Issue 123: November 2017
Welcome to the November 2017 issue of AUSTRALIAN PRO BONO NEWS, the Centre’s monthly newsletter providing stories and articles of interest to the Australian pro bono community.
We welcome your feedback, submissions and ideas for both Australian Pro Bono News and our website – please email [email protected] or refer to our Contact page.
For past issues, visit our newsletter Archive.
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Editorial
November 2017
October has been a busy month with the Asia Pro Bono Conference, the PILnet Global Forum and the NSW Justice Awards taking place in the space of a few weeks – and all this straight off the back of the release of Target reporting results for FY1617! I was pleased to attend and present at both international conferences, and you can read about them in this issue.
The key message I returned with was the importance of lawyers continuing to think broadly and laterally about how they, in collaboration with others, can tackle injustice and strengthen civil society in the face of increased pressure on respect for the rule of law.
I’m grateful to Professor Michael Legg, of UNSW Law, one of the Centre’s directors, for stepping in to present the NSW Pro Bono Partnership Award this year. You can read about the winning partnership in this issue – the Housing Repairs Project, a great example of an innovative collaboration, tackling structural injustice experienced by Aboriginal people in the Moree/Walgett region. Congratulations to the Dharriwaa Elders Group, the Aboriginal Legal Service Moree, Legal Aid NSW’s Cooperative Legal Service Delivery Program and Gilbert+Tobin for this work.
We are continuing to meet with in-house corporate legal teams to promote the new in-house corporate guide and we are delighted to present a Q & A with General Counsel of Carnival Australia, Lauren Miller.
Also, as you are probably aware, this year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target. This is a significant milestone in the growth and consolidation of a pro bono culture in Australia and I encourage all to consider responding to our Public Discussion Paper so that we can keep the Target strong and relevant in its next decade.
John Corker
Subscribe to AUSTRALIAN PRO BONO NEWS
Issue 121: September 2017
Welcome to the November 2017 issue of AUSTRALIAN PRO BONO NEWS, the Centre’s monthly newsletter providing stories and articles of interest to the Australian pro bono community.
We welcome your feedback, submissions and ideas for both Australian Pro Bono News and our website – please email [email protected] or refer to our Contact page.
For past issues, visit our Archives page.
*
Editorial
November 2017
October has been a busy month with the Asia Pro Bono Conference, the PILnet Global Forum and the NSW Justice Awards taking place in the space of a few weeks – and all this straight off the back of the release of Target reporting results for FY1617! I was pleased to attend and present at both international conferences, and you can read about them in this issue.
The key message I returned with was the importance of lawyers continuing to think broadly and laterally about how they, in collaboration with others, can tackle injustice and strengthen civil society in the face of increased pressure on respect for the rule of law.
I’m grateful to Professor Michael Legg, of UNSW Law, one of the Centre’s directors, for stepping in to present the NSW Pro Bono Partnership Award this year. You can read about the winning partnership in this issue – the Housing Repairs Project, a great example of an innovative collaboration, tackling structural injustice experienced by Aboriginal people in the Moree/Walgett region. Congratulations to the Dharriwaa Elders Group, the Aboriginal Legal Service Moree, Legal Aid NSW’s Cooperative Legal Service Delivery Program and Gilbert+Tobin for this work.
We are continuing to meet with in-house corporate legal teams to promote the new in-house corporate guide and we are delighted to present a Q & A with General Counsel of Carnival Australia, Lauren Miller.
Also, as you are probably aware, this year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target. This is a significant milestone in the growth and consolidation of a pro bono culture in Australia and I encourage all to consider responding to our Public Discussion Paper so that we can keep the Target strong and relevant in its next decade.
John Corker
PRO BONO IN THE NEWS: October 2017
Should we change the definition of “pro bono legal services”?
Should “low-bono” work count as “pro bono”? Should “pro bono” include work done for clients operating for profit?
These important questions and others around the definition of “pro bono legal services” are open for public discussion in National Pro Bono Aspirational Target: The Target at Ten Years, a paper released by the Centre to mark a decade of the Target.
These important questions and others around the definition of “pro bono legal services” are open for public discussion in National Pro Bono Aspirational Target: The Target at Ten Years, a paper released by the Centre to mark a decade of the Target.
Asia Pro Bono Conference continues to emphasise education and empowerment
The focus of this conference continues to be on education and empowerment with a significant number of students attending particularly from the University of Malaya, but also students from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and the University of Newcastle. Staff and students from the law faculties of the Universities from the region and NGOs made up about 20-25 per cent of the audience. This, together with the many lawyers from less developed countries in the region and its participatory style gives this conference a unique informality and dynamism.
Moree/Walgett Housing Repairs Project wins 2017 Pro Bono Partnership Award
Located in North-Eastern NSW, Moree and Walgett are small outback towns with a rich Indigenous and colonial history. Regrettably, Indigenous disadvantage persists in the region to this day, particularly in relation to housing conditions. On a single street in Moree, issues ranged from black mould in a leaking bathroom or a shower with no floor, to exposed and dangerous electrical fittings, and an elderly woman living without a functioning stove.
PILnet Global Forum inspires in Budapest
It was fitting that the 2017 Global Pro Bono Forum (16-19 October 2017) was held in the place where PILnet established its first European clearing house in 2006. Celebrating 20 years since its inception, PILnet staged a forum that brought together many committed and talented public interest lawyers and pro bono enthusiasts to deliver an informative, thought-provoking and inspiring event. Notable was the depth of knowledge and experience of presenters.
The conference was held against the backdrop of pressing issues in Hungary concerning defence of the public interest and respect for the rule of law.
The conference was held against the backdrop of pressing issues in Hungary concerning defence of the public interest and respect for the rule of law.
Q&A with Peter Seidel, Arnold Bloch Leibler
Congratulations to the pro bono team at Arnold Bloch Leibler on winning the 2017 Lawyers Weekly Pro Bono Program of the Year Award. We asked ABL public interest law partner Peter Seidel to tell us about the firm’s pro bono program. This article kicks off a new series of Q&A pieces focusing on some of the outstanding pro bono programs run by National Pro Bono Aspirational Target signatories, as part of the Target’s ten-year anniversary celebrations. ABL are a Foundation Signatory to the Target.
Q&A with Lauren Miller, Carnival Australia
"Our pro bono work is a natural extension of our organisation’s commitment to sustainability, diversity and inclusion. The idea that shared value is created through contribution to our communities is fundamental to how we operate. In some ways, our pro bono work is simply another expression of that principle. The shared value for our organisation and for the organisations we support through pro bono work is mutually reinforcing."