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 be a leader in providing quality legal services to the community.
- To be specialists in the areas of domestic violence, credit, debt and consumer law, tenancy, employment, discrimination, and complaints about police and other government agencies.
- To identify inequalities in the laws, legal system, administration practices and society as a whole that affect RLC's clients and disadvantaged people generally, and to work for social and legal change to remove these defects and inequalities.
- 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?
As well as a general legal service, Redfern Legal Centre provides the
following specialist services:
• General Legal Service
• Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service
• Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
• Service for students at Sydney Institute of TAFE
• Service for members of Sydney University Post Graduate Students Representative Association (SUPRA)
These general and specialist services are provided by way of:
- Face-to-face and telephone legal advice sessions at RLC.
- Face-to-face legal advice sessions at SUPRA and TAFE .
- Court support for women at Downing Centre, Newtown, Balmain and Waverley Local Courts.
- Telephone and face-to-face tenancy advice
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:
• Community Legal Centres NSW;
• National Association of Community Legal Centres
• FCAN
• NCOSS
• South Sydney Aboriginal Interagency
• DV Committee Area Liaison Committee.
• South Sydney Interagency
• Tenants' Union
RLC provides legal advice and casework to people living in the City of Sydney, Leichhardt and Botany Bay local government areas; and outside these areas in exceptional circumstances.
RLC provides assistance to financial counsellors state wide.The Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service is available to women in the area or who have domestic violence matters in Downing Centre, Newtown, Balmain and Waverley Local Courts.
The Inner Sydney Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service provides a service to tenants in the City of Sydney, Leichhardt and Botany Bay 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 the Community Legal Centres Funding Program administered by Legal Aid NSW. Funding for this program is provided by the Indigenous Justice and Legal Assistance Division of the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department and the NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General.
Funding for RLCs credit and debt legal services is from the NSW Department of Human Services, NSW Fair Trading and the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs through its Financial Counselling Program.
The Legal Aid NSW funds the Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service.
The Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice & Advocacy Service is funded by NSW Fair Trading.
City of Sydney provides the Centre with concessional rent.
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).