Nominate now for the 2017 Pro Bono Partnership Award
Nominations for the 2017 Law & Justice Foundation Justice Awards are still open – but closing soon, at 5pm on Friday 7 July.
PRO BONO IN THE NEWS: June 2017
Links to stories of interest to the pro bono legal community that you may have missed. You can also stay up to date on the latest pro bono news by following the Centre’s Twitter feed @AusPBC.
Upcoming conferences
Upcoming conferences in 2017 include the NACLC conference (9-11 August, Canberra), the Sixth Asia Pro Bono Conference (30 September-2 October, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), and the PILnet Global Pro Bono Forum (16-19 October, Budapest, Hungary).
Centre welcomes new staff
We’re delighted to welcome three new staff members: Gabriela (Head of Policy and Strategy), Hsu-Ann (Communications & IT Coordinator) and Kirstan (Officer Administrator)
Corrs wins award for involvement in innovative pro bono initiative by The Big Issue to raise $1.8bn over next 30 years for social and affordable housing
Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Corrs) has won the award for innovation in Social Responsibility in the recent 2017 Financial Times Asia Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards (the Awards). Working with long-term client, The Big Issue, the firm created a legal mechanism for ‘Homes for Homes’ – a newly launched initiative to tackle the lack of social and affordable housing in Australia. It is the first initiative of its kind in Australia.
Victoria’s legal assistance sector to change following Government response to recommendations of the Access to Justice Review
The Victorian Government has expressed support for nearly all of recommendations from the Victorian Access to Justice Review (the Review), commissioned by the Victorian Labor Government in 2015 and undertaken by the Department of Justice and Regulation.
Firms on NSW Government Legal Services Panel due to report for the first time on their pro bono performance
In July 2016, the New South Wales (NSW) Government included pro bono conditions in its new whole-of-government NSW Legal Services Panel arrangements. Firms will in July 2017 for the first time be reporting on their pro bono work in NSW – a direct result of these new NSW tender rules.
Lawyers Walking for Justice on National Pro Bono Day 2017 raise record amount for pro bono clearing houses
The 2017 Walk for Justice was a great success. Despite a slight drop in numbers overall, the event has already raised a record $173,299 for LawRight, Law Access WA, Justice Connect and JusticeNet SA, up from $157,000 in 2016.