FAQs
1. What is Redfern Legal Centre and how long has it been around?
Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) is an independent non-profit community centre dedicated to promoting social justice and human rights.
RLC was established in 1977 by lawyers, law students and academics, social workers and community activists outraged at the injustice created by the lack of affordable legal services for disadvantaged and marginalised people. The Centre opened with one paid staff member, barely any money, and lots of volunteers with expertise, enthusiasm, passion, commitment and a vision.
2. What is Redfern Legal Centre's vision?
A just society that respects human rights and embraces equal participation by all.
3. What is Redfern Legal Centre's purpose?
Redfern Legal Centre promotes social justice by:
1. Providing free legal advice, legal services and education to disadvantaged people in New South Wales, and to groups who advocate for them.
2. Participating in activities that reduce inequalities and defects in laws, the legal system, and administrative and social practices that impact on disadvantaged people.
4. What are Redfern Legal Centre's values?
Redfern Legal Centre:
- Promotes the empowerment of individuals and communities;
- Respects clients, community members and each other;
- Provides a safe, meaningful and co-operative work environment for staff and volunteers;
- Involves the staff, volunteers and community members in planning, managing and delivering services;
- Reflects and learns from experience;
- Provides accessible, holistic and non-judgmental services; and
- Is independent, effective and accountable.
5. What are Redfern Legal Centre's goals?
- To provide legal advice, referral and casework to disadvantaged people and to groups who provide services for or advocate for them.
- To work with communities and individuals to develop local services and empower people to assert their own interests.
- To identify the inequalities in the laws, legal system, administrative practices and society as a whole that affect our clients and disadvantaged people generally and to work for social and legal change to remove those defects and inequalities and enhance respect for human rights.
- To enhance community members' ability to resolve their problems and assert their rights through the provision of community legal education.
- To contribute to a civil society, including by involving volunteers in our service delivery and by co-operating with other community organizations in pursuit of shared objectives.
- To sustain an infrastructure and administration that provides adequate resource for our activities, and to effectively manage and maintain those resources.
6. What is a community-based organisation?
An organisation made up of people who join because they support the organisation's aims and objectives. The organisation's memorandum of articles is the document that sets out the organisation's aims and the rules for how it should be run.
Many community organisations receive funding from the state, federal and / or local government/s to assist their work but they are independent of government/s.
7. Who runs Redfern Legal Centre?
Redfern Legal Centre is a public company limited by guarantee. It has six elected volunteer directors who have delegated the day-to-day management of the Centre to the Executive Director and staff.
8. What services does Redfern Legal Centre provide and who can use them? (see also...RLC Services Index)
As well as a general legal service, Redfern Legal Centre provides the following specialist services:
- Credit and Debt Legal Service
- Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service
- Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme
These general and specialist services are provided by way of:
- Face-to-face and telephone advice sessions 4 evenings a week.
- Specialist credit and debt advice sessions two evenings a week.
- General legal advice daytime session one half day a week.
- Tenancy telephone and face-to-face advice sessions 4 times a week each.
- Staffing a DV room at Downing Centre Local Court two mornings a week.
The Centre also conducts a number of policy and community development projects including:
- Community legal education - upon request.
- Law reform, policy work and campaigning.
RLC is also active in a number of local, state-wide and national campaigns and networks including:
- NSW Community Legal Centres; National Association of CLCs
- Financial Counsellors of Australia Network
- NCOSS
- South Sydney Aboriginal Interagency
- DV Committee Area Liaison Committee.
- South Sydney Interagency
- Tenants' Union
RLC provides generalist advice and casework to people living in the City of Sydney, Leichhardt and Botany municipalities; and outside these areas in exceptional circumstances.
Telephone advice is available to callers throughout NSW who have no other source of assistance.
The Credit and Debt service provides assistance to financial counsellors state-wide, and to clients who live in our catchment area.
The Women's Domestic Violence Court Support Scheme is available to women in the area or who have domestic violence matters in Downing Centre Local Court.
The Inner Sydney Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service provides a service to tenants in the City of Syndey, Leichhardt and Botany local government areas.
9. Where does Redfern Legal Centre's money come from?
RLC receives funding and in-kind support from a range of sources. We thank these Departments, organisations and individuals for their ongoing support of the Centre.
The General Legal Service is funded principally through Community Legal Centres Funding Program which is administered by the NSW Legal Aid Commission and the Indigenous Justice and Legal Assistance Division of the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department.
The Credit & Debt Service is funded by the NSW Department of Community Services, the NSW Office of Fair Trading and the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services through its Financial Counselling Program.
The NSW Legal Aid Commission funds the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme.
The Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice & Advocacy Service is funded by the NSW Office of Fair Trading.
City of Sydney Council provides the Centre with concessional rent.
From time to time the Centre is successful in gaining funds for non-recurrent projects or joint projects. We thank:
Gilbert &Tobin for its donation to an Outreach project for Aboriginal women.
The NSW Law & Justice Foundation for assistance with factsheets for tenants.
The NSW Office of Fair Trading for funding a reprint of Share Housing postcards.
The Sherman Foundation for funding the Pro Bono Animal Law Project Freehills for donation to a project to assist recently released prisoners and their families.
Clayton Utz for donation to translations of leaflets for CALD tenants, and international Human Rights Day.
Microsoft for donation of software.
10. Is Redfern Legal Centre a government or non-government agency?
Redfern Legal Centre is a non-government agency completely independent of government.
11. Is there any difference between community legal centre and the Legal Aid Commission of NSW?
Yes. Community legal centres are community based, non-profit organisations that provide a range of legal services including:
- Legal advice in person and by telephone;
- Representation in some courts;
- Representation for public interest and test cases;
- Community legal education;
- Community involvement through volunteer work in legal services, research, administrative support and management of services; and
- Initiatives in law reform.
The Legal Aid Commission of NSW is an independent statutory body providing legal aid and other services to people who cannot afford private lawyers.
12. Does Redfern Legal Centre have any opportunities for students to do a placement or work experience?
Redfern Legal Centre has an extensive volunteer program with approximately 120 volunteers during the past year.
Daytime volunteers who are generally law students and interested members of the community, volunteer on weekly shifts, working on reception, casework (under the instruction of a solicitor), research and administration. Evening volunteers are solicitors and legal assistants who provide legal advice, and volunteer on weekly or fortnightly shifts.
RLC would not be able to provide anywhere near its current level of services without the huge contribution of these volunteers. Redfern Legal Centre and its clients also access pro bono assistance from a number of practitioners and firms.
13. Where is Redfern Legal Centre?
RLC is situated in the old Redfern Town Hall at 73 Pitt St, Redfern (location map).