ON THE SITE: National Pro Bono Aspirational Target

In ‘On the Site’ we direct you to information and resources on our website that you may not have seen.

In 2006 the Centre launched the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target, giving law firms, individual solicitors, barristers and barristers’ chambers the opportunity to affirm that they aspire to undertake at least thirty-five hours of pro bono legal work per lawyer per year.

They can do this by becoming a Signatory to to the Target’s Statement of Principles (see below). The Target section of our site also contains instructions on how to sign up to the Target, a list of all Target signatories, our definition of pro bono (and guidance notes to help Signatories report), a history of the development of the Target and a FAQs page. You can also download previous annual Performance Reports on the Target dating back to 2008.

Here is the Statement of Principles that all law firm Target Signatories agree to:

MINDFUL of the professional responsibility of all lawyers to provide pro bono legal services to address the unmet legal needs of the poor and disadvantaged in the communities in which we live, and

RECOGNISING that pro bono is not a substitute for the proper funding by government of Legal Aid agencies, Community Legal Centres and other government funded legal services,

OUR FIRM is pleased to join with other firms across the country in subscribing to the following statement of principles and in pledging our best efforts to achieve the voluntary target described below.

• Our firm recognises its professional obligation to provide pro bono legal services.
• In furtherance of that obligation, our firm agrees to encourage and support the provision of pro bono legal services by all its lawyers.
• We agree to use our best efforts to ensure that, by no later than 30 June in each year, our firm’s lawyers will undertake an average of a minimum of 35 hours of pro bono legal services each year per lawyer.
• In furtherance of these principles, our firm also agrees:
  • to provide training and supervision as required to enable our lawyers to meet the need for pro bono legal services in the community in matters undertaken by our firm and;
  • to monitor the firm’s progress towards the targets established in this statement and to report its progress annually to the partners and staff of the firm and to the Australian Pro Bono Centre.
• We acknowledge that when a lawyer provides pro bono legal services, he or she owes the pro bono client the same professional and ethical obligations that are owed to any paying client and accordingly the lawyer must give that work the same priority, attention and care as would apply to paid work.