Justice Project: Pro Bono Tool
Asylum Seekers
More information about this project can be found here. This project has been endorsed by the Law Council of Australia.
Priorities identified in the Justice Project Final Report
Priorities Identified in the Justice Project Final Report[i]:
- To achieve more efficient, sustainable and fairer outcomes regarding asylum seekers’ protection claims, and reduce downstream pressure on courts and tribunals. Ensure access to free. qualified and trained interpreters for asylum seekers at all stages of their protection visa claims.
- Review policies and procedures to facilitate prompt access to legal assistance amongst asylum seekers in detention or in offshore processing centres.
- Establish a legislative framework which:
- ensure that asylum seekers are only detained where it is necessary, reasonable in all the circumstances and proportionate to a legitimate purpose, based on a detailed assessment of an individual’s particular circumstances and clear objective criteria;
- ensures that detention is subject to statutory maximum limits and effective, statutory periodic review requirements; and
- ensure that the best interests of the child be the primary consideration in all actions concerning children. Detention of children, which should only occur as a matter of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, should be community-based detention.
- Review Australia’s offshore detention and turn-back policies in accordance with the principles and obligations et out in the LAw Council’s Regional Processing Policy Statement and its Asylum Seeker Policy, and with a view to achieving more sustainable, cost-effective solutions.
- Enact and apply a consistent legal process for determining protection status that does not discriminate against applicants based on their mode of arrival.
- Ensure that asylum seekers who enter Australia are not penalised for doing so without a valid visa, provided they present themselves to authorities without delay and show good cause for their entry and presence.
- Replace temporary protection visas with durable, permanent protections for those found to invoke Australia’s protection obligations.
- Enable access to full merits review for all administrative decisions concerning the protection status of asylum seekers, regardless of their mode or timing of arrival.
- Appoint an independent legal guardian for all unaccompanied minors who arrive in Australia.
- Review statutory frameworks regarding asylum seekers to ensure that Executive decisions which fundamentally affect them, including their liberty, possible removal and right to make protection claims, should be made according to principles laid down by parliament, and are subject to meaningful judicial oversight.
Justice Project: Pro Bono Tool Summaries
Directory of Organisations
Quick links to organisations by location
Quick links to tables by location:
National
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre – Provides holistic legal support at all stages of the refugee determination process, including expert refugee law advice and representation at primary, merits review and judicial review stages of the process. Using an integrated service model, and through offices based in Footscray and Dandenong (Melbourne) legal clients are also linked into other non-legal ASRC/other provider services including for health, employment, food, emergency relief and other support. It provides both full legal representation services as well as limited assistance through a number of legal clinics and advice services staffed by around 150 volunteers under lawyers’ supervision, including a specialised gender clinic for those fearing persecution due to their gender or sexual identity. It also has partnerships with a number of law firms who provide a range of pro bono legal and other supports to its work. It works closely with the Victorian Bar whose members frequently provide pro bono or conditional costs-based assistance for clients involved in litigation. The ASRC is also actively engaged in advocacy, policy and law reform, working closely with other sector actors, and also provides community legal education and training. | For partnership opportunities please see here. For volunteer opportunities please see here. | 1, 3, 4 | ✔ | ✔ |
Refugee Legal – Provides free specialist legal assistance to people seeking asylum, refugees and disadvantaged migrants in the community and in immigration detention in Victoria and across Australia. Legal services provided include: telephone advice line, evening advice service, day time casework, including full legal representation, Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) Clinics, strategic ‘test case’ litigation and client and community information sessions. | For volunteer opportunities please see here. | 1, 3, 4 | ✔ | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
RISE – Advocate for the abolition of Australia’s cruel Refugee policies including mandatory detention and as well as global policies that adversely impact on our members. | For volunteer opportunities see here. | 3, 4 | ✔ |
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Companion House – Works with adults and children who have sought safety in Australia from persecution, torture and war related trauma. Companion house provides migration advice as well as policy advice and raising awareness. | See here | 1, 2 | ✔ | ✔ |
Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services of the ACT Inc – Provides a Legal Aid officer who can help with citizenship, immigration, housing and various other applications. We also offer outreach from Legal Aid ACT, however this service is currently temporarily closed due to COVID-19. | See here | 1, 2 | ✔ |
New South Wales (NSW)
Pro bono providers are encouraged to contact the Pro Bono Referral Schemes and Organisations to source pro bono matters. In New South Wales, please contact Justice Connect.
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Immigration Advice and Rights Centre – provides free immigration legal advice to eligible people in New South Wales or in immigration detention. IARC provides assistance in relation to protection visas and humanitarian visas and visa cancellations among other things. | See here. IARC is not currently engaging volunteer Registered Migration Agents but welcomes expressions of interests from solicitors, barristers and other professionals who are interested in supporting our work. Email your CV and an outline of how you would like to contribute to centre@iarc.asn.au. | 1, 2 | ✔ | |
Refugee Advice & Casework Services (RACS) – Provides critical free legal advice, assistance and representation, for financially disadvantaged and vulnerable people seeking asylum in Australia, including: women who have experienced or fear domestic, family or gender based violence, members of the LGBTIQA+ community, stateless people, children who are seeking protection without their parents, people seeking family reunion in Australia. RACS advocates for systemic law reform and policy that treats refugees with justice, dignity and respect, and we make complaints about serious human rights violations, to Australian and United Nations complaints bodies. | See here. | 1, 2, 3, 6 | ✔ | ✔ |
Refugee Law Project – offers pro bono (free of charge) legal assistance to asylum seekers in the Federal Circuit Court. The Refugee Law Project has a number of volunteer barristers who work for us, with the help of Volunteer Litigation Assistants (including final year law students from the Australian Catholic University). | For pro bono opportunities, please contact the Refugee Law Project here. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Legal Aid New South Wales Refugee Service – The Refugee Service is a state-wide specialist service of Legal Aid NSW. The service helps newly arrived refugees learn about their rights and responsibilities under the law, and access legal services to prevent their legal problems from escalating. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Justice Connect – Helps migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to navigate the legal system. Justice Connect works with barristers to assess the merits of a judicial review application where an asylum seeker seeks the Federal Circuit Court’s review of a decision not to grant a protection visa. If an asylum seeker’s matter has reasonable prospects of success, we refer their matter to pro bono lawyers, who, along with a barrister, will support the asylum seeker through the court process. Justice Connect may be able to help people find a lawyer to help where their visa has been cancelled or refused on character grounds, and they have few ties to their country of origin. | See here for law firms wanting to become a member. See here for individuals who want to volunteer. | 1, 2 | ✔ | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jesuit Refugee Service – Advocates to promote the dignified living of people seeking asylum, refugees and migrants in vulnerable situations. Our advocacy takes a number of forms including participation in policy development, and lobbying at the national, Asia-Pacific international levels; parliamentary engagement; research and commentary; campaigning with partners; and grassroots organising. | See here. | 6 | ✔ |
Northern Territory (NT)
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission – Provides advice on visa issues if a person has been hurt by their partner. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN) – Advocates for and supports the large numbers of people that have been detained in detention centres in the Darwin region. Now that these detention centres have closed, and given our committed volunteer base and the continuing needs of people seeking asylum, DASSAN now focuses on supporting asylum seekers living in our community. | Contact DASSAN here for volunteering opportunities. | 3, 4 | ✔ |
Queensland (QLD)
Pro bono providers are encouraged to contact the Pro Bono Referral Schemes and Organisations to source pro bono matters. In Queensland, please contact LawRight.
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Refugee and Immigration Legal Service (RAILS) – Provides free immigration advice, legal assistance and legal education to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Queensland. RAILS also takes on legal casework in Protection Visas, Refugee Family Reunion, Family Violence and visas, Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV). | For pro bono opportunities in Queensland, please contact LawRight. | 1, 2 | ✔ | ✔ |
The Romero Centre – The Centre’s Legal Support and Process Guidance service provides qualified support and access to lawyers and asylum seeker process specialists. | For pro bono opportunities in Queensland, please contact LawRight. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
LawRight – Operates a civil law referral service and direct legal services for disadvantaged client groups, and undertakes law reform, policy work and legal education in Queensland. Operates a Health Justice Partnership which has helped Indigenous clients with complex legal issues. | See here for information on how to become a member. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
South Australia (SA)
Pro bono providers are encouraged to contact the Pro Bono Referral Schemes and Organisations to source pro bono matters. In South Australia, please contact JusticeNet SA.
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Refugee Association – A team of registered migration agents provides advice and assists people in applying for visas, residence and citizenship applications. All of our migration agents have both experience and expertise in migration matters and are registered to deliver the services with the Office of Migration Agents Registration Authority. | For pro bono opportunities in South Australia, please contact JusticeNet SA. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Legal Services Commission of South Australia – Provides a free legal advisory service to immigrants and refugees through its Adelaide office. The migration legal advisory service provides information and advice (but not representation) regarding permanent protection visas, and refusals of permanent protection visas by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, ‘split family’ humanitarian or family stream visas for recent humanitarian arrivals, and visa cancellations, or refusals, based upon a failure of the character test among others. | For pro bono opportunities in South Australia, please contact JusticeNet SA. | 1, 2 | ✔ | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
JusticeNet SA – coordinates pro bono (free) legal help for refugees and asylum seekers who are applying for judicial review. We will obtain a legal opinion about an applicant’s situation and, where there is sufficient legal merit, we will endeavour to refer applicants for representation in the Federal Circuit Court or Federal Court. | See here. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Tasmania (TAS)
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Migrant Resource Centre North – Provides expert migration services to achieve timely and cost-effective approvals and outcomes and specialise in a range of visas including Humanitarian visas. | See here for partnership opportunities and here for volunteer opportunities. | 1, 2 | ✔ | |
Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service – A not for profit refugee legal service whose primary purpose is to relieve the necessitous circumstances of people of refugee background, humanitarian entrants and people seeking asylum who reside in Tasmania through the provision of free and confidential legal services. The Centre provides advice, assistance and representation, such as, but not limited to: visa applications; applications before the Immigration Assessment Authority or Administrative Appeals Tribunal, judicial review before the Federal Circuit Court, and Ministerial Intervention Requests. The Centre also provides a Family Violence Migration Service for temporary visa holders who have experienced, or are experiencing family violence. | See here for volunteer opportunities. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Victoria (VIC)
Pro bono providers are encouraged to contact the Pro Bono Referral Schemes and Organisations to source pro bono matters. In Victoria, please contact Justice Connect.
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre – Provides holistic legal support at all stages of the refugee determination process, including expert refugee law advice and representation at primary, merits review and judicial review stages of the process. Using an integrated service model, and through offices based in Footscray and Dandenong (Melbourne) legal clients are also linked into other non-legal ASRC/other provider services including for health, employment, food, emergency relief and other support. It provides both full legal representation services as well as limited assistance through a number of legal clinics and advice services staffed by around 150 volunteers under lawyers’ supervision, including a specialised gender clinic for those fearing persecution due to their gender or sexual identity. It also has partnerships with a number of law firms who provide a range of pro bono legal and other supports to its work. It works closely with the Victorian Bar whose members frequently provide pro bono or conditional costs-based assistance for clients involved in litigation. The ASRC is also actively engaged in advocacy, policy and law reform, working closely with other sector actors, and also provides community legal education and training. | For partnership opportunities please see here. For volunteer opportunities please see here. | 1, 3, 4 | ✔ | ✔ |
Refugee Legal – Provides free specialist legal assistance to people seeking asylum, refugees and disadvantaged migrants in the community and in immigration detention in Victoria and across Australia. Legal services provided include: telephone advice line, evening advice service, day time casework, including full legal representation, Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) Clinics, strategic ‘test case’ litigation and client and community information sessions. | For volunteer opportunities please see here. | 1, 2, 3 | ✔ | ✔ |
Refugee Law Project – Offers pro bono (free of charge) legal assistance to asylum seekers in the Federal Circuit Court. The Refugee Law Project has a number of volunteer barristers who work for us, with the help of Volunteer Litigation Assistants (including final year law students from the Australian Catholic University). | For pro bono opportunities, please contact the Refugee Law Project here. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Justice Connect – helps migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to navigate the legal system. Justice Connect works with barristers to assess the merits of a judicial review application where an asylum seeker seeks the Federal Circuit Court’s review of a decision not to grant a protection visa. If an asylum seeker’s matter has reasonable prospects of success, we refer their matter to pro bono lawyers, who, along with a barrister, will support the asylum seeker through the court process. Justice Connect may be able to help people find a lawyer to help where their visa has been cancelled or refused on character grounds, and they have few ties to their country of origin. | See here for law firms wanting to become a member. See here for individuals who want to volunteer. | 1, 2, 3, 4 | ✔ | ✔ |
Western Australia (WA)
Pro bono providers are encouraged to contact the Pro Bono Referral Schemes and Organisations to source pro bono matters. In Western Australia, please contact Law Access.
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Humanitarian Group – Provides professional migration assistance, legal advice and education for people new to Australia who are disadvantaged in their access to legal services. The Humanitarian Group provides legal assistance with protection visas, family reunion visas as well as general legal assistance such as, but not limited to, issues on family violence, slavery and human trafficking, criminal injuries compensation, child protection, discrimination and minor criminal matters. | For pro bono opportunities in Western Australia, please contact Law Access. | 1, 3, 4 | ✔ | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Southern Communities Advocacy Legal Education Service Inc. (SCALES) – A community legal centre and the site of the Murdoch University legal clinic. SCALES also provides a state wide service in the area of immigration. | For pro bono opportunities in Western Australia, please contact Law Access. | 1, 2, 3 | ✔ | ✔ |
Organisations | Information for Pro Bono Providers | Justice Project Priorities | Direct Legal Services | Law Reform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Law Access – Coordinates the provision of pro bono legal assistance by the Western Australian legal profession to not-for-profits and individuals. Law Access established the Lawyers for Refugees Network to boost the capacity of the profession to undertake pro bono referrals in this area of law. The group builds pro bono capacity and expertise by providing training about judicial review and, where required, by pairing less experienced instructors with experienced Counsel or vice versa. | See here – Opportunities are available to lawyers who register on the Law Access lawyer database. The database will send you information about your areas of interest. Law Access also welcomes secondees from private firms who second lawyers on a part-time basis to assist Law Access with triage and assessment of applications. | 1, 2 | ✔ |
[i] The Justice Project Final Report published by the Law Council of Australia (Aug 2018) can be found here.
Please note the Centre undertook the research to identify which priorities have been mapped to individual organisations. Not all organisations have confirmed yet whether the identified priorities are accurately mapped.