

WITH DISABILITIES CRPD

RLC con nued its work as a member of

the project group leading the dra ing

of the Shadow Report on the Rights of

Persons with Disabili es. The Report

was ﬁ nalised in August 2012 and sent

to the UN Commi ee in Geneva. The

Report took three years to develop

RLC CEO, Joanna Shulman, with representa ves from other community legal centres at the Senate

Standing Commi ee Inquiry

16 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

through consulta on with disability

advocacy organisa ons. It contains

over 130 recommenda ons and was

endorsed by 73 organisa ons. The UN

Commi ee on the Rights of Persons

with Disabili es has begun to develop

a list of issues from Australia’s baseline

report and Australia will be invited

to appear at the tenth session of

the Commi ee in September 2013.

Following discussions with government

and non-government delega ons

in a endance, the Commi ee will

issue concluding comments and

recommenda ons.

SUBMISSION ON RACIAL

VILIFICATION

In March 2013, RLC made a submission

with regard to Racial Viliﬁ ca on law

in NSW. RLC’s submission welcomed

the NSW Law and Jus ce Commi ee’s

inquiry into the criminal racial

viliﬁ ca on provisions in the An -

Discrimina on Act (NSW) 1977 but

submi ed that a complete review

should be undertaken and that

signiﬁ cant improvements could be

made to make the law more accessible

for RLC’s clients. In par cular, RLC

stated that the need to obtain prior

consent of the A orney General to

commence criminal proceedings should

be removed, that the President of

the NSW An -Discrimina on Board

(ADB) should be empowered to refer

a ma er to the Department of Public

Prosecu on (DPP) and that the 28 day

 me limit for referrals from the ADB to

the DPP should be extended.

SUBMISSION IN RESPONSE TO

THE INQUIRY INTO THE VALUE

OF A JUSTICE REINVESTMENT

APPROACH TO CRIMINAL

JUSTICE IN AUSTRALIA

RLC compiled a submission on behalf

of a coopera ve body of disability

representa ve, advocacy, legal and

human rights organisa ons. The

submission was based on the Civil

Society Report on the Conven on on

the Rights of Persons with Disabili es

(CRPD). People with disability are

over-represented in the jus ce

system whether as complainants,

li gants, defendants, vic ms or other

witnesses. They also encounter barriers

in undertaking roles as oﬃ cers of

the court, such as jurors, lawyers,

administrators and adjudicators. The

failure to acknowledge the credibility of

people with cogni ve or psychosocial

disability before the law (as witnesses

or vic ms) enables perpetrators of

abuse or criminal assault to avoid the

usual consequences.

RLC made recommenda ons that

legisla ve, administra ve and policy

frameworks which deprive people with

disability of their liberty and impact on

their security are reviewed to ensure

they are consistent with the CRPD, that

adequate funding allows Community

Legal Centres to provide access to

jus ce for people with disability, that

standard and compulsory modules on

working with people with disability are

incorporated into training programs for

police, prison oﬃ cers, lawyers, judicial

oﬃ cers and court staﬀ and that people

with disability are made eligible for

jury service.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

The Alterna ve Law Journal published

Joanna Shulman’s ar cle ‘A Fair Go

for All’, as the main opinion piece in

its ﬁ rst edi on for 2013. The piece

argues that the Human Rights and An -

Discrimina on Bill should be passed to

ensure an eﬃ cient and eﬀ ec ve regime

for addressing unlawful discrimina on.

RLC has con nued to oﬀ er advice to

interna onal students from anywhere

in NSW (face-to-face or by phone

or video link up) every Wednesday

evening, with the assistance of

volunteer solicitors and migra on

agents.

Interna onal students have approached

our service with a diverse range of

issues. In addi on to credit and debt

problems and scams, interna onal

students face problems regarding

the appropriateness of courses, the

accuracy of informa on provided about

the courses, and the extent to which

students understand this informa on.

We have also dealt with problems

regarding adver sements for non-

existent rental proper es and cheap

airfares on websites such as Gumtree

or Flatemate.com, landlords who refuse

to return bonds and excessive fees for

real or non-existent migra on services.

There have been instances in which

fellow students have borrowed money

from our clients with no capacity to

repay it due to gambling or other

factors. Interna onal students face

domes c and other types of violence

and health issues following violence

as well as associated family law and

immigra on issues.

The use of vehicles without property

damage insurance is another issue that

has been brought to our a en on.

We have seen many students who

have had accidents resul ng in their

liability for extensive damage. One of

our clients incurred a debt for over

$40,000 in this way. Both interna onal

and local students have indicated a lack

of knowledge about the diﬀ erences

between compulsory third party

INTERNATIONAL

STUDENTS

CASE STUDY: INTERNATIONAL

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

SCAM

Ma hew (not his real name) was an exchange

student from Europe who intended to undertake

a course at a university in Sydney. Prior to leaving

Europe, he searched for rental accommoda on

online and made an enquiry to a woman

named Sally. She oﬀ ered him a room and sent

photographs of the house. Ma hew received a

contract requiring a deposit of $1400, which he

paid into an account belonging to a lawyer named

Elliot Taylor.

Sally then asked for more money and because

she was in the Philippines for family reasons,

requested that the money be sent there. Ma hew

refused and sought refund of the original

payment.

Once in Australia, Ma hew tried to report the

ma er to the police but was told it was a civil

ma er. Ma hew obtained an order through the

Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal but all

a empts to actually locate Sally to enforce the

order failed. There was no lawyer by the name of

Elliot Taylor.

Informal inquiries of police indicate that this

ma er should have been accepted as a fraud

report, but o en the bank accounts are opened

with stolen iden  es and oﬀ enders cannot

be iden ﬁ ed. This case study illustrates the

vulnerability of interna onal students who are

unfamiliar with the Australian and New South

Wales legal system.

“AT TIMES YOU HAVE ISSUES

AND YOU DON’T EVEN

KNOW WHO TO SPEAK TO …

IF WE HAVE A SERVICE LIKE

THIS THAT CAN REPRESENT

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

FREE OF CHARGE IT WILL

GO A LONG WAY TO HELP

US.” ISAAC, INTERNATIONAL

STUDENT AT UNE.

insurance and property damage

insurance.

Our interna onal students are o en

bright and poten al future leaders

but presently are at a disadvantage

in nego a ng their temporary

environment as a student in NSW.

Some face addi onal personal

challenges, are a long way from home

and are part way through courses

they and their families have heavily

invested in, and therefore cannot

aﬀ ord to leave before ﬁ nishing their

course.

Interna onal students at RLC’s stall at the City of Sydney Interna onal Student Workshop

18 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

LEGAL ASSISTANCE WITH

ARMIDALE PROJECT LEAP

In 2012 RLC started a new project

to deliver legal advice to clients in

rural and regional New South Wales,

with the assistance of the Federal

A orney General. RLC partnered

with the University of New England

(UNE) in Armidale to extend our

interna onal students advice service to

students at UNE directly. Through the

project, students from UNE can make

appointments to speak to a solicitor via

video link-up from the University library

or from their own homes. The project

has seen RLC deliver advice in new

way and reach clients who can’t a end

the Centre in person. This project was

oﬃ cially launched in February 2013 to

coincide with UNE’s O-Week.

Appointments for the project are held as

part of the interna onal student advice

night at Redfern Legal Centre. Volunteer

solicitors and solicitors from RLC’s pro

bono partners have par cipated in the

project, using video so ware to see

clients face-to-face. Clients in the project

have received advice about credit and

debt, discrimina on, migra on and

government complaints. Students have

been able to see solicitors and in some

cases have interpreters and support

people present, despite being over 400

kilometres away from the Centre.

As part of the project, RLC has presented

community legal educa on seminars

to students and staﬀ at UNE, to help

both iden fy key legal issues and to be

aware of sources of legal informa on

and referral. The seminars have been

delivered to newly arrived students at

the start of semester as part of induc on

and an introduc on to studying in

Australia.

“It is very important, par cularly for

people from culturally and linguis cally

diverse communi es or Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, to

develop a rela onship of trust with

advisors…being able to see those

“IT IS VERY IMPORTANT, PARTICULARLY FOR

PEOPLE FROM CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY

DIVERSE COMMUNITIES OR ABORIGINAL OR

TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER BACKGROUNDS, TO

DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST WITH

ADVISORS…BEING ABLE TO SEE THOSE ADVISORS

HELPS BUILD THAT TRUST.” ELIZABETH MORLEY,

PRINCIPAL SOLICITOR, RLC

RLC’s Jacqui Swinburne with Robert Samuel of

Consult Point at the launch of the program

advisors helps build that trust.” Elizabeth

Morley, Principal Solicitor, RLC

“At  mes you have issues and you don’t

even know who to speak to … if we have

a service like this that can represent

interna onal students free of charge

it will go a long way to help us.” Isaac,

Interna onal Student at UNE.

CONSUMER CREDIT AND

RESPONSIBLE LENDING

Redfern Legal Centre has con nued

to monitor cases where the issue of

responsible lending by credit providers

is an issue. The requirement for

responsible lending should see less

instances of over commitment and

inappropriate loans. However it is

clear that credit is s ll being marketed

and provided in instances that defy

a common sense view of responsible

lending.

CASE STUDY: MISLEADING

ADVERTISING

Talea (not her real name), whose only income

was Centrelink beneﬁ ts, responded to an

adver sement which on ﬁ rst glance appeared

to indicate that she would own a washing

machine a er paying small repayments over a

short period of  me. However, the ﬁ ne print in

the contract provided that ownership was only

available for that small payment at the end of 36

months. The purchase price of the same washing

machine would have been $422, but Talea ended

up paying $1,106.

GARNISHEE ORDERS

A garnishee order allows the recovery

of a judgement debt from the debtor’s

bank account or wages and the people

who owe money to the debtor. In the

past year, RLC has observed an increase

in garnishee orders against the bank

accounts of people who have no other

income aside from Centrelink. Despite

the inten ons of sec on 62 of the

Social Security (Administra on) Act

1999 to ensure that social security

recipients have access to their beneﬁ ts

for their sustenance, we ﬁ nd clients le

without funds for food and essen als.

VULNERABLE CONSUMERS AND

DOORTODOOR SALES

In providing legal advice to

disadvantaged members of the

community, RLC has the opportunity

to observe ﬁ rst hand some of the

diﬃ cul es faced in dealing with

the modern market place. Direct

marke ng of u li es such as energy

and telecommunica ons has remained

a problem. Many of our clients feel that

they can’t say no to a salesperson who

is on their doorstep and are confused

or surprised by the oﬀ er they receive

and enter into contracts they don’t

really want or need.

CREDIT, DEBT

AND CONSUMER

COMPLAINTS

PAYDAY LENDING: SMALL

AMOUNT LOANS

RLC has con nued to monitor and

contribute to the scru ny of the

reform of payday lending. RLC had a

number of submissions on this issue

during the reform process. Most

recently, RLC made a submission to

the Treasury’s call for comments on

the Regula ons to support provisions

in the Consumer Credit Legisla on

Amendment (Enhancements) Bill

2012. Our submission reﬂ ected our

view that consumer credit protec ons

should be consistent and workable,

as this is an area where consumers

are par cularly more vulnerable

to unscrupulous prac ces. Poor

industry prac ces have a signiﬁ cant

impact on consumers, and consumer

debt problems can quickly escalate

into other problems associated

with indebtedness. Our submission

asserted that strong regula on

is necessary to prevent industry

par cipants from taking advantage

of consumer credit products they are

signing up for. RLC will monitor how

the 2013 changes in the regula on

of small amount loans work for our

clients.

HOUSING RELATED CREDIT

AND DEBT ISSUES

Housing Payment DeducƟ on Scheme

RLC submi ed that the Housing

Payment Deduc on Scheme (ﬁ nd

more informa on on the Scheme

in Housing and Tenancy) should

not proceed, as it is insuﬃ ciently

ﬂ exible to provide a real solu on for

homelessness caused by rent arrears.

In our view it also contains insuﬃ cient

review mechanisms and poses a real

risk of causing further hardship to the

vulnerable people who it is designed

to protect.

20 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

CREDIT, DEBT

AND CONSUMER

COMPLAINTS

CASE STUDY: FAILURE TO CLEARLY COMMUNICATE UTILITY SERVICES IN HOUSING NSW APARTMENT

Jordan (not his real name) called RLC a er moving into a Housing NSW apartment in December 2011. At that  me Jordan believed that the hot water system in

the apartment was electric and that there was no gas service in the apartment. A few months later in May, Jordan received a gas bill from AGL for the last two

quarters. The total bill was for $134.16 and was addressed “Dear customer.” Only the address linked the le er to Jordan. Jordan had not opened an account

with AGL and this was the ﬁ rst le er he received from them.

Jordan spoke to AGL who said that the ma er had to be taken up with Jordan’s landlord, Housing NSW. However, Housing NSW did not men on anything about

gas bills and Jordan did not want to pay the bills as there had never been any agreement to have gas and pay bills to AGL.

RLC contacted AGL on Jordan’s behalf. AGL stated that the supply of gas was for the hot water system. When a tenant leaves the residence, AGL does not

disconnect the gas supply. They con nue to supply gas and will send bills to that address un l the gas supply is transferred to another retailer or the new tenant

contacts them to sign up for their services. Further, AGL stated that if neither of these things happen a er six months, they disconnect the gas supply.

RLC also contacted Housing NSW to enquire what type of hot water service is used in the apartment building. However Housing NSW did not reply. If the

Housing NSW apartment block has central hot water, then gas usage is calculated depending on how much of the water going through the hot water system

goes to the unit in ques on. If the apartment is a long way from the hot water tank, cold water will run through the pipes before it becomes hot but the gas will

s ll have to be paid for.

Jordan can change gas retailers but this will not void the exis ng bill. Despite his not being aware of gas usage, he will have to pay the bill. Further each bill has

a connec on fee and an account fee on top of the usage charge.

Finally, it is problema c that Housing NSW did not inform Jordan of the possibility of receiving gas bills. It is not uncommon for people to be unaware they have

a gas connec on at all un l months later when they get hit by a large bill.

CASE STUDY: DOORTODOOR

ENERGY PROVIDER SALES

John (not his real name) lived alone in an

apartment in Surry Hills. He had a disability,

was receiving a Centrelink pension and relied on

regular assistance from a community support

worker. Over the past year, various salespeople

from electricity providers knocked on John’s door,

aiming to sign him up to a par cular electricity

provider.

Although John had diﬃ culty understanding the

salespeople, he ended up signing a new contract

every  me the salespeople approached him. This

was partly due to John’s diﬃ culty in saying ‘no’ to

people, and partly due to some of the salespeople

lying to him by promising to give him a pensioner

rebate in exchange for signing up.

Consequently, John had switched electricity

providers six  mes in the last year. This le John

confused about the iden ty of the electricity

provider to which he was contracted and what

sum of money was owed to each provider.

John approached RLC seeking legal advice as

to what he could do to prevent salesmen from

electricity companies from coming to his door.

RLC advised John to post a ‘do not approach’ sign

on his door and provided John with guidelines on

how to tell the salespeople he was not interested

in signing a new contract. RLC also outlined John’s

op on to lodge a complaint with the Energy and

Water Ombudsman NSW and provided John with

access to a ﬁ nancial counsellor.

REFERRAL INTAKE

The ﬁ nancial counselling sector

was disrupted by changes to State

Government funding in late 2012. RLC

lost a signiﬁ cant amount of funding in

November 2012 and our staﬀ hours

and caseloads were reduced as a

consequence. Some of our ongoing

ma ers were referred to the Consumer

Credit Legal Centre and fewer new

cases have been opened.

WORKING WITH FINANCIAL

COUNSELLORS

Despite the reduc on in casework,

RLC has con nued to support ﬁ nancial

counsellors who contact us with

legal enquiries. RLC held two training

sessions for new ﬁ nancial counsellors

about using the Na onal Credit Code

and associated law and one session on

Housing NSW debts. Another training

session was also held for volunteer

solicitors at community legal centres on

credit and debt issues.

COMMUNITY LEGAL

EDUCATION AND

PUBLICATIONS

RLC has con nued to publish Financial

Counselling Tidbits, which are sent to

ﬁ nancial counsellors across NSW. Each

edi on of Redfern Legal, RLC’s bimonthly

ebulle n, contains ar cles on credit and

debt and illustra ve case studies.

RLC developed an interac ve discussion

game based on ‘Snakes and Ladders’

which focuses on managing ﬁ nances and

oﬀ ering problem solving advice on debt

for Chinese speakers. The program was

delivered in Cantonese and Mandarin

to an event at which 200 Chinese

community members were present.

RLC’s credit and debt fact sheets have

been updated to include informa on

about changes to consumer credit law.

The fact sheets cover a range of topics

including: harassment by debt collectors;

debt recovery in the local court; motor

vehicle repossession and bankruptcy.

The fact sheets con nue to be a useful

resource for ﬁ nancial counsellors and

can also be provided to clients.

POLICE AND

GOVERNMENT

ACCOUNTABILITY

RLC’s Police Powers prac ce

con nues to grow, assis ng

individual clients and maintaining

scru ny of the NSW Police Force.

This prac ce remains the only

specialist legal service in NSW

that represents clients seeking

disciplinary ac on against police

oﬃ cers engaging in misconduct.

Complaints against police

oﬃ cers are an important part

of improving transparency in

the NSW Police Force and key to

maintaining conﬁ dence in the

criminal jus ce system in NSW.

CASEWORK

RLC’s Police Powers prac ce represented

clients during the period in formal

complaints about issues including:

> Loss of employment caused by

unauthorised police disclosure of

unproven allega ons;

> The unlawful arrest of protestors;

> Unlawful arrest for ques oning;

> Fabrica on of evidence;

> Classifying a domes c violence

complaint as a mental health

incident;

> Use of excessive force on young

people;

> Forcing a man with a serious medical

condi on to crawl along the ground

instead of using a wheelchair;

> Refusal to take statements from

independent witnesses;

> The use of capsicum spray on two

pensioners with disabili es;

> Unnecessary bail residency checks

that increase police bail sta s cs;

> Pursuing police prosecu on in the

absence of any statement from the

vic m;

> Failure to communicate reasons for

arrest; and

> The seizure of a smartphone

containing footage of excessive force.

INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION

Over the past twelve months NSW

has seen high proﬁ le hearings into

the tasering of Roberto Laudisio Cur ,

the mishandled inves ga on of the

Police shoo ng of Adam Salter, and

the false accusa ons levelled against

Corey Barker. The common theme in

these cases has been the willingness

of oﬃ cers involved to give misleading,

false or demonstrably untrue evidence

under oath. These ac ons tarnish the

reputa ons of good oﬃ cers and the

jus ce system as a whole. These high

proﬁ le cases show the pressing need for

independent inves ga on and review

of allega ons of misconduct within the

police force.

POLICE MISCONDUCT

RLC has a empted over the last

ﬁ nancial year to con nue drawing

a en on to police misconduct

in circumstances where it might

otherwise go unno ced or un-

remarked. RLC represented the family

of Adam Le Marseny in rela on to

Coronial death-in-custody inquests.

Adam’s death raised serious ques ons

about his treatment in police custody.

Despite a number of police oﬃ cers

making statements that Adam

appeared to be drowsy and drug-

aﬀ ected, no one sought medical

a en on for Adam.

Instead, he was interviewed by police

who obtained admissions rela ng to

alleged credit card fraud involving

the purchase of food and cigare es

– a rela vely minor, non-violent

oﬀ ence. Adam was then held at the

local police sta on for several more

hours, resul ng in him missing the

opportunity to be seen by the on-

duty nurse at the Correc ve Services

holding facility. This service stops at

10pm, despite the high level of alcohol

and drug-related crime occurring late

on Friday and Saturday nights.

As a result of RLC’s involvement, the

State Coroner has recommended that

22 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

POLICE AND

GOVERNMENT

ACCOUNTABILITY

Correc ve Services consider a trial of

24-hour medical staﬀ at least on Friday

and Saturday nights.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

While RLC has a speciﬁ c focus on police

accountability, it also provides advice

on the ac vi es of other government

agencies. RLC consistently receives

feedback that a er advice from RLC,

clients feel as though they have spoken

to someone who put their interests

ﬁ rst. Thanks to RLC’s dedicated

volunteers, RLC is able to take the

 me to explain people’s rights and the

legisla on that is relevant to them.

RLC also uses its experience in

administra ve law to drive the release

of previously withheld government

policies. RLC has used the Government

Informa on (Public Access) Act 2009 to

obtain the State Debt Recovery Oﬃ ce’s

(SDRO) Write-Oﬀ Guidelines.

CASE STUDY: POLICE CONFISCATE MOBILE PHONE

Jason (not his real name) had been out with friends in the city one night when he no ced an

alterca on taking place on the street between the police and a teenage girl. He began to ﬁ lm the

incident on his mobile phone, and a er brief discussion between Jason and the police, a Sergeant

informed him that he was hindering police. Jason was taken to a police sta on where his mobile phone

was conﬁ scated. Despite reques ng to speak to a solicitor, Jason was repeatedly refused access to his

mobile phone. The Sergeant asked Jason for the pass code to unlock the phone, but Jason refused.

He was charged with hindering police, and sought advice from RLC. We assisted Jason to obtain legal

representa on. We also informed him of his right to have his property returned if it was not needed as

evidence.

A er receiving a ﬁ ne for the hindering charge, Jason called the police sta on on three separate

occasions in an a empt to regain his phone, and was advised that he had to obtain a release from the

Sergeant who conﬁ scated it.

RLC dra ed a le er for Jason to the police outlining his right under the Legal Enforcement (Powers and

Responsibili es) Act 2002 (LEPRA) to have his property returned to him. The le er also stated that the

release from the Sergeant was not a lawful requirement.

A er the le er was sent, police made contact with Jason immediately and his mobile phone was

returned to him.

MEDIA

RLC has appeared on several radio

programs in the last year, giving

informa on about everything

from police complaints to police

horses. RLC’s police powers solicitor

presented a paper at the 2012

Na onal Conference of Community

Legal Centres in Adelaide regarding

the legisla ve and strategic aspects

of both formal police complaints and

li ga on around Australia. RLC’s police

powers solicitor also presented at the

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights

Community Legal Educa on session on

the right to silence.

EMPLOYMENT

LAW

UNFAIR DISMISSAL ADVOCACY

SCHEME

RLC has con nued our partnership

with Clayton Utz this year on the Unfair

Dismissal Advocacy Scheme. Some of

the central issues that arose from the

scheme were: businesses a emp ng

to hide the true employment

rela onship by using an intermediary

to distance themselves; businesses

claiming employees as contractors

to enable them to qualify as small

businesses; and staﬀ being made

redundant so that businesses could

rehire cheaper workers or contract

work out. Many clients assisted by the

scheme have associated legal issues

such as discrimina on, bullying and

redundancy. Businesses restructuring

and the underpayment of wages and

en tlements were also problems clients

faced. During the 2012-13 ﬁ nancial

year, RLC and the seconded Clayton Utz

solicitors assisted 29 clients. 75 per cent

of ma ers se led at concilia on, three

clients se led prior to concilia on,

and where ma ers involved monetary

compensa on, the average se lement

was $4308.

SUBMISSIONS

In November 2012, RLC responded to

the dra Fair Work Amendment Bill

2012 (Cth), expressing concern over the

new sec on 400A. This sec on would

allow the Fair Work Commission (FWC)

to make a costs order against a party if

the Commission was sa sﬁ ed that an

unreasonable act or omission of that

party caused the costs to be incurred.

The relevant ‘act or omission’ could

include failing to accept a se lement

oﬀ er. RLC’s submission recommended

that the sec on be rejected because

it could force applicants to accept

unreasonably low se lement oﬀ ers

to avoid the possibility of costs orders

against them, and discourage them

from seeking other remedies such as a

reinstatement or an apology.

In April 2013, RLC made a submission

on the Bill itself. Our submission

supported the broadening of reasons

for reques ng ﬂ exible working hours,

especially where the employee has

a disability or is experiencing family

violence. RLC also supported the

clariﬁ ca on that a worker can request

to return to part- me work a er the

birth or adop on of a child, and the

clariﬁ ca on of reasonable business

grounds for refusal of the request.

Addi onally, RLC submi ed that the

Bill be strengthened by placing an

obliga on on the employer to enable

ﬂ exible working arrangements or

returning to work part- me.

SHAM CONTRACTORS

RLC’s Employment Law Service

has observed an increase in sham

contrac ng where employers require

vulnerable workers to get an ABN

and classify them as independent

contractors, when they should be

treated as employees. Such workers

o en have no real understanding

of Australian Tax Oﬃ ce (ATO)

requirements and are then subject

to tax penal es for non-compliance.

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, it

is illegal for an employer to claim

that an employee is an independent

contractor. As outlined in the case

study that follows, employees are

usually advised about work and

hours by their employer, are en tled

to superannua on and minimum

wages, are paid regularly and are

not responsible for ﬁ nancial risk.

Independent contractors decide how

to do the work and whether to employ

someone else to do it, carry the risk of

making a proﬁ t or loss, have their own

insurance, are contracted to work for

a set  me or to do a set task, decide

their own hours and invoice for their

work or receive payment at the end of

a contract or project.

CASE STUDY: SHAM

CONTRACTORS

In 2006, Levi (not his real name) was

carrying out demoli on work and his

employers told him to get an ABN in

order to receive payment. He thought

nothing of the ABN un l he received

no ce to lodge a Business Ac vity

Statement the following year. Levi did

not understand the no ce and forgot

about it.

Six years later, Levi was appalled when

he received a bill from the ATO for

$11,150. The debt was made up of

individual ﬁ nes for failure to lodge

Business Ac vity Statements. Levi

was confused because he did not

have a business.

Levi approached RLC for assistance

with the debt. He was advised to call

the ATO and seek exemp on. With

RLC’s assistance, Levi called the ATO,

who informed him that his ABN could

be cancelled from its registra on in

February 2006. His tax penal es were

li ed, all Ac vity Statements were

cancelled and the penalty no ces

were remi ed.

Levi’s situa on demonstrates that

employers may incorrectly instruct

workers to get an ABN as contractors,

when they should really be classed

as employees. Failure to comply with

the ATO requirements can result in

large debts like Levi’s accumula ng

for unsuspec ng ABN holders. With

eﬀ ec ve ﬁ nancial counselling and an

explana on to the ATO, the problem

was resolved quickly.

24 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

BRANCH

OFFICE

The RLC branch oﬃ ce at the

Sydney University Postgraduate

Representa ve Associa on

(SUPRA) has been in opera on

since 2008. The service is funded

by SUPRA, which in turn receives

funding from the University from

the compulsory Student Services

Ameni es Fee paid by students.

This Service provides legal services to

postgraduate students from any of the

University of Sydney’s seven campuses,

including the aﬃ liated campuses of

the Sydney College of the Arts, the

Conservatorium of Music, Orange

Agricultural College and Camden Farms.

The service regularly provides legal and

strategic advice to the four Student

Advice and Advocacy Oﬃ cers employed

by SUPRA who deal with a variety of

issues of concern to students such

as academic or welfare ma ers. In

addi on, the service maintains a close

link with and provides assistance to the

staﬀ and oﬃ ce bearers of SUPRA.

UNIVERSITY MATTERS

As the Legal Service remains

independent of the university it can

advise students on University ma ers

and can represent students in conﬂ icts

with the University. The overwhelming

majority of university ma ers have

concerned the area of intellectual

property, either through the provision

of independent advice on contracts

prior to the handling of rights or in

handling disputes with the University.

CREDIT, DEBT AND CONSUMER

COMPLAINTS

The Legal Service receives a large

number of enquiries about consumer

contracts and credit and debt ma ers.

Many of these enquiries relate to

aggressive sales techniques or onerous

credit contracts. A signiﬁ cant number of

the complaints received in this area are

in rela on to consumer contracts with

telecommunica ons service providers,

par cularly in rela on to mobile phone

and internet services. The legal service

has been able to nego ate successful

outcomes for students in a range of

ma ers in these areas. Many students

sought advice regarding money owed to

or by the student in rela on to housing.

Many students are living in share

housing and are not covered by the

Residen al Tenancies Act. The necessity

for these students to take housing debt

disputes to the Local Court creates

unnecessary legal complexity and cost

for the students. The Legal Service has

represented some of these students in

ma ers at the Local Court.

ROAD TRAFFIC AND MOTOR

VEHICLE REGULATORY

OFFENCES

Inexperience or lack of familiarity with

the road rules, coupled with having

older or less well maintained vehicles

due to economic constraints means

that students present with penalty

no ces for these oﬀ ences. Students

are o en unable to pay penalty no ces

for the same reasons of ﬁ nancial

hardship that led to the oﬀ ence in the

ﬁ rst place. A signiﬁ cant number of

clients have chosen to court elect and

plead guilty. In these situa ons, the

Legal Service has either represented or

assisted them by way of dra ing their

wri en pleadings. Overwhelmingly,

the involvement of the Legal Service

has resulted in achieving favourable

outcomes for the students.

EMPLOYMENT

Many students are working to

supplement their other income

(parental support or scholarships). They

are o en working in posi ons where

their condi ons and en tlements are

ques onable and o en in posi ons

where their employment status

(whether they are an employee or a

sub-contractor) and the requirements

and legal obliga ons imposed on

them because of their legal status

are unknown to the student un l a

dispute arises. The Legal Service has

successfully nego ated on behalf of

many students to recover wages and

en tlements, assisted them to resolve

concerns about working condi ons and

assisted them in their dealings with

government departments in complying

with their taxa on and other legal

requirements.

TENANCY

Due to ﬁ nancial hardship, students are

o en ill placed to aﬀ ord rent increases

and o en fall into rental arrears. Lack of

funds and the need to stretch ﬁ nancial

resources means that students o en

reside in accommoda on that is of a

poor standard. This leads to tenancy

issues such as the need for repairs

and compensa on for breaches of the

tenancy agreement. The Legal Service

has provided advice and conducted

nego a ons on behalf of a large

number of students in rela on to

these ma ers. The Legal Service has

also provided assistance or arranged

advocacy for students to run diﬃ cult

tenancy ma ers at the Consumer,

Trader and Tenancy Tribunal.

Sydney University Postgraduate

Representa ve Associa on

(SUPRA)

BRANCH

OFFICE

Sydney University Postgraduate

Representa ve Associa on

(SUPRA)

CASE STUDY: INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS EXPLOITED BY

HEADTENANT

Mei Tian and Liu Yang (not their real names) were both 23-year-old interna onal students. Just before

coming to Sydney to study they arranged accommoda on living with Zhang Xin (not her real name), a

45-year-old woman originally from their home country. Zhang Xin rented a two-bedroom apartment

with a living room for which she paid $570 a week in rent. She lived in the main bedroom with

ensuite and rented the living room to two other female interna onal students and the second

bedroom to Mei Tian and Liu Yang. Mei Tan and Liu Yang (and the two female students in the living

room) paid $250 a week each in rent. This amount included electricity and internet bills, but s ll le

Zhang Xin with $1000 per week in proﬁ t. Mei Tian and Liu Yang signed a ﬁ xed term agreement for

one year and each paid $1,200 bond.

Zhang Xin did not tell the students that she had already been told by the real estate agent that

when her ﬁ xed term agreement expired in three months, she would have to leave the property as

the owner was returning from overseas and wanted to move back into the property. Two weeks

before Zhang Xin had to leave the property, she signed an agreement to rent another property for

$600 per week. A week later, on a Tuesday night she told Mei Tian, Liu Yang and the other two

students that they would all be moving to the new property in two days, on Thursday, as they

needed to be out of the current property by the Friday. She refused to tell them the address of the

new property but did tell them it was more expensive so their rent was going up to $270 per week

each.

Mei Tian and Liu Yang told Zhang Xin that they did not want to move to the new property with her

and that they would ﬁ nd somewhere else to live. Zhang Xin told them that they were bound to move

with her as they had an agreement for one year. Despite this Mei Tian and Liu Yang found a new

place and did not move with Zhang Xin.

She refused to return their bond. At the same  me, Zhang Xin commenced proceedings in the Local

Court claiming that Mei Tian and Liu Yang were bound by the ﬁ xed term agreement they had signed to

move with her wherever she chose for a one-year period. She sued them each for $9,750 in rent for the

remaining 39 weeks of the one year covered by the agreement.

The Legal Service became involved with both ma ers and assisted Mei Tian and Liu Yang in their

applica on to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal for the return of their bonds, and represented

the students in their defence of the Local Court proceedings. The Legal Service assisted Mei Tian and

Liu Yang to successfully obtain orders from the CTTT that each of their bonds be returned in full and

successfully defended them against Zhang Xin in the Local Court proceedings and obtained costs orders

against her. The Legal Service then assisted Mei Tian and Liu Yang to enforce the CTTT order and

successfully obtain their bond money.

COMMUNITY LEGAL

EDUCATION

The Legal Service has delivered

community legal informa on and

educa on sessions to students in:

intellectual property; traﬃ c oﬀ ences

and ﬁ nes; consumer contracts

(especially telecommunica ons service

provider contracts); motor vehicle

accidents (property damage); tenancy;

privacy law and employment.

In addi on, the Service has produced

a range of legal fact sheets in areas

of special interest to postgraduate

students, speciﬁ cally in the areas of

property, ﬁ nes, consumer law, contracts

(speciﬁ cally telecommunica ons

service provider contracts) and privacy.

PUBLICATIONS

The Legal Service contributed to the

legal sec on of the 2013 Postgraduate

Survival Guide. This included legal

informa on on ma ers of interest to

the postgraduate student popula on

including: intellectual property;

contracts; privacy; consumer law;

tenancy and ﬁ nes. The Service also

contributed to the Intellectual Property

sec on of the 2013 Thesis Guide.

POLICY AND LAW REFORM

The Legal Service Solicitor has been

involved in an advisory capacity

to SUPRA in rela on to policy and

law reform. Speciﬁ cally, the Service

has contributed to both external

submissions wri en by SUPRA on

ma ers relevant to postgraduate

students, and to internal policy

submissions wri en by SUPRA in

rela on to a variety of proposed

changes to University Policy and Rules.

26 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

BRANCH

OFFICE

TAFE (Sydney Ins tute)

Legal Service

TAFE (Sydney Ins tute) Legal

Service is the ﬁ rst point of call for

students and staﬀ requiring legal

assistance. This service provides

legal assistance to eight Sydney

Ins tute campuses: Enmore

Design Centre; Eora College;

Gymea College; Lo us College;

Petersham College; Randwick

College; St George College and

Ul mo College. The TAFE Legal

Service operates three days a

week from the Ul mo oﬃ ce and

regularly holds mobile clinics at

its other campuses. The Service

has recently moved to the

Marcus Clark building on George

Street. The Service is staﬀ ed by

one part- me solicitor and two

volunteer legal assistants.

OUR STUDENTS

The Service priori ses assis ng

students who are in vulnerable

posi ons or are experiencing high

levels of disadvantage. Many students

who seek advice from the Service

have a disability or are from culturally

and linguis cally diverse (CALD)

backgrounds. Students from CALD

backgrounds are o en discriminated

against due to language barriers and

are unfamiliar with the opera on of the

Australian legal system.

OUR WORK

With the support of the Sydney

Ins tute of TAFE, the Legal Service is

able to provide a holis c approach in

helping students by focussing on all

aspects of their needs. In addi on to

providing legal advice, the Legal Service

liaises with the TAFE counselling unit as

part of the crisis management plan. The

Legal Service seeks to address students’

problems not just through the provision

of legal advice but by also encouraging

students to a end counselling too

where appropriate.

The Legal Service takes a student-

oriented approach to delivery of

services. Students’ ﬁ nancial situa ons

will be carefully assessed in devising

the best course of ac on for the

individual student. The Service does not

provide legal representa on at court

as the  me and resources required

to do this would restrict its ability to

advise other students. However the

Service does assist the client in ﬁ nding

free or reduced-fee representa on.

The Service assists self-represen ng

clients in preparing court documents,

statements and advice regarding the

court procedure.

MENTAL HEALTH

A large propor on of the students

who consult the Legal Service have

signiﬁ cant mental health issues. The

Legal Service has assisted a number of

students with mental health issues to

examine their superannua on policies.

It has become apparent that some of

these students were covered by Total

Permanent Disability Insurance at the

 me they le their former employment

due to mental health issues.

CASE STUDY: INTERNATIONAL

STUDENTS

Jovina (not her real name) was from

Ireland and came to see the TAFE legal

service with several legal issues. She

had signed an agreement and paid

bond money to a landlord where the

proposed rent was grossly inﬂ ated.

Jovina called the landlord the day a er

she signed the agreement to tell him

that she did not want to move in and

to request that he return her bond. The

landlord would not answer her calls.

Jovina did not know the landlord’s full

name or whether he was the registered

proprietor of the property.

Jovina also had some problems with

her ex-employers. She was working

in hospitality at several restaurants

around Sydney, some of which were

paying her as li le as $9 per hour. At

one of her workplaces, she had slipped

and fallen due to unsafe working

condi ons.

The TAFE Legal Advice Service assisted

Jovina by:

> Obtaining a property search and

ascertaining the full name of her

landlord;

> Issuing a le er of demand to the

landlord;

> Dra ing complaints to the FairWork

Ombudsman for underpayment of

wages; and

> Dra ing complaints to the

WorkCover Authority in rela on to

workplace health and safety.

Jovina was able to successfully

complete her study this semester and

felt much more posi ve as she had

taken steps to resolve these ma ers.

Jovina’s complaints are s ll with the

FairWork Ombudsman and WorkCover

Authority.

OUR CLIENTS

AND SERVICES

INFORMATION AND ADVICE

Informa on ac vi es: 2621

Number of advices undertaken: 3432

CASEWORK

Number of ﬁ les open (new and ongoing) 2206

Number of ﬁ les closed 1652

PROJECTS

Community legal educa on projects 80

Law reform projects undertaken 40

Community development projects 6

TOTAL CLIENTS ASSISTED 3414

Clients iden ﬁ ed as Aboriginal and/or

Torres Strait Islander 5.7%

Culturally and Linguis cally diverse clients 28.6%

(123 diﬀ erent countries of origin)

Most of our culturally and linguis cally diverse clients

came from: China, India, Russia, Philippines, Thailand,

France, Vietnam, Korea, Iran, and Indonesia.

TOP 10 ISSUE AREAS

• Tenancy

• Domes c Violence

• Credit & Debt

• Government/Admin processes

• Employment

• Consumer complaints

• Discrimina on

• Family Law

• Complaints against Police

• Fines/Motor vehicle accidents

• Immigra on

SYDNEY WOMEN’S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURT

ASSISTANCE SCHEME STATISTICS

Total number of clients: 1406

Total number of client contacts: 7215

Total number of clients ﬁ rst contact at court: 720

Total number of clients ﬁ rst contact before court: 449

Total number of Aboriginal clients: 122

Total number of CALD clients: 475

Total number of clients who iden fy as

having a disability: 149

Total number of clients who iden ﬁ ed as being

in a same-sex rela onship: 26

Total number of clients represented by

Domes c Violence Prac  oner Scheme: 163

Total number of ﬁ nal AVO orders obtained by clients: 755

INNER SYDNEY TENANTS’ ADVICE AND

ADVOCACY SERVICE STATISTICS

Total advices 1622

Clients born outside Australia 37%

Social housing tenants 35%

A endance at the Consumer, Trader and

Tenancy Tribunal 60

Number of ﬁ les opened 127

BRANCH OFFICE: SYDNEY UNIVERSITY

POSTGRADUATE REPRESENTATIVE ASSOCIATION

(SUPRA) STATISTICS

Total advices/cases 415

Government/administra ve complaints 38%

Civil (process, contracts) 14%

Credit & Debt 11%

Tenancy 10%

Consumer complaints 5%

Intellectual Property 4%

BRANCH OFFICE: SYDNEY INSTITUTE OF TAFE

STATISTICS

Total advice/cases 199

Family law and child support 19%

Tenancy 13%

Government/administra ve complaints 11%

Civil (process, contracts) 11%

Employment 11%

Road traﬃ c/motor vehicle ma ers 10%

REDFERN LEGAL CENTRE STATISTICS

STATISTICS

28 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

OUR

VOLUNTEERS

During the last ﬁ nancial year Redfern

Legal Centre was fortunate enough to

work with more than 150 volunteer

legal assistant, solicitors, prac cal legal

training students, interns, social work

students, and seconded solicitors. It

is hard to portray just how valuable

the contribu on of our volunteers is.

We recently did a cost analysis of the

dollar value of the number of hours

volunteers contribute to the centre

over one year. The dollar value of our

volunteers’ work is $2,677,000.

This is just the ﬁ nancial value. The true

value of our volunteers’ work is seen

in the client who visited, overwhelmed

by their legal and non-legal problems,

and le with an appointment booked

with one of our solicitors, had help

ﬁ lling in a form or was made a warm

referral to a service they needed, such

as counselling or a community jus ce

centre for media on.

Our volunteer legal assistants are the

ﬁ rst contact point for our clients when

they come into the centre. They are

welcoming, informed and sensi ve.

They make  me to sit with clients,

listen to their stories and help the

client untangle their legal and non-legal

issues. We could not run this service

without them.

Our volunteer solicitors come in, o en

a er working all day elsewhere, and

provide expert legal advice to our

clients. Having empathy, passion for

social jus ce and legal exper se is key

to this job and we have a fantas c team

of people every week providing quality

advice to our clients. The true value

of the work of our volunteer solicitors

lies in the client who came in, terriﬁ ed

of their debts, and walked away with a

le er outlining why they should have

their debts waived. Legal problems

cause extreme stress in people’s

lives and having an approachable

knowledgeable solicitor available free

of charge genuinely makes our clients’

lives be er.

I would like to say thank you to

everyone who contributed to the

work of Redfern Legal Centre over the

past 12 months. By volunteering and

generously contribu ng your exper se,

your passion, your empathy and your

 me, you have made a signiﬁ cant

diﬀ erence in the lives of our clients.

Sophie Farrell

CommunicaƟ ons & Volunteer Manager

Aaranie Karthikeyan

Adi Kogekar

Ahmed Taleb

Aimee To

Alex Edwards

Alex (Alejandra)

Rosales

Alexandra Back

Ali Gronow

Alix Johnson

Amanda Harvey

Amber Kelly

Amber Karanikolas

Amy Munro

Amy Mao

Amy Williams

Andrew Stamp

Andrew Arulanandam

Angela Wong

Anna Hutchinson

Anna Spies

Anna Payten

Antonia Quinlivan

Antonia Ross

April Grenquist

Aritree Barua

Bandini Chhichhia

Ben Paull

Blaise Lyons

Bridget Akers

Bri Smith

Carl Hagon

Carla Ianni

Caroline Hopley

Carolyn Burton

Cassandra Low

Cassie Steinmetz

Catherine Fitzpatrick

Charlo e Oliver

Chetan Shukla

Chris ne Weekes

Claire Hammerton

Claire S mpson

Claire Harris

Clare Cronan

Clemmen ne Baker

Corinna Lee

Craig Biscoe

Damien Pang

Daniel Ward

Daniel Reynolds

Daniel Smith

Danielle Cooper

Darren Jenkins

David Vallance

Dean Tyler

Eden Baker

Edmond Lo

Edward Elliot

Eﬃ e Shorten

Ekaterina Magin

Eliza Grant

Elizabeth Mulock

Elodie Cheesman

Emily Dale

Emma Purdue

Emma McKibben

Emma Higgs

Emma Ward

Emmanuel Vo

Eric Young

Erica Berki

Esther Song

Eunice Lee

Fiona Gayler

Fiona Holdsworth

Fiona Meiklejohn

Gavin Hollamby

Georgina Owens

Giridhar Kowtal

OUR VOLUNTEERS ARE A LONG-TERM

INVESTMENT AND SHOULD NOT BE

THOUGHT OF AS JUST A HELPING HAND IN

THE PRESENT BUT ALSO AS POTENTIAL LAW

REFORMERS, POLITICIANS, POLICY WRITERS,

ACTIVISTS AND PRO BONO LAWYERS.

Grace McDonald

Grant Mason

Gyo Suzuki

Hana Thorson

Hannah Innes

Harold Bear

Harrison Grace

Heath McCrossin

Heather Choi

Helen Fahey-Shelton

Hilary Kincaid

Imogen Hogan

Ingrid Ibbe

Ingrid Stear

Irena Petchanatas

Ishanee Biswas

Isheeka Goswami

Ivan Vizin n

Jack Orford

Jamie Hutchinson

Janet Simpson

Janice King

Janice Chris ne

Padovani-Ginies

Janie Ng

Jeﬀ rey Wang

Jemima Harris

Jennie Goﬀ

Jennifer Hoy

Jennifer Kwong

Jennifer Garrick

Jenny Radford

Jenny Kojevnikov

Jessica Jameson

Jessica Tat

Jessica Liang

Ji-Beom Jang

Jia Yi Lee

Jill Forrester

Jo Seto

Joanna Dodds

Josh Wood

Judith Read

Julia Zboromirsky

Julia Green

Julia Kingston

Jun Lin

Kara Gorey

Karen Beck

Karthiga Nageswaran

Kate Cunningham

Kate McCallum

Kath Chegwidden

Kathryn Farrar

Ka e Kossian

Katrina Clark

Kayhan Oncu

Kelvin Keane

Kiara Rodara

Kimberley Mackenzie

Kirri Piper

Kris Lajara

Kris n Romano

Kristy Fisher

Lai Vuong

Laura Conlon

Laura Donnelly

Laura Thomas

Laura Joseph

Lee Corbe

Leonie Hale

Liam Harding

Libby Gunn

Lily Luo

Lindsay Ash

Lisa Stueckradt

Lorylene Osorio

Louise McDermo

Louise Hill

Lucy Pa erson

Luis Izzo

Madeleine Rowley

Maeve Doyle

Margaret Jones

Margaret Whish

Mario Yu

Marisa Wright Smith

Mar n Barker

Ma Lady

Maysa Hassan

Melanie Bradﬁ eld

Melissa Barnwell

Michael Bailey

Michael Windsor

Misa Han

Monique Hendry

Morad Wasile

Nadica Mireska

Nelson Guo

Nicholas Anderson

Nicholas Lukic

Nicholas Read

Nicholas Adams

Nicola Gilbert

Nicola Cooper

Nicole Sammel

Oshie Fagir

Patrick Trieu

Paul Ahearn

Paulina Fusitu’a

Perry Yao Xie

Peter Baker

Phil Winterton

Pia Riley

Qaraman Hasan

Rachael Lohrasby

Rachel Wright

Rachel Strickland

Rachel Gregory

Rebecca Leabeater

Rebecca Hiscock

Rebekah Edwards

Rita Caruana

Rommel Harding-

Farrenberg

Rory McLeod

Roxana Zulfacar

Rubini Uthayakumar

Sally Shrubb

Sam Goldsmith

Samantha McCormack

Savi Manii

Sean Behringer

Sean Shepherd

Sefakor Dokli

Seulki Kim

Shane Wesco

Shanni Zoeller

Shelley Williams

Shirley Liu

Simon Lindsay

Simon Moran

Simon Rudd

Siobhaun Kennedy

Sophie Duxson

Sophie Kaiko

Stefanie Vogt

Stephanie Millen

Stephanie Fowler

Stephen Sharpe

Subhaga Amarasekara

Sumedha Rathi

Susan James

Susannah Fricke

Tania Black

Tara Imrie

Tara Gazzard

Taryn Morrison

Ta ana Stein

Teresa Dellagiacoma

Therese Hartcher

Thomas Wand

Tim Capelin

Tim Nelmes

Timothy O’Ryan

Tom Barbat

Tom O’Brien

Tom Kiat

Travers Johnstone

Truman Biro

Uliana Korchevskaya

Vanessa Ji

Vivianne Schwarz

Wendy Green

Winston Headford

Yanli Leung

Yvonne Wandgra

30 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

OUR

STAFF

PERMANENT AND

FIXED TERM STAFF:

Lindsay Ash Tenants’ Advocate/NBN Project Oﬃ cer

Natalie Bradshaw Ac ng Tenancy Coordinator

Megan Cameron Solicitor

Kath Chegwidden Admin Oﬃ cer, WDVCAS

Hilary Chesworth Administrator

Sophie Farrell Communica ons and Volunteer Manager

Ta ya Has e WDVCAS Specialist Worker

Jessica Jameson Project Implementa on Manager (LeAP)

Rebecca Lou t WDVCAS Assistant Coordinator

Tom McDonald Tenants’ Advocate

Kirrillie Moore Project Oﬃ cer

Elizabeth Morley Principal Solicitor

Donna Polle WDVCAS Court Advocate

David Porter Solicitor

Natalie Ross General Team Leader

Michelle Schonstein Solicitor

Joanna Shulman Chief Execu ve Oﬃ cer

Susan Smith WDVCAS Coordinator

Brenda Staggs Solicitor, TAFE NSW branch

Jacqui Swinburne Solicitor/ Ac ng CEO

Lee Taylor WDVCAS Assistant Coordinator

Sue Thomas Tenants’ Advocate

Phoenix van Dyke Ac ng Tenancy Coordinator

Ingrid van Tongeren Solicitor, SUPRA branch

Wendy Wang Admin Oﬃ cer

Janice Waring WDVCAS Assistant Coordinator/

Court Advocate

Charmaigne Weldon WDVCAS Specialist Worker

CASUAL STAFF:

Nicholas Anderson Tenancy Adviser

Melissa Chen Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Chantel Co erell Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Ned Cutcher Tenancy Adviser

Jack Fu Cleaner

Nicola Gilbert Admin Assistant

Claire Harris Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Sue-Ellen Hills Assistant to DVPASS worker

Lauren Hockley Fundraiser

Jennifer Hoy Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Anna Hutchinson Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Tara Imrie Admin Assistant

Christopher Joyce Locum Solicitor

Julia Kingston Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Simon Lindsay Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Emma Lutwyche Tenancy Adviser

Rafael Mazzoldi Tenancy Adviser

Stephanie Millen Admin Assistant, WDVCAS

Barbara Paradis Tenancy Adviser

David Vallance Supervisor, Day Informa on Service

Joel Wilson Admin Assistant

CONSULTANTS:

Adap ve Solu ons IT support

Max Design Website design

Usability Website accessibility and usability consulta on

Thomson Reuters Publica on design and produc on

The Art of Mul media Video produc on

Consult Point IT support

C9 Solu ons IT support

OUR BOARD

OF DIRECTORS

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

Redfern Legal Centre is a company limited by guarantee. It has a Board of six elected directors who

have delegated responsibility for day-to-day management of the Centre to the Execu ve Oﬃ cer.

DIRECTORS

KRISTIN VAN

BARNEVELD

Kris n is currently

Deputy Na onal

Secretary of the

Community and Public

Sector Union (CPSU)

and is responsible

for the Poli cal, Industrial, Research and

Legal work of the CPSU, as well as being

part of the Execu ve Team responsible

for overall opera on of the union. Kris n

ﬁ rst started volunteering at RLC in 2005

as a student and went on to provide night

advice on employment ma ers. Kris n has

been a Director of the Board since 2006.

Kris n is also a Director of the Australian

Government Employee’s Superannua on

Trust.

TAMARA SIMS

Secretary

Tamara Sims is a

lawyer in Gilbert +

Tobin’s Pro Bono

prac ce. Her prac ce

covers human rights,

administra ve

law, discrimina on, na ve  tle, vic m

compensa on, tenancy, guardianship,

refugee claims and Aboriginal Stolen Wage

ma ers. Prior to joining Gilbert + Tobin,

Tamara worked in the community legal

sector prac sing criminal law, undertaking

policy and law reform work and community

legal educa on par cularly in ma ers

involving people with intellectual disability.

Tamara ﬁ rst became involved with RLC as a

volunteer legal assistant, then worked with

the Sydney Women’s Domes c Violence

Court Advocacy Service and the Inner

Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy

Service and now is a Director of the Board.

PETER

STAPLETON

Peter Stapleton, a

re red partner of

Ashurst, remains

ac ve in social

jus ce. Peter was

instrumental in

establishing Blake Dawson Waldron’s

(now Ashurst) na onal pro bono prac ce.

Peter was ini ally involved with Redfern

Legal Centre as a volunteer when it was

established. Peter was Chair of RLC for a

number of years. Despite his grey hairs,

Peter s ll assists the Centre to achieve

its primary goal of helping disadvantaged

persons access jus ce. Peter is a Director

of Aboriginal Legal Services NSW/ACT and

is the Chairman of the Na onal Pro Bono

Resource Centre. Peter was awarded the

Jus ce Medal in 2006.

PAUL

FARRUGIA

Paul Farrugia is a

partner in a small

suburban legal ﬁ rm.

Paul graduated

from the University

of Sydney with and LL.B. Paul has been

involved with RLC since 1978 as a volunteer

solicitor, Management Commi ee member

and a Director of the Board. In recogni on

to his service to RLC, Paul received the Law

Society Pro Bono Solicitor of the Year Award

in 1993.

NICOLAS

PATRICK

Chair

Resigned in February

2013

Nicolas Patrick is Pro

Bono Partner and Head of Pro Bono for

Europe, Middle East and Asia Paciﬁ c for

DLA Piper. He sits on the board of PILCH

NSW, New Perimeter (DLA Piper’s non-proﬁ t

aﬃ liate dedicated to delivering pro bono in

developing and post-conﬂ ict countries) and

the advisory board of the Human Rights Law

Centre. His main area of prac ce is human

rights. Nicolas commenced as a volunteer

with RLC in 1999 and was elected to the

board in 2003.

AMY MUNRO

Chair

Elected as Chair in

February 2013

Amy Munro is a

barrister prac sing

from Eleven

Wentworth in Sydney. She has a wide-

ranging commercial and public law prac ce.

Prior to being called to the Bar, she was a

Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolu on

Group at Mallesons. Amy began her

associa on with RLC as a volunteer in 2002,

moving on to become a Tenant Advocate

with the Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice and

Advocacy Service and the Project Manager

of the Share Housing Survival Guide. She was

elected to the Board in 2010 and con nues

to act as a volunteer with the Centre.

LINDA TUCKER

Linda Tucker is the

head of legal for the

Transport Workers’

Union of Australia.

She has worked

in a range of legal

posi ons in Sydney,

Cambodia and the UK, prac sing primarily

in employment, asylum and environmental

law. Linda ran the employment law clinic at

UNSW’s Kingsford Legal Centre from 2004 to

2010 and remains closely involved with the

community legal sector.

32 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

FINANCIALS

Director’s Declara on

AUDITOR’S

REPORT

34 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

AUDITOR’S

REPORT

COMPREHENSIVE

INCOME

36 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

FINANCIAL

POSITION

EQUITY

CHANGES

38 Redfern Legal Centre Annual Report 2012-2013

CASH

FLOWS

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