NPA Report

1. Giving legal assistance for free or at a substantially reduced fee to:
   1. individuals who can demonstrate a need for legal assistance but cannot obtain Legal Aid or otherwise access the legal system without incurring significant financial hardship; or
   2. individuals or organisations whose matter raises an issue of public interest which would not otherwise be pursued; or
   3. charities or other not-for-profit organisations which work on behalf of low-income or disadvantaged members of the community or for the public good;
2. Conducting law reform and policy work on issues affecting low-income or disadvantaged members of the community, or on issues of public interest;
3. Participating in the provision of free community legal education on issues affecting low-income or disadvantaged members of the community or on issues of public interest; or
4. Providing a lawyer on secondment at a community organisation (including a community legal organisation) or at a referral service provider such as a Public Interest Law Clearing House.

The following is not regarded as pro bono legal work for the purposes of this book:

1. giving legal assistance to any person for free or at a reduced fee without reference to whether he/she can afford to pay for that legal assistance or whether his/her case raises an issue of public interest;
2. free first consultations with clients who are otherwise billed at a firm’s normal rates;
3. legal assistance provided under a grant of legal assistance from Legal Aid;
4. contingency fee arrangements or other speculative work which is undertaken with a commercial expectation of a fee;
5. the sponsorship of cultural and sporting events, work undertaken for business development and other marketing opportunities; or
6. time spent by lawyers sitting on the board of a community organisation (including a community legal organisation) or a charity.

Pro bono referral organisations are generally membership-based (for example Justice Connect, JusticeNet SA and QPILCH). In other jurisdictions, these organisations are also referred to as pro bono clearing houses (for example, PILnet’s Global Pro Bono Clearinghouse).

Pro bono referral schemes are not membership based and in Australia are generally run by law societies or other organisations (for example, the Cancer Council).