News

Technology to tackle exploitation of foreign workers

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Last month, we wrote about wage theft and the firms undertaking pro bono legal work to secure justice for exploited temporary migrant workers. Shortly afterwards, 4Corners aired an investigation into modern slavery happening inside Canberra’s embassies and the foreign workers that are tricked into inhumane conditions as domestic servants in the nation’s capital. With the plight of temporary migrant workers increasingly under the spotlight, the Diplomacy Training Program’s (DTP) Migrant Worker International Law Reference Tool is a timely resource for advocates.

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Case study: Melbourne’s new employment law clinic – a pro bono partnership increasing capacity to address unmet legal need

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Ashika* lost her job when she refused to give up her employee status for an independent contracting arrangement with the same business. Feeling that she’d been wronged but not knowing what she could do about the situation, she came to Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL). When IMCL partnered with Clayton Utz to launch a fortnightly employment law clinic, the idea was to create a sustainable solution.

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Moree/Walgett Housing Repairs Project wins 2017 Pro Bono Partnership Award

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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.

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Q&A with Peter Seidel, Arnold Bloch Leibler

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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.

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