Annual-Report-2009-2010.pdf - St Kilda Legal Service

Annual Report 2009 - 2010

free legal advice law reform community legal education community development drug outreach referrals

Helping all members of our local community to have access to a demystified and just legal system...

st kildalegal serviceco-op limited

Opening Hours–DaysMonday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday:

9.30 am - 1.00 pm &

2.00 pm - 5.00 pm

Thursday: 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm

Opening Hours–EveningsMonday, Wednesday, Thursday:

7.00 pm – 9.00 pm

Drug Outreach ProgramThe Program currently provides legal out-reaches at the following community organi-sations:

RhED The Bridge

Windana Hanover Southbank

Sacred Heart Central Sacred Heart Womens

Clients may also contact our Drug Outreach Lawyer direct to make an appointment at our Chapel Street office to discuss their legal issue/s.

Please contact the Service should you require further information on any of the activities undertaken by the Service.

Family Violence (Intervention Or-

der) Applicant Lawyer ProgramA lawyer from the Service provides a duty lawyer service to primarily applicants inn

family violence intervention order matters. The Service is currently seeking funding to ensure this very successful program is main-tained and expanded.

VisionAll members of our local community will have access to a demystified and just legal system.

Broad Aims and ObjectivesTo provide a free and readily accessible legal service for residents of the Cities of Port Phillip, Stonnington and Bayside.

To provide a generalist casework service in accordance with the casework guidelines of the Service. The Service will continue to respond to the needs of the local community in determining its casework orientation.

To provide legal education specifically de-signed and directed towards local residents with the aim of demystifying the law and the legal processes and to empower them, where possible, to take their own action.

To provide legal education which is specifi-cally targeted at local community workers and volunteers at the Legal Service.

To develop and link-up with campaigns on specific issues in response to needs and inter-ests of the local community.

To promote law reform in areas of the law that disadvantage members of the commu-nity.

To network with local groups and residents in order to develop community awareness and involvement in campaigns, education programs and provision of legal information and resources.

To adopt a multi-disciplinary and holistic ap-proach by advice and appropriate referral in related non-legal problems and working with other community organisations.

InterpretersOnsite interpreters are available when funds permit, otherwise telephone interpreters are used. Auslan interpreters are made available if required.

About St Kilda Legal Service Co-op. LtdContact Details161 Chapel Street, St Kilda Vic 3182Phone: 9534 0777Fax: 9525 5704

Email: [email protected]

A.B.N.: 83519 420 198

Website:

www.communitylaw.org.au/stkilda

Annual Report 2009 - 2010 3

ContentsThirty-Seven Years of the Service 4

Organisational Structure 7

Chairperson’s Report 8

Board of Directors & Staff 10

Funding & Administration 12

Volunteer Program 17

Volunteer & Night Service 18

Casework Report 22

Drug Outreach Lawyer Program 24

Community Legal Education 26

Legal Policy & Law Reform 29

Statistics 31

Client Demographics 32

Problem Types 32

Financial Statements 34


An exciting development of the last couple of years has

been the growth in the provision of legal aid services for those of lim-

ited means. The Steering Committee was keen to incorporate some

sort of legal aid service in the Centre and this has now been a reality

for a number of months. The scheme involves the co-operation of

qualified lawyers, law students and some enthusiastic lay people. The

formative stages were also smoothed by the efforts of Marion Scow,

Helen Holliday and of Anna Haslett … There are now four legal aid

services, to my knowledge, operating in the metropolitan area. We are

pleased and proud to have one in St Kilda. This is a suburb with a very

great need for this type of service. The very high number of deserted

wives, single parents and similar people results in a higher than aver-

age need for basic legal advice. Many of our residents simply cannot

afford professional assistance and so, without this service, they would

remain in ignorance of their legal rights and opportunities. The level of

need is very simply demonstrated by the fact that the Legal Aid Service

is now operating on two evenings each week and is usually handling

a capacity demand of some fifteen cases per session. Although some

points remain to be ironed out by those running the Service, such as

the exact type of cases which may in future be handled beyond simply

the advice stage and the method of funding, they have already come

a long way. There are many grateful local citizens who would join me

in thanking this dedicated band of men and women for providing this

service and making our dimension of service that much wider.

Thirty-Seven Years of the ServiceAt first, few people realized the free Legal Service was available, but demand increased dramatically between June and November 1973 and an urgent call for further volunteers was published in the local newspaper, the Southern Cross.

With the Service’s popularity came the need for a more efficiently operated Service, and four law students (Barry Berger, Alan Rochman, Sam Chizik and Joe Katz) were given the task of devel-oping a structure to ensure the ongoing coordi-nation and development of the Service. These volunteers were crucial to the ongoing operations of the Service in its early developmental stage.

Thirty-Seven Years

of Achievements

The Service commenced as an unfunded organisation, staffed entirely by a group of volunteers. It continued on a volunteer basis for a number of years with small funding grants from the then St Kilda Council and with ongoing support from the St Kilda Community Group now the Port Phillip Community Group.

In February 1980, the Service was registered as a Co-operative and became officially known as the St Kilda Legal Service Co-Op. Ltd. The Service became a separate entity from the Community Group and a Board of Directors was appointed to oversee the management of the Service, which is how the Service continues to

The St Kilda Free Legal Service, as it was known at its inception, began, informally, in 1971,

but it wasn’t until 1973 that the Service began to recruit volunteer solicitors. At the first meeting on 4th April 1973, “more than 40 legal men” attended to help set up the Service, which would hold advice sessions two nights a week. The Legal Service was one of the first Community Legal Centres (CLC) to be established in Victoria.

The Legal Service was part of the new St Kilda Community Group that had been established to provide welfare services to the community, includ-ing family planning, chiropody, marriage guidance and welfare referrals. St Kilda Community Group, now known as the Port Phillip Community Group, held its first AGM in August 1973, for which a Chairman’s annual report was written (by Richard Thomas) and included a summary on each of the services the Community Group offered. The fol-lowing summary of the St Kilda Legal Service was included in the report:Caitlin

Thursday night volunteer

Laura


Naomi

Monday night volunteer


operate today.

Also in 1980, the work of the Service and that of other Community Legal Centres was finally acknowledged by the then Commonwealth Legal Aid Commission. The initial funding allocation of $3,000 enabled the Service to employ a part-time solicitor.

As funding increased over the years, the Service was able to expand its catchment area to include the Cities of Port Phillip, Bayside, Stonning-ton and parts of Glen Eira.

The Service has a long history of co-location with the Port Phillip Community Group at the St. Kilda Community Centre and, until early 2005, the St. Kilda Branch of the Tenants Union of Victoria. The Community Group has provided much support to the Legal Service over the years, particularly in the early years when the Service was insufficiently funded to cover the accommodation and adminis-tration costs.

Over the years, the Service has received increased funding which has enabled us to employ an administrator, a casework lawyer, a community legal education lawyer, a volunteer coordinator and a community drug outreach lawyer. The Service’s primary source of funding comes from the Com-monwealth Community Legal Service Program (CCLSP) which consists of both State and Com-monwealth funding and is administered by the Victoria Legal Aid.

In 2003, the Service initially received funding from the Department of Human Services – Drug Strategy Initiatives Grant Scheme to conduct a pilot project which involved the provision of legal assistance to people with a drug and/or alcohol problem. Funding for this program was extended over an 18- month period. Despite the extensive lobbying undertaken by the Service and irrespec-tive of the resounding success of the program, the Department terminated the funding in June 2004. The Service was extremely fortunate, however, when the State Attorney, Rob Hulls, favourably responded to the requests from our Service and our various supporters, to fund the continuation of the Drug Outreach Program (DOL Program). The Attorney General announced the provision of funding to enable us to continue the work of the program for a further 3 years across the 2005-2007 funding period.

During this period the DOL commenced work-ing collaboratively with the RhED program of the Inner South Community Health Service (ISCHS) to improve access to legal assistance for Street Sex Workers through the provision of an outreach legal advice session at RhED’s premises in Inkerman Street, St. Kilda. It was through this collabora-tive working relationship that the idea for the Melbourne Magistrates Sex Worker Court List was initiated and which became a reality after discus-sions with the Department of Justice, the Attorney General and other stakeholders. The first edition of the LIP (Legal Issues for Professionals in the sex industry) Publication was produced and the second edition has now been completed.

In the lead up to the next funding cycle, with the assistance of Les Rosenblatt, the Serv-ice submitted a report to Victoria Legal Aid and the Attorney General Rob Hulls on the successful operations of the DOL program. The report also in-cluded letters of support from local Councils, State Government representatives and community agen-cies urging the continuation of funding of the DOL program to provide specific services to community members with drug and alcohol problems and court representation for sex workers.. We finally received confirmation from Victoria Legal Aid that the DOL Program had been incorporated into the Service’s recurrent CCLSP funding allocation.

The Service initiated the pilot Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer project in June 2008 at the Moorabbin Justice Centre. The decision to undertake this project at the Moorab-bin Court demonstrates our Service’s commitment to assisting women and children in domestic violence situations and working collaboratively with other agencies and organisations to assist in ensuring their safety. We continue to lobby for funding to maintain and expand this vitally needed service.

Renata & Inka (Monday night volunteers)


The Legal Service Now

The St Kilda Legal Service is one of 51 Commu-nity Legal Centres currently providing free legal

services to the public and undertakes community development, legal education and law reform activities with the long term aim of ensuring access to justice for all members of the community.

Today, the Legal Service and the Port Phillip Community Group continue to work collabora-tively on common issues affecting members of the community and some resources are shared, as is the day-to-day responsibility for the Community Centre operations. Co-location has proven to be of benefit to both organisations and members of our community seeking assistance from one of the various programs operating within the Community Centre.

Hopefully, our shared vision for the proposed development of the St. Kilda Community Centre will finally become a reality in the very near future and we will experience a great improvement in the workplace for volunteers and staff and a more comfortable and confidential space for clients.

The capacity to offer adequate levels of pay and better working conditions for staff remains a major concern to the CLC sector. Whilst our Service was greatly appreciative of the $50,000 one off allocation which we received in 2009 from the $10 million funding injected by the Commonwealth into the CCLSP program this, unfortunately did not result in increases in our recurrent funding. This additional funding has been utilised to extend staff hours over a 3 year period to 2011 which has enabled our Service to operate a Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Program staffed by our Principal Lawyer every Monday at the Moorabbin Justice Centre. The continuation of this program remains in jeopardy if we do not receive additional funding to maintain the service.

Whilst the previous Coalition government’s review of CLCs Australia wide gave a glowing endorsement of the invaluable role CLCs play in the provision of legal services to the community, unfor-tunately this has not translated into any substantial increases to existing CLCs particularly with respect to the Commonwealth.

As we progress into our 38th. year, despite our Peta (Wednesday night volunteer) & baby Jessie

ongoing concerns with funding, the commitment by the Legal Service Board, staff and volunteers to providing free and accessible services to the dis-empowered and disadvantaged in our community remains as strong and as relevant as it was when the Service commenced in 1973.

Organisational Structure

Victoria Legal AidCLC Funding Program

St Kilda Legal Service Staff

• Principal Lawyer

• Administrator

• Volunteer Co-ordinator

• Community Drug Outreach Lawyer

• Community Legal Education Lawyer

Volunteer Program

Night Service Day ServiceVolunteer Lawyer Coordinator Administrative Workers

Receptionist Students

Lawyers

Articled Clerks

Students

St Kilda Community Centre

St Kilda Legal Service• Legal advice, information,

referral & casework services

• Legal education

• Law reform

• Community development

• Drug outreach lawyer program

• Family violence (IO) applicant lawyer program

Southport Support Service

Alma Road Community

House

Structural AccountabilityOffice of Business

Affairs

Cooperative requirements

Financial & Program Accountability

Funders:

State/Cwth Gov

Professional Accountability

Professional Bodies:Legal Services Board

Law Institute of Victoria

Bar Council

Social Accountability

Community

Board of DirectorsMade up of local residents and workers in the

community, members of the legal profession and other Legal Service volunteers

Port Phillip Community Group• Neighbourhood House Program

• Information and Support Program

• Financial Counselling Program

• ConnectED (discontinued in 2009-2010)

• Neighbourhood Development Program

• Tenants’ Participation & Community Facilities

• Recreational Access Groups


Chairperson’s Report

Yet another successful year has passed relatively quickly at the St Kilda Legal Service. Over this

past year, the Legal Service has continued to grow.

Thank you to our hardworking staff- Suzy Fox (administrator), Anthea Teakle (volunteer co-ordi-nator), Kerrin Panlook (community casework law-yer), Vanda Hamilton (drug outreach lawyer), and Emma Asscher (community legal education and law reform lawyer). (Jacinta Maloney requested a further 12 months maternity leave and we are very pleased to have Emma Asscher, continuing in her role.) It is satisfying that our great and committed staff is so dedicated to the Legal Service.

Thank you to the locums employed this year to cover staff absences- Kon Tringas who has acted in Kerrin’s role as casework lawyer and Clair Carter who has acted both in Anthea’s role as the volun-teer co-ordinator position supporting the night service program and in Vanda Hamilton’s role as the drug outreach lawyer.

Thank you also to all of our volunteers, with-out whom, running the legal service and conduct-ing the amount of casework that we do, would not be possible. Many of our volunteers have worked at the Legal Service for many years- it is gratifying to see that when many of our volunteers commence working at the Legal Service, it is for the long-term.

Thank you, also, to my fellow Board members- Richard Zartorski (Treasurer), Chris Atmore (Secre-tary), Renata Alexander, Michael Borsky and Suzy Fox (staff representative) who, together, attend monthly pizza-catered meetings and help provide the strategic and practical direction for the Legal Service necessary to ensure its smooth operation and its growth and future.

We also thank the management and staff of the Port Phillip Community Group (PPCG), with whom we are co-located at the St Kilda Community Centre, for their support and assistance during this year. We enjoy a good cooperative working relationship with the PPCG, to the benefit of clients of both organisations, which we look forward to continuing and further developing during the coming year. Co-location with the PPCG enables the Legal Service to refer our clients to the PPCG

for assistance that it provides, while it also enables the PPCG to refer clients with legal problems to the Legal Service for assistance. We are currently working together, along with the Uniting Church, to progress redevelopment plans.

During this past year, we have continued to operate our Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Program at the Moorabbin Justice Centre. Through this program, the Legal Service has been providing advice, representation and support to Intervention Order applicants at the Moorabbin Justice Centre, one day a week. That service commenced as an initial six month pilot program which was later extended to 12 months. Kerrin Panlook has been operating the program with assistance from students.

The funding that we had applied to operate the pilot program has now been expended. How-ever, we decided to continue operating the service, without external funding as the program is greatly valued by various stakeholders at the Moorabbin Justice Centre, including Legal Aid duty lawyers, Magistrates, Court administrative staff and, of course, Intervention Order applicants themselves. Currently, the Moorabbin Justice Centre is the only Magistrates Court in the Melbourne metropolitan area that does not have a funded program support-ing intervention order applicants. We are currently exploring additional sources of funding so that we can guarantee the future of this important pro-gram.

During the past year, we received a 3% in-crease in funding from Victoria Legal Aid, to cover wage increases for the 2010-2011 year. We wel-come and appreciate this funding increase. We are currently making future plans and are looking at expanding our funding base and sources of fund-ing, to solidify our future financial viability and to facilitate future growth.

Negotiations over the next Multi-Business Agreement have commenced. The Union has served a log of claims which the Federation will soon begin negotiating over. We look forward to these negotiations towards a further MBA, which will go some way to improving our staff’s wages

Adam

Chairperson of the Board & Thursday night volunteer


and conditions.

The Uniting Church’s redevelopment plans, for a five story building, was considered by the Port Phillip Council on 15 March. Despite support for the plans by the Legal Service, the PPCG, local pub-lic housing organisations and others, the Council granted a permit for a four storey development. The Uniting Church pursued a review of the Coun-cil’s permit at VCAT. The Legal Service was pleased to facilitate pro-bono legal advice, by a large law firm, to assist in the VCAT review. On review, VCAT affirmed the Council’s decision to limit the redevel-opment to 4 stories. Unfortunately, the four storey redevelopment that has been permitted is not financially viable.

The Uniting Church and the stakeholders in the St Kilda Community Centre are currently regrouping and reconsidering future strategies. The Uniting Church is still committed to pursuing a financially viable redevelopment. We look forward to pursuing further development plans during the coming year.

All of these developments over the last year will enable the Legal Service to continue to cater to the many diverse legal and associated issues that our clients face and will enable us to continue to provide them with the assistance that they require.

We look forward to another successful year in 2011.

Adam Meyer

Chairperson, Board of Directors

St Kilda Legal Service Co-Op

Laura, Michael, Kingsley & Adam (volunteers from the Thursday night team)


Board of Directors & Staff

Members of the Board of Directors act in a vol-untary capacity in managing staff, resources

and finances of the Service.

The Board is responsible for ensuring that staff operate within a safe workplace and that all award conditions and procedures and practices are in place to facilitate the provision of accessible legal services to the community.

It is the Board’s role to ensure the Service’s operations:

• reflect the core principles of CLCs;

• are legally & financially accountable;

• meet the requirements of the funders Service Agreements;

• are planned, developed, implemented and evaluated annually through workp-lans.

Apart from managing the Service, Board members also contribute considerable time and energy by being involved in other aspects of the Service. Renata and Adam are also involved as volunteer lawyers at the night service advice sessions and Suzy in her capacity as the Administrator and a Director has been the Service’s representative on the St. Kilda Centre Renovation Committee. And Adam an Michael have participated, along with Suzy, in joint management meetings with the Port Phillip Community Group. At various times, Board members have also provided feedback on vari-ous Legal Policy and Law Reform submissions and press releases drafted by staff members.

The staff would like to acknowledge their thanks for and appreciation of the continued support of Board members throughout the year, and the personal time which they generously give to the Service.

StaffSt Kilda Legal Service employs five staff members, with two of these positions being full-time. The small staff team reports directly to the Board.

Volunteer & Night Service

Co-OrdinatorAnthea Teakle

Anthea recruits the Services’ day and evening volunteers, assists with their training and provides them with ongoing support. Anthea also co-ordi-nates the night service advice sessions, along with the volunteer Solicitor Co-Ordinators, as well as undertaking some paralegal work and monitoring the night service statistics.

Community Casework Lawyer Kerrin Panlook

Kerrin, as principal solicitor, is responsible for all legal advice and casework undertaken by the Serv-ice, and ensures that professional standards and statutory requirements are met. Kerrin supervises night service files as well as conducting her own legal matters during the day.

Kerrin has also taken over the Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Program which the Service operates every Monday at Moorabbin Justice Centre. The Service continues to seek recurrent funding to enable the Service to both maintain and expand the program which provides legal representation and legal assistance primarily for women in domestic violence situa-tions to apply for intervention orders.

Board of DirectorsAdam Meyer Chairperson

Richard Zatorski Treasurer

Chris Atmore Secretary

Renata Alexander

Michael Borsky

Suzy Fox Staff Representative

Ronnie

Wednesday night volunteer

Andrew


Maya



Drug Outreach Lawyer Vanda Hamilton

Vanda provides legal advice, referral, information and casework services to drug and alcohol users at various outreaches at local community organiza-tions and those who directly contact the Service. Vanda also provides court representation to clients when required. This program enables the Service to reach marginalised clients with complex needs that would otherwise not access the Service.

Community Legal Education and Law Reform Lawyer

Emma Asscher

(Jacinta Maloney on Maternity Leave)

Emma continues to fill this role while Jacinta Maloney is on extended maternity leave. Emma was responsible for co-ordinating the commu-nity legal education, law reform and legal policy activities undertaken by the Service over the last 12 months. The CLE Lawyer participates in local networks and Federation working groups and also provides limited legal advice and casework assist-ance as required.

AdministratorSuzy Fox

Suzy is responsible for ensuring the financial ac-countability and reporting requirements of the relevant funding bodies are met. Suzy undertakes general and casework administrative functions, undertakes some paralegal work and supports the day service volunteers. Suzy is also responsible for resourcing the Board on staff issues and opera-tional functions of the Service and representing the Board on committees where required. This includes liaising with the Port Phillip Community Group, Uniting Church Drop-In Centre and the Uniting Church St Kilda Parish Council on day to day managment of the St Kilda Community Centre.

Emma, Caitlin & Debra (Thursday night volunteers)


Funding & Administration

Funding

Commonwealth and State Recurrent Funding

The Service’s primary source of funding is from the State and Federal Attorney General’s

Departments through the Commonwealth Com-munity Legal Services Program (CCLSP) program. The Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) CLC Funding Program is responsible for administering the funds and ensuring that the Service meets all accountability requirements set out in the CCLSP Service Agree-ment. VLA is also responsible for monitoring the outcomes of the Service’s objectives and projected performance indicators outlined in the Strategic Plan, which forms part of the Service Agreement.

The Board of Management and staff would like to express their thanks and appreciation to the State and Federal Attorney General’s Departments and Victoria Legal Aid for the allocation of the fol-lowing grants received in 2009-2010.

Recurrent CCLSP

Commonwealth $ 94,512.00

State $230,275.69

Total $324,787.69

It should be noted that the State funding includes $6.848.69 that was reimbursed to the service by Victoria Legal Aid this financial year to cover 11 weeks of the 14 weeks maternity leave paid to one of our staff members in accordance with one of the new benefits now available to staff since the implementation of the CLC Multi Business Agreement. The Service also received a compliance bonus of $3,203.00 for having remit-ted the necessary financial and compliance reports required under the CLSP Service agreement to VLA within the required timelines.

Our Service is very much appreciative of the continuing work being undertaken by the National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC) and the Federation of Community Legal Centres

in advocating on behalf of CLCs and lobbying the Commonwealth Attorney General Department in particular to increase their contribution to the CCLSP to a more realistic level and ideally match the State contribution.

Whilst the Commonwealth recently allocated an increase in funding to CLCs, this funding has been targeted towards areas such as supporting partnerships between CLCs and Family Relation-ships Centres and only a specific number of CLCs have been recipients of this funding. With the exception of the provision of funding for new CLCs, there has been no significant increase in recurrent Commonwealth funding to existing CLCs such as our Service, for a number of years. Inadequate levels of Commonwealth funding is reflected in this year’s CPI increase of 1.6% which is grossly inadequate to ensure the sustainability of CLCs and falls well short when compared to the 3.14% CPI increase which Victoria Legal Aid applied to the State component of the CCSLP funding. We urge Mr. Rob McClelland, the Federal Attorney General to increase the recurrent funding to existing CLCs to a more sustainable level so as to ensure their financial viability to continue to provide access to justice for those on low income and the most vulnerable members of our community.

Consumer Affairs VictoriaThis year the Service received a grant of $19,470, of which $18,496.50 was received this financial year from Consumer Affairs Victoria – Consumer Credit Fund to undertake the Young People and Prevent-ing Credit-Related Debt Project. Further informa-tion on this very successful project is outlined in the CLE and Law Reform section of this report.

The Board of Management and staff would like to express their thanks and appreciation to the Advisory Committee of the Consumer Credit Fund and the Minister for Consumer Affairs - Tony Robinson for making this funding available to our Service. This project is an excellent example of how our Service works collaboratively with other government departments and specialist CLCs to develop and distribute community legal educa-

Katie


Inka


Cordell



Pierre


Renata


Ruth


tion resources to our community which can also be utilised by other CLCs and community agencies for their respective communities.

Multi Business AgreementOur Service has been a signatory to the Multi Busi-ness Agreement (MBA) which is a multi-employer certified agreement that involves 27 Victorian CLCs. Since the introduction of the MBA, CLCs have received annual 3% pay increases and other benefits such as paid maternity leave and extended long service. The MBA has now lapsed as there were delays in renegotiating the agreement which were primarily due to the fact that we are await-ing the outcome of the Australian Service Union’s SACs Equal Pay case currently listed at the Fair Work Tribunal. We are however happy to report that VLA have announced that all CLCs that are funded under the CCLSP will receive a 3% increase based on salaries and salary on costs paid to staff for the 2010-2011 funding period irrespective of whether or not they are a party to the MBA.

Discussions are now ensuing between CLC representatives, the ASU and Jobs Australia who are working collaboratively to further advance ne-gotiations on a new MBA with Victoria Legal Aid. We remain optimistic that the MBA and the SACS Equal Pay negotiations will result in substantial increases in State and Commonwealth funding to further advance the long term aim of ensuring that the wages and employment conditions for all CLC workers are at the very least commensurate with our Victoria Legal Aid colleagues and other public servants. It is vital for the CLC Sector to have the capacity to offer reasonable wages and employ-ment conditions to ensure the retention of existing staff, encourage law students to consider a career in CLCs and to offer an incentive for legal profes-sionals in particular to seek employment within CLCs. This is an important issue for the ongoing development of the CLC sector particularly given the vital role we play as providers of free and acces-sible legal services.

Thanks and appreciation to Mark Courtney (VLA CLC Program Advisor), Katrina Bourke (CLC Operations Officer) and Roy Reekie (CLC Program Development Officer) for their support and assist-ance throughout the year particularly with respect to strategic planning and program development issues.

Other Funding SourcesOn-site interpreting funding

allocation:Like a number of Community Legal Centres, our service continues to receive an allocation from Vic-toria Legal Aid to enable us to provide free on site interpreters and translation services to clients via a “credit line” provided by the Victorian Interpreter Service (VITS). This year our Service received an allocation of $3,500. CLCs utilise the majority of their allocations to provide free on-site interpreters to clients from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities and AUSLAN interpreters for clients who are deaf or have a hearing impairment. At various times CLCs may also use some of the funding for translation of documents however this is limited due to the increasing demand for the provision of face to face interpreters for legal ad-vice sessions. Our administrator is convenor of the Federation’s Access to Interpreters Working Group which is responsible for making specific allocations to individual Centres and monitoring the usage of their allocations.

This funding is crucial to ensure that CLCs are able to provide on-site interpreters to many of our clients who must overcome a number of barriers in seeking legal assistance and access to justice.

Free Access to Telephone Interpreting Services (TIS):

The Federal Attorney General’s continues to cover the costs for the provision of free access to Tel-ephone Interpreters Service (TIS) to those Centres such as ours which are funded under the CCLSP program. Without this valuable resource, our Service would find it impossible to cover the costs of providing telephone interpreters for our CALD community members when making appointments, providing telephone referrals and information, and in the provision of legal assistance at our legal advice sessions.

Rental Subsidiary:Along with the Port Phillip Community Group we are exceedingly grateful to the St. Kilda Parish Mis-sion for their generous rent subsidy. Our thanks and appreciation for their ongoing support.


Kingsley


Naomi


Jon

Day volunteer

Administration

Administration is the least exciting aspect of operating a CLC and many eyes have been

observed glazing over when this subject has been raised at staff meetings, during volunteer training or when discussing the development of new projects or services. It’s the least riveting of subjects but the most crucial in maintaining and developing the services that are provided as it forms the basis upon which the service operates. Many administrative and management responsi-bilities can only be undertaken by paid staff and this needs to be taken into account when taking on projects and expanding our services.

Administration tasks undertaken by staff in-clude: accountability to the Board of Management, financial management, accountability to funding bodies and other relevant legal entities, developing funding submissions or project proposals, main-taining Co-Operative membership records, co-ordination of planning and evaluation processes, developing policies and procedures, undertaking lobbying for funding, preparing annual reports, wage and other employee-related matters, vol-unteer and night-service coordination, casework administration and statistical collection, to name only a few.

The workload of administration would be overwhelming where it not for the contribution of our volunteers who undertake a vast array of administrative tasks, the value of which has been acknowledged in the volunteer section of this re-port. The day volunteers in particular have proven to be an invaluable resource for paid staff and their presence is acutely missed when exam time rolls around, summer clerkships commence or well deserved holidays are taken.

Whilst all staff, volunteers and management undertake various administrative functions, it should be noted that the majority of administra-tive tasks are the responsibility of the Service’s Administrator and Night Service Volunteer Coordi-nator who are also responsible for the training and supervision of the volunteers.

Professional DevelopmentStaff members have attended various professional development sessions over the last year which pri-

marily have been for our legal staff and volunteers. The presence of Annie Nash, the Federation’s Sec-tor Development Officer has ensured that we have been kept up to date about free and/or low cost training opportunities and we have been grateful for Annie’s diligence in getting those emails notices out. We were sad to see Annie depart the Federa-tion and look forward to working with her replace-ment Claudia Fatone to identify further training needs for non-legal CLC staff and volunteers. We are very much appreciative of the following or-ganisations that have either provided or facilitated training sessions for CLCs: The Federation, Victoria Legal Aid, PILCH, the Law Institute of Victoria and the Victorian Law Foundation.

Co-Location with the Port Phillip Community Group

The Legal Service and the Port Phillip Community Group (PPCG) have been co-located in the St. Kilda Community Centre now for 37 years which is quite exceptional in the community sector. Both organisations continue to operate effectively to-gether, sharing in the day-to-day operations of the St Kilda Community Centre with workers providing mutual practical and professional support along with cost effect sharing of resources. It is interest-ing to note that the concept of co-location of legal services with other community services is increas-ingly perceived as an excellent model in which to work more effectively in delivering services to our community, particularly those on low income and the marginalised.

The PPCG programs include the Neighbour-hood House Program, Neighbourhood Develop-ment Program, Financial Counselling Service, Information and Support Services, Alma Road Com-munity House Program, the South Port Support Services and the newly acquired Tenant Participa-tion Community Facilities program. Co-location brings with it the obvious benefits to the commu-nity of cross-referral and being able to have case discussions between Services, where appropriate, as well as collaboration on campaigns and policy development. Workers are able to keep abreast of information in relation to each other’s programs, as well as receiving regular updates on other com-munity and council services available to clients. There is also the obvious advantage of sharing our


limited resources and ensuring there are sufficient staff present to maintain the Centre’s opening hours.

PPCG also maintains a volunteer program. The volunteers do a wonderful job providing back up to the front desk workers, who are under con-stant pressure with various requests for assistance and information/support from the community. The volunteer program has alleviated a great deal of work pressure from all Centre staff and we are greatly appreciative of the contributions made by Gary, Shaitarna, Candice and Cassie and Jane.

Our thanks and appreciation also to the PPCG workers, Sandy Joffe, Jo Boltin, Tullia Gilarry, Josh Morshead, Kate Daddo and Peter Irwin, for their ongoing support and assistance. Particular thanks and appreciation to the Information/front desk support workers, Shayne Barns, Marilyn Fox and Casey Fogarty. Their support remains integral to the operations of the Service as they deal with the majority of the initial legal enquiries, make ap-pointments and, where relevant, assist the Service in providing information and referral to those seek-ing legal assistance.

IT Support FINREAWe wish to acknowledge and express our thanks and appreciation to Geoff at Finrea for all the IT support that he has provided to staff throughout the year and for providing advice on software and hardware upgrades and generally ensuring our IT system is maintained.

Update on the Development of the St. Kilda Community Centre

In an ideal world, this report would be announcing the exciting news that the redevelopment plans for the St. Kilda Community Centre had been ap-proved by Council, State Government funding had been assured for the social housing component of the Centre, various government departments had allocated funding towards the community space and successful applications were being made to philanthropic organisations.

Unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world and new configurations are being considered as a result of the City of Port Phillip Council approving

the plans for four stories only, when the plans were submitted in March of this year. There has been tremendous support for this project from many members of our community including those that utilise the services and a number of local com-munity organisations that are aware of the great benefits this development will provide to the com-munity. The Council’s main objection was that it did not meet the criteria of the urban design of the area.

The major problem with Council’s four storey proposal is that it would deprive the project of income from the private housing units which were to be sold. The sale of these units were intended to provide funds towards the cost of the 2 levels of the community space required to accommodate our 3 community organisations and provide com-munity meeting and activity space. This proposal made the development financially unviable and after a great deal of discussion and consideration with the Redevelopment Committee and seeking legal advice, the Church decided to appeal the Council’s decision at VCAT. Regrettably the out-come of a 2 day hearing at VCAT in August resulted in the VCAT member making a decision in favour of the Council.

Thankfully Reverend John Tansy and the Unit-ing Church St. Kilda Parish Council with the support of the Uniting Church Synod remain committed to working collaboratively with our Service and the other stakeholders to investigate alternative options that are financially viable and that hope-fully will not dramatically detract from the original architectural design and purpose of the Centre.

Other work has also being undertaken in the last year with respect to the development of a draft management proposal for the Centre which will in-corporate a Memorandum of Understanding. Our thanks and appreciation to Anita Francis from the St Kilda Inclusion Project (SIP), a joint initiative of Department of Human Services, City of Port Phillip and the Department of Planning and Community Development. Anita was responsible for organis-ing and supervising the participation of a group of Graduates involved in the State government’s graduate interns program and who were on place-ments across the various State Government depart-ments. The Graduates had been allocated some of their hours to work with the Redevelopment Steer-ing Committee to assist in the MOU development

Sarah

Day volunteer

Carl


Lisa



and Central management proposals that would be acceptable to all the stakeholders. The Gradu-ates involvement has now ceased and drafts of these documents are now under consideration and further work will be undertaken by the Committee. Our thanks and appreciation to the Graduates for their assistance and taking time out of their busy work schedules to work with the Committee.

Anita has assisted the project through her connections with and understanding of the work-ings of government departments. She has fostered relationships and government interest, particularly through the Department of Community Develop-ment and has facilitated discussions with the Com-mittee and the relevant government departments. The main aim is to seek their support for the proposed development and investigate funding options available across the departments to fund the social housing and contribute towards the cost of the community space components of the de-velopment. Additional support has come through a stronger relationship between the project and the newly formed Uniting Housing Victoria. Their input to the project offers different approaches to dealing with the social housing, and provides new avenues to consider.

The Service also organised the provision of pro bono legal advice from HWL Ebsworth Lawyers concerning a proposal from surveyors regarding the establishment of an Owners Corporate struc-ture for the development. We thank them for the provision of their invaluable legal advice in this matter.

Despite the major setback, the Service is committed to continuing to work collaboratively with the Port Phillip Community Group, the Uniting Church Drop In Centre and the Uniting Church St. Kilda Parish Council in the development of a new purpose built community centre. Hopefully in the next report we will have progressed in realising the dream of being co-located in a purpose built “Community Hub” which will have the capacity to provide additional workspace and vastly improved working conditions for workers and volunteers and community meeting space and facilities for the general community.

Special thanks to the other members of the Redevelopment Steering Committee for all their work undertaken throughout the year and their commitment to persevering with the development

despite the set backs. Particular acknowledge-ment must be given to the time and energy that Sandy Joffe and Rev. John Tansy have contributed throughout this process and their tenacity in pro-gressing the Redevelopment Steering Committee forward to investigate other options to make this project financially viable and true to the original concept of this purpose built centre.

Adam


Mark


Andrew & Hugo (Monday night volunteers)

Volunteer ProgramCurrent Night Service Volunteers * Night Volunteer Co-ordinator

MondayRenata Alexander*Mark ShenkenPierre BaumeNaomi NewboundChantal Encavey

Katie SweatmanTim WilsonRuth SiegelJade BirmanCordell Scaife

Hugo MarshallAndrew BluntAmy BuckleyInka AlexanderNaomi Goldwater

WednesdayJames CahillPaul Kounnas Peta NowackiAlexandra KlimovicsMelissa Gonzales

Martin StockfeldAmanda StoreyKate AshmorTristan Lee Kat Tchernova

Carolyn ZeimerRonni Murphy Sarah TesarJames Ward

ThursdayKingsley Davis*Adam MeyerClair Carter Michael Helman

Alice PolglaseCarl WilsonLaura McLeodMaya Manski Simon

Helen WintherDeborah LemishCaitlin BrownEmma Bardoel

Kon TringasMark Lew Helen DellidisFran Wheelahan

Ruby KesselschmidtJames Sanders

Gail Ryan Kim StewartKaren CzarneyJeremy AshleyDanielle Stawski

Ingrid WeinbergSarah RichterOwen AlcornHelen TsirlinaDiane Bourne

Abilene SinghAnupama HerathJon Risby

Dianne MitchellAvi FurstenbergSian RobertsKim PriceRosalie Gutman *Fiona McCordMarita HamSteve ChambersSusannah Palmer

Alexander CambriaGraeme CantwellNika DharmadasaJerry GomezLauren BowdenKeir WatermanJodie DunnRoxanne BurdDarryl Slabe

Naomi KohnColleen BolgerSharon KormanNatalie SiegelSusie BalseminLisa BallJessica BrivikSarah PrattLee Bolton

Current Day Service Volunteers

Volunteers Who Have Left the Service in the Last Year

Field Placement StudentsEmergenices


Volunteer & Night Service

The volunteer and night service programs at St Kilda Legal Service have had a busy and pro-

ductive twelve months, with a fair amount of team rebuilding added to the mix.

The volunteer team is an absolutely pivotal component of the Service: in terms of its work output, skill base and the vivacity it adds to our organisation.

As outlined in previous years, the members of the volunteer team – made up of around 55 people from diverse legal and non-legal backgrounds – staff our night service advice sessions, participate in our day service/business hours activities and/or form our Board of Directors.

The night session volunteers undertake the bulk of the Service’s legal casework and advice. The night service sessions are made up of three discrete teams of volunteers, most of whom attend weekly, on either Monday, Wednesday or Thursday evening. Ideally, we will have about six lawyers – all with a range of experience and areas of practice, a legal trainee, 2-3 law students and a volunteer receptionist. As with all group work, the dynamics of these teams vary considerably – but all produce high level work and generally manage to have some fun!

For instance, the Monday night team are “ruled” by the Sisters Alexander – Inka and Renata – who have for many years reigned and suffer no fools, but reward their loyal colleagues with a steady supply of lollies, jokes, funny stories and much support and high-level mentoring. The Wednesday night team has undergone a signifi-cant transformation over the past twelve months, which we will return to in a moment. However, they also like to have plenty of fun, the odd drink after hours, and often manage to finish up work in record time. This is all whilst providing an excellent service to their clients – largely thanks to Ronni’s streamlined processes at the front desk and the skills of the lawyers and students. The Thursday night team, in contrast, will rarely leave the build-ing early; however, they are also a great group of people, producing excellent work, lead by the in-defatigable Kingsley and fed royally by home-chef extraordinaire/AKA receptionist Helen!

Despite, or perhaps thanks to, the lollies, home-cooked goodies and occasional joke, the night service volunteers work incredibly hard: generally coming in weekly after a demanding day at work or university. The practitioners take on ongoing casework, which sometimes involves them undertaking additional work out of the office. This may involve negotiating with other parties, drafting correspondence or court documents, filing court documents, assisted referrals to PILCH or private law firms, and the occasional pro bono court appearance. None of this additional work is expected of our volunteers; however, it is very much appreciated.

It is also important to note that whilst the sessions generally run smoothly, this is not always the case and this is when the skill, forbearance and commitment of the volunteers (and the staff) can really be tested! Such difficulties include sessions when volunteer numbers are low, clients are chal-lenging, or when the options available to the client are limited and/or unpalatable. Although we strive to keep these difficulties to a minimum through good management, suitable resources and appro-priate volunteer training, we realise such difficulties can never be alleviated completely. We thank the volunteers for being such terrific team players here. It is also timely to thank our primary emergency volunteer, Kon Tringas. Kon has on numerous oc-casions come in at short notice to help proverbially “save the day/night”. Thank you, Kon!

The day service volunteers are made up of law students and other people generally with an administrative background. These volunteers provide immense assistance to all the program workers – undertaking all manner of administrative and research tasks - and they are pivotal to ensur-ing the casework typing and CLSIS statistical data entry is completed. Most of night service student volunteers initially commence during the day service, where they obtain a thorough understand-ing of our administrative processes. In a sense, our day service volunteers are a bit like our “worker bees”; however, they very much deserve their time in the sun and the staff particularly enjoys working with them!

We also have three day service volunteers in

Anthea Teakle

Volunteer Co-ordinator

Hugo


Abbie

Day volunteer


specific roles. Our volunteer lawyer Jon Risby con-tinues to undertake highly skilled detailed legal work during business hours. He assists with both drug outreach files for Vanda and night service files for Kerrin. Jon’s range of casework has been quite diverse and there has been great value in his capac-ity to spend more time working on complex issues and correspond-ence than the staff and night serviced lawyers would or-dinarily be able to do. In short, Jon has succeeded in becoming pretty much indispen-sable to our day service staff! Thank you, Jon.

Kerrin our principal lawyer in her capacity as Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer has been assisted by Kim and Emma at the Moorabbin Justice Centre on Mondays. Kim and Emma obtain client details required for CLSIS and other administrative processes, as well as helping to “manage” the list of people waiting for represen-tation and assistance. Apart from being of im-mense assistance to Kerrin, this volunteer role has provided the students with a valuable insight into both the operations of a busy Magistrates’ Court and the complex issues involved in family violence intervention order matters.

The third group of people to make up the Service’s volunteer team are the members of the Board of Directors. As outlined elsewhere in this Annual Report, the Directors form the govern-ance component of our organisation. They meet monthly; however, there are often tasks to attend to in between meetings. In addition, two of the Directors, Chairperson Adam Meyer and (very) long-term volunteer Renata Alexander, also partici-pate in the night sessions on a weekly basis. This is a truly remarkable effort; however, it is very useful that they are be able to provide the continuity from night service activity and legal casework through to the discussions held and decisions made at Board level. As with all the volunteers, the Direc-tors collectively bring a great depth of experience

to our Legal Service.

Although all our volunteers have defined job roles, they also often generously assist with a range of additional tasks. This could range from coming in early to set up for the end of year party,

to contributing to law reform submis-sions, to an appro-priately skilled law-yer proofing CLE written information on a particular area of law. The value of such assistance would be far beyond our reach from a monetary perspective; just as it adds volumes to our reputation for being accessible to the community in

delivering very high quality work. Of course, this willingness by the volunteers to assist also makes the Service a much more pleasant place to work and demonstrates the genuine commitment to our clients and the organisation that our volunteers possess.

This past year has been one pretty much of routine for the volunteer and night service pro-gram. The regular volunteer/staff training ses-sions organised by Emma and Anthea were well attended by the volunteers; generally involving an additional visit to the Service that week. A particular highlight of the training program was the session held by our very own Pierre Baume. In addition to Law, Pierre’s academic expertise lies in the field of mental illness, which is an area of particular relevance to the Service. The session was well attended by Pierre’s fellow volunteers and the staff, just as it was delivered with great knowledge, engagement and expertise. This was a wonderful opportunity to draw on the immense expertise of one of our volunteers. Thank you, Pierre.

Another significant process this year was that of volunteer recruitment. Generally, we are particularly fortunate in having quite a high volunteer retention rate: a volunteer and night service co-ordinator’s dream! However, following a lengthy period of leave over January/February by said Volunteer Night Service Co-ordinator and vari-

We would like to thank all of our volunteers – both those who have

left in the past twelve months and those who will continue with us into the next year – for all of their hard work, com-mitment and good humour. We look forward to another excellent year as-

sisting members of our local community with their individual legal problems and collectively improving the state of our

justice system.

Peta


Matthew

Day volunteer

Kat



ous other routine factors, it became evident that a major volunteer recruitment drive was required for both lawyers and students. Our usual practice is to recruit on an as-needs basis, with the need generally being one or several new volunteers at a time. This time, we essentially recruited an entirely new team of day service volunteers, significant additions to the Wednesday night team and several new vollies on Monday and Thursday evening. We are particularly thankful to the other staff and volunteers who assisted in the training and orientation of the new volunteers. The Wednesday night team, in particular, has been patient in help-ing to rebuild their team, with the existing vollies welcoming our terrific newcomers to the fold. An important step to cement this process is to appoint a Wednesday night volunteer lawyer co-ordinator: watch out guys – we’re coming with the magic crown!!

This process of volunteer recruitment has reinforced what we already knew: the importance of building solid, happy and hard-working teams cannot be underestimated; nor can it ever be taken for granted.

We would like to thank all of our volunteers – both those who have left in the past twelve months and those who will continue with us into the next year – for all of their hard work, com-mitment and good humour. We look forward to another excellent year assisting members of our lo-cal community with their individual legal problems and collectively improving the state of our justice system.

Celebrating the Remarkable Volunteer Contributions of

Mark, Chris and Richard

Mark Shenken joined the Service’s Monday night team on the 19th April 1999. As a local general practitioner, Mark’s diversity of skills was most welcome, as was his particular ex-perience in family law and wills and probate law.

Mark will frequently go the “extra mile” for his clients: drafting family court docu-ments and the like. Living, working, and often having a coffee close by, Mark has a real appreciation for the legal and life issues go-ing on for many of our clients.

As a part of the Monday night team, Mark is highly entertaining and generally has a raft of jokes at the ready. He is also the master of the accent. (Even his native New Zealand twang is pretty good!) With his healthy sense of fun and his love of his fancy phone, we do sometimes wonder how old Mark actually is. He can often be in trouble with Anthea, Inka and Renata as he struggles with the punctuality requirements here – rac-ing in, phone at the ear a little (or a bit more) after 7.00pm! Nevertheless, like all of our vol-unteers, we realise that Mark has a few other things going on away from the Legal Service.

In short, Mark has demonstrated a re-markable commitment attending on a weekly basis over the past 11 years and we are most appreciative of his significant contribution to both the Service and the local community. Now if we can just get him to use that fancy time-reading App on his mobile we will all

Mark (right) with fellow Monday night volunteer Pierre and their phones.

Michael


Emma


Martin



have made some considerable progress!!

We also pay tribute to Chris Atmore and Richard Zatorski. Whilst Chris and Richard are quite different individuals in a range of ways, their paths at the Service have been pretty similar.

Both Chris and Richard commenced with us Law students in late 1999/early 2000, each having already enjoyed quite different yet successful careers prior to entering Law. Chris joined the day service, whilst Richard com-menced with the Wednesday night team.

At around the 2003 mark, first Chris and then Richard transitioned into the role of Board Directors. In addition, both of them have taken on office-bearing roles, with Chris becoming Secretary and Richard the Treasurer. The Board and the organisation generally have benefitted enormously from their respective skills and experience, in addi-tion to their very sound judgment. Chris has a background in policy, as well as a thorough understanding of the CLC and government sectors. Conversely, Richard’s experience in business and his understanding of the private sector provide an excellent counter-balance to the skills and experience that the other Directors from the legal profession and the community sector bring to the proverbial table. It also helps that both Chris and Rich-ard are extremely good company, who ensure that Board business is attended to with due consideration and efficiency. We are most ap-preciative of their remarkable contributions to the Service.

Chris at computer with Adam (Chairperson of the Board) at work at the 2008-2009 AGM.

Richard Zatorski, Treasurer of the Board of Direc-tors

Monday night front desk action


Casework Report including

Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Program

Our evening service, staffed almost entirely by volunteers, is the heart of St Kilda Legal

Service. The evening service caters to a wide variety of issues. We ensure that expertise is avail-able each evening for family, civil and criminal law matters and we are fortunate to have volunteers with specialist expertise in particular areas of the law such as employment law. Our volunteers not only provide legal advice, but also run cases. The casework of the volunteer lawyers is overseen by the principal lawyer, Kerrin Panlook. Kerrin undertakes follow-up casework and also provides legal assistance to clients during the day who have urgent matters or who are unable to attend the night service.

Our evening service family lawyers special-ise in matters relating to children and especially disputes over contact and residency. Civil lawyers deal with a great volume of debt matters, motor vehicle accident claims, and owners’ corporation disputes.

Many of our clients struggle with legal pro-cedure and forms. Our volunteers regularly assist clients to work through the stages of their matters. For example, they may draft correspondence and may provide advice about court processes and how to prepare for court or VCAT.

Family LawFamily law is a significant practice within our service. Our family lawyers undertake ongoing casework concerning children in the breakdown of relationships. Our lawyers negotiate arrangements for contact and residency. General advice is given for all aspects of family law.

Civil lawOur civil law practice is dominated by debt matters, motor vehicle claims, and by owners corporation disputes arising mainly due to the gentrification of St Kilda and surrounding areas. These disputes

generally involve conflict between older and poorer residents against the newer population of younger more affluent apartment owners.

Criminal LawOur criminal law practice is dominated by issues relating to fines and special circumstances appli-cations to have fines revoked. We see a consider-able number of victims of crime, defendants with assault, theft and driving-related charges and other general summary charges. Clients present to both the night service and to the Drug Outreach Lawyer program with multiple issues where drugs and substance abuse issues are involved. Generally these clients have tragic circumstances and require intensive assistance.

The Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Program

St Kilda Legal Service recognises the importance of victims of family violence having access to legal advice and assistance at court when seeking intervention orders. In response to an identified local need, the Service commenced a pilot project, the Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer project, in June 2008. Under the project the Service operates a duty lawyer service at Moorabbin Justice Centre for predominantly appli-cants in family violence intervention order matters. Local agencies who were part of the Inner South Domestic Violence Network agreed to allocate funds to the pilot project enabling the Service to employ a lawyer in the role for the first six month of the project. The Service was subsequently able to fund the extension of the pilot project for a further six months.

However, since June 2009 the Service has been without funds to employ a dedicated worker in the role of Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer. Since that time our principal

Debra


Sarah


Helen



Examples of Casework Assistance Provided by Volunteers & Outcomes for Clients

The casework undertaken by volunteers of the Service has been substantial. Some examples of the work undertaken and out-comes for clients include:

• Assisting clients who have accumulated substantial fines. Many clients are eligible to apply to have these fines revoked on the ground of special circumstances. The Service assists clients with the often time-consum-ing process of making an application for revocation. To be eligible to apply to have fines revoked on the ground of special circumstances the client must have accumu-lated the fines during a time that they were experienc-ing homelessness, drug or alcohol addiction or mental illness. Volunteers have assisted clients to have (in some cases thousands of dollars of ) fines revoked. As a result, for many clients significant stress is alleviated and they have the opportunity to make a fresh start. The assist-ance of the Service in these often complex matters also reduces time pressures on the Sheriff, courts and Legal Aid duty lawyers.

• Assisting clients with a range of family law matters rang-ing from divorce applications to responding to family law applications to negotiating child access arrange-ments. The assistance provided by the Service in ne-gotiating child access arrangements in many instances alleviates the need for court proceedings to be initiated.

• Advising clients how best to prepare for court in minor criminal matters. In minor matters most low income clients will rely on obtaining the assistance of the Legal Aid duty lawyer at court on the day. The Service has re-ceived feedback from clients and Legal Aid duty lawyers that the timely advice provided to clients before their court date has facilitated many clients in being well-pre-pared when they come to court. This means the client is likely to obtain a better outcome than had they arrived at court without supporting references, documents etc. This also assist the Legal Aid duty lawyer and the court.

• Assisting beneficiaries of wills where the terms of the will have resulted in the beneficiary experiencing finan-cial hardship and/or risk of homelessness.

Some volunteers of the Service who are barristers have also pro-vided clients with pro bono court representation.

Volunteers have also identified matters where clients are in need of pro bono representation and in some cases have themselves secured pro bono representation for clients, including through the PILCH Pro Bono Assistance Scheme.

lawyer, Kerrin Panlook, has filled the position. Dur-ing this year Kerrin has attended Moorabbin Justice Centre on Mondays to provide the duty lawyer serv-ice. Unfortunately, because the Service is without funding for the program, we are unable to provide locum lawyers at court when Kerrin is on leave or is ill. On those days applicants in family violence matters may be without legal advice and assistance, depending on the availability of Legal Aid at court.

The presence of St Kilda Legal Service at court on Mondays, alongside Victoria Legal Aid, means that in most instances applicants and respondents in family violence matters have access to legal advice and assistance when they first attend court. Statistics of the Service show that under this model of parallel duty lawyer services at court there have been high rates of resolution of matters without the need for contested hearings (see graph on page 33). A matter may be resolved either by way of a consent order or undertaking.

The Service is currently seeking funding to ensure this very successful program is maintained and expanded.

Examples of Legal Assistance provided under the Family Violence

(Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Program

The majority of applicants in family violence intervention order matters are women and in many instances children are also part of the household and may be included on the application. The Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer not only provides legal assistance at court in relation to the intervention order matter, but also regularly provides family law advice and referral.

The Family Violence (Intervention Order) Ap-plicant Lawyer provides:

• legal advice;

• assistance with negotiations;

• representation in court;

• appropriate referrals; and

• assistance in securing pro bono legal representation in appropriate contested matters where the client does not qualify for legal aid.


Drug Outreach Lawyer Program

Drug Outreach Lawyer’s Report

This has been a busy year for the drug outreach programme. Contacts and referrals have been

very high, and a number of complex cases have been undertaken, with some still ongoing.

The Drug Outreach Lawyer (DOL) recently concluded several criminal matters involving clients with multiple briefs of evidence and a large number of charges and who were very difficult to manage due to either chronic drug addiction and/or severe mental health issues.

We have had good results in all these matters. These are prime examples of the efficacy of the drug outreach lawyer programme. The matters involved multiple adjournments, bail applications, hunting down warrants and getting them executed and co-ordinating the collection of a number of reports.

One of the strengths of the DOL programme is the ability to accompany clients to court to adjourn matters for them. This type of client is frequently lost to the system because they are scared to turn up to court for adjournments and cannot get a lawyer to do it for them. Drug addicted clients are often lost to the system because they cannot wait long enough in the court room to get their matter adjourned. The DOL always asks her clients to get their methadone before they come to court, even if it means they are a bit late. The DOL often has situations in which clients come to court and

answered bail and been unable to stay due to their condition. The DOL is often able to obtain agreement from the prosecutor to extend bail without the client being present and the client has been allowed to leave while the DOL stays to make the adjournment application.

A lot of agencies are referring criminal mat-ters to the DOL as word has spread that people can

be represented in matters which do not attract legal aid. The DOL client group is one which is highly likely to have smaller matters for which legal aid cannot be obtained. Although DOL clients could, and sometimes do, access duty lawyers at court, quite often they are unable to wait for the time it takes to see a duty lawyer and then

have the matter heard. They also often turn up without support and without reports or letters.

Because the DOL gets to know clients through community agencies and in informal settings there is usually a level of trust formed both with the client and workers which assists in guiding clients through their issues. The amount of time spent on an individual case is not necessarily reflective of the type of matter at hand, but rather of the needs of the client and the fact that those needs can make a simple matter far more complex.

In addition to outreach work and represen-tation of, and advocacy for, clients, the DOL has been involved in delivering training to community workers about the infringements system, and court reports and letters.

The DOL has also had the benefit this year of support, expert advice and help from a number of barristers and solicitors who have made them-selves available to be called on for this purpose.

Because the Drug Outreach Lawyer gets to know clients through com-

munity agencies and in informal settings there is usually a level of trust formed

both with the client and workers which assists in guiding clients through their

issues. The amount of time spent on an individual case is not necessarily reflec-tive of the type of matter at hand, but

rather of the needs of the client and the fact that those needs can make a simple

matter far more complex.


Those people are too numerous to be named, and indeed would probably not want to be, but they know who they are. The DOL is extremely grateful to them for their help and support.

The DOL would also like to thank all the workers in community agencies who respond graciously and promptly to the demands the DOL often makes on them for reports, letters and accompanying clients to court. In particular this year the DOL has had to call on several workers to provide support and letters immediately for clients facing bail hearings and the response from work-ers has been prompt and impressive.

The DOL would especially like to thank Jon Risby, who has been volunteering on weekdays. He has taken over some very complex files being managed by the DOL and done a lot of hard work on them, with very good results. His expertise, research skills and attention to detail is much appreciated.

Examples of Casework undertaken by DOL

Some other examples of the work undertaken by the DOL and outcomes for clients include:

• assisting in fine-related matters ranging from matters where clients are eligible to apply to have fines revoked on the grounds of special circumstances to dis-putes over public transport fines includ-ing where a successful argument was made in court that the client had taken reasonable steps to obtain a ticket prior to purchase and should not have been fined.

• in appropriate matters obtaining assist-ance through the Bar Assistance Scheme to secure pro bono barristers for DOL clients where these clients would not oth-erwise qualify for Legal Aid-funded court representation.

• assisting clients with VOCAT applications, including complex applications where clients have previously commenced an application but not completed the proc-ess due to life circumstances.

• assisting clients with issues related to their parole conditions, including condi-tions that restrict their freedom of move-ment .

Sarah & Abbie (day volunteers)


Community Legal Education&

Community Development

Young People

Young People and Preventing Credit Related Debt Project

The major community legal education project undertaken during the year was the Young

People and Preventing Credit-Related Debt Project. St Kilda Legal Service obtained funding for the project through a Consumer Credit Fund grant on the approval of the Minister for Consumer Affairs. The project was undertaken in collaboration with Youthlaw and Consumer Action Law Centre. The heart of the project was a fold-out Z-Card brochure entitled “Keeping Out of Debt: Your Guide to Staying Out of Red”. The brochure incorporated light-hearted cartoons depicting common scenarios where young people have accumulated credit-related debt. (See example from brochure below). The aim of the project was to alert young people to some of the pit-falls around credit, as well as providing information about where to go for help when things go wrong. In developing the materials for the project focus groups were conducted with young people.

Apart from the Z-Card brochure, five fact sheets were produced or updated (these appear on the Youthlaw website) and a PowerPoint presentation with presenter notes was developed for use in high schools and to other young audiences. This presenta-tion was in quiz format.

The Z-card brochure was launched

on 14 April at the Department of Justice building. The 5,000 Z-Card brochures printed were distributed within 4 months following the launch. Feed-back was overwhelmingly positive and as a result the Service successfully sought funding through the Consum-er Credit Fund to reprint the brochure. 10,000 copies of the brochure will be reprinted and distributed in the coming year.

Under the project the Community Legal Educa-tion lawyer was involved in a presentation to two year 10 classes at Sandringham Secondary College and to the year 9 students at Elwood Secondary College . The ABC 7.30 Report filmed some of the presentation at Sandringham Secondary College and interviewed the Community Legal Education Lawyer as part of a broader story on young people and credit-related debt.

Elwood Secondary College- Welfare Expo

The CLE Lawyer attended the annual Elwood Sec-ondary College Welfare Expo.

Curt Spins His Wheels from the Z-Card brochure Keeping Out of Debt: Your Guide to Staying Out of the Red.


Family ViolenceThe Service was involved in a range of activities around the prevention of family violence. The CLE Lawyer continued to attend local domestic violence network meetings and was part of the Organising Committee of the Walk Against Violence 2009. To complement the work undertaken by the principal solicitor as Fam-ily Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer at Moorabbin Justice Centre the CLE Lawyer prepared a brochure outlining the family violence support services at Moorabbin Justice Centre and locally, including the Service’s duty lawyer service. This brochure is avail-able to individuals attending the Court on Mondays in family violence intervention order matters. The CLE Lawyer presented three community legal education sessions around family violence legislaton to Caulfield Community Health Service, Maternal and Child Health Nurses at the City of Bayside and to generalist com-munity workers attending a family violence information session at Connections in Prahran.

The Service has applied for a grant through the City of Bayside to fund the production of a brochure to be provided to GPs, health workers and other generalist community workers in the Bayside area about family violence support services. If the grant application is successful this project will be undertaken collaborative-ly with other members of Southern Inner Middle Family Violence Partnership.

Walk Against ViolenceThe Service was part of the Organising Committee for the Walk Against Violence held at Albert Park Lake on 26 November 2009 to coincide with White Ribbon Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Other organisations that were part

of the Organising Committee included: Salvation Army Family Violence Outreach Program, Inner South Com-munity Health Service, Emerge, Victoria Police, SECASA, City of Port Phillip and the Family Violence Indigenous Regional Action Group. Speakers at the Walk included the Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Simon Over-land, Member for Albert Park Martin Foley and the Mayor of the City of Port Phillip. An estimated 220 people attended the Walk. The Walk will be held again in late 2010, this time beginning at AAMI Park and walk-ing to Federation Square to join the major White Ribbon Day Event Not1More.

St Kilda Human Rights Working Group

The Service assisted the Port Phillip Community Group with the Community Group’s Anti-Poverty Week Forum held in October. Following the Forum a Human Rights Working Group was established to promote the use of the Human Rights Charter by community workers when advocating for their clients. The Working Group also aims to draw attention to human rights issues locally. The Service and the Port Phillip Community Group are the lead organisations in the Human Rights Working Group. A training event was held for local community workers conducted by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre around using the Human Rights Charter as an ad-vocacy tool. As a Law Week Event the Working Group hosted an information session at the St Kilda Town Hall presented by the PILCH Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic around new Public Space Offences and their Human Rights Implications. The session was well-attended by between 25 and 30 primarily local community workers.

The Service successfully applied to the City of Port Phillip for a com-munity grant to fund some of the activities of the Working Group.


Newly Arrived MigrantsThe Service in collaboration with the New Hope Foundation and the City of Port Phillip Multicultural Liaison Officer presented a number of community education sessions for newly arrived migrants liv-ing in the Port Phillip / Stonnington area. At these sessions interpreters were present and childcare was available. The sessions included the topics of driver education, housing and tenants’ rights and legal issues.

“Life Skills” Series The Legal Service, in collaboration with the New Hope Foundation and the City of Port Phillipl conducted a “Life Skills” information series in early 2010 for newly arrived migrants. There were four information sessions conducted: on housing and tenancy rights, education, nutrition and legal issues. Presenters at the sessions included the Ten-ants Union, Homeground, the Ardoch Foundation, Inner South Community Health Service, the City of Port Phillip and St Kilda Legal Service.

Driver EducationA one-off driver education session around driv-ing laws was held with presentations by the CLE Lawyer, a Victoria Police representative and the Multicultural Sudanese Centre. Driver education was identified by the CLE Lawyer and New Hope Foundation worker as a priority area for community legal education as many members of newly arrived migrant communities have a poor understanding of road laws and the implications of failing to obey these laws.

Feedback from participants in the Life Skills sessions indicated that members of newly arrived migrant communities face barriers in obtaining their licence because of a lack of fully-licensed drivers in the communities available to supervise learner drivers. In response to this feedback the Service, with the New Hope Foundation, success-fully applied to the City of Port Phillip Community Grants program for funding to run a short practical driver education program to assist newly arrived migrants obtain their learners’ and/or probationary licence, including driving lesson vouchers for those participants who attend the sessions.

2nd Edition of LIP Publication

The second edition of LIP, Legal Issues for Profes-sionals in the Sex Industry, a joint publication of the Service and Inner South Community Health Service was printed in 2009. It is available to be downloaded from the Service’s website (www.com-munitylaw.org.au/stkilda) and the RhED (Resourc-ing Health and Education in the Sex Industry) web-site. The distribution of the publication to brothel workers has been undertaken by RhED.

FinesThe Drug Outreach Lawyer presented a community legal education session around fines to workers at Hanover. The Service is grateful to James Farrell, principal solicitor of the PILCH Homeless People’s Legal Clinic for presenting at short notice a ses-sion around fines to the Southern Dual Diagnosis Forum.

Training for Volunteers & Staff

The Service holds continuing professional develop-ment training sessions for volunteers. Volunteers from SouthPort Community Legal Service and Peninsula Community Legal Centre (Bentleigh Branch) are also invited to attend information ses-sions. The Service is grateful to Denis Nelthorpe, manager of Footscray Legal Service, for the training session he conducted for volunteers around insur-ance related debts. Training was also provided at two sessions by the Sheriff and the Infringements Court Registry. The Service also conducted a ses-sion around the Processes and Practices at St Kilda Legal Service.

Emma Asscher

CLE & Law Reform


Legal Policy & Law Reform

St Kilda Legal Service is committed to undertaking legal policy development and law reform work as a core

function of the Service’s activities and recognises that it complements the casework undertaken by the Service. Through law reform activities and having input into gov-ernment policy development the Service and other CLCs are able to work towards changing laws and legal systems that impact unjustly on our clients, and ensure that the voices of our clients who are disadvantaged within our community are heard.

The Service participated in the following law reform activi-ties this year:

Family Violence The Service provided feedback on the Consultation Draft of A Right to Justice and Safety: Continuing Family Violence Re-form in Victoria produced by the Office of Women’s Policy, Department of Planning and Community Development. Currently community legal centres throughout Victoria op-erate Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Programs or their equivalents in more than 15 Magistrates Courts. The Service emphasised in its submission that ac-cess to timely independent legal advice and assistance is crucial to enabling women to be aware of their options and to make well-informed decisions. The Service supported the goal of an integrated system and expressed its view that community legal centres should be more fully en-gaged with as a vital component of an effective integrated family violence system.

The Service contributed its knowledge and experience to the submission to the Australian Law Reform Commis-sion’s Review of Family Violence prepared by Domestic Vio-lence Victoria, the Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria, the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria and the Victorian Women with Disabilities Network.

Severe Substance Dependence Treatment Bill 2009 (Vic)

In early 2010 the Service wrote to a number of Victorian Ministers and to local members of Parliament express-ing concern about the human rights implications of the Severe Substance Dependence Treatment Bill 2009 that has since come into law (with some amendments). Whilst the Service participated in a campaign against the Bill lead by Fitzroy Legal Service there was little opportunity to present concerns about the Bill as it was introduced into Parlia-ment without adequate opportunity for public consulta-tion. The Severe Substance Dependence Treatment Act 2009 allows for the involuntary treatment of persons with “severe substance dependence”. The Service expressed its concern that the Bill unjustifiably reduce[d] human rights’ protections for persons with “severe substance depend-ence”. Among other things, the Service argued that there is no strong evidence to show the long term effective-ness of coercive interventions and that a higher priority

The impact of submissions made by the Service are sometimes evident in reports of law reform commissions and other investigating bodies:

Surveillance in Public PlacesIn the last financial year the Service made a sub-mission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission Inquiry into Surveillance in Public Places. In this submission the Legal Service highlighted some of the surveillance practices in Victorian public places that the Service considered of particular concern including: the proliferation of CCTV cameras; the impact of these cameras on already marginalised sectors of society; the lack of adequate regulation around the use of CCTV cameras and around the use of footage obtained from these surveillance cameras. The Surveillance in Public Places Final Report came out in August of 2010. The submis-sion of the Service is quoted in the Report includ-ing at p119 of the Report:

[T]he St Kilda Legal Service said there should be an exception to allow for evidence gathering in family violence and family law matters:

...because in family violence matters... there are often no witnesses to the alleged abuse apart from the victim and the perpetrator...

The Commission went on to recommend:

Although we favour a narrow view of the ‘lawful interests’ exception, we suggest that it should not be as narrow as the one suggested by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal. We favour an in-terpretation that allows for participant monitor-ing for evidentiary purposes, as suggested in a

number of the submissions we discussed above.

for government should be increased funding of voluntary withdrawal facilities. Of significant concern is that a person who retains capacity and is capable of choosing to refuse treatment could nevertheless be detained and compulsory treated. As one of the lead organisations in the local St Kilda Human Rights Working Group, the Service spoke to the Port Phillip Leader about these concerns which resulted in an ar-ticle appearing in the local paper. The story was then picked up by ABC Stateline who contacted the Service interested in running a story around the issue. A key spokesperson from Fitzroy Legal Service was interviewed and a story was run on Stateline.

New Police PowersThe Service as a lead organisation in the St Kilda Human Rights Working Group also spoke to local media about the new police “move-on” and random search powers express-ing concern that these powers will undermine some of the rights that were, up till now, protected by the Victorian Hu-man Rights Charter.

GuardianshipIn a letter to the Victorian Law Reform Commission, the Serv-ice flagged the primary issue impacting upon clients of the Service in the area of Guardianship and Administration law: reported difficulties for clients in accessing funds for items they view as basic necessities. The Service intends to pro-vide a submission to the Commission following the release of the Commission’s Consultation Paper later in the year.

Powers of AttorneyThe Service made a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Committee Inquiry into Powers of Attorney. In the submis-sion the Service expressed concern that lawyers are not always well placed to assess a client’s capacity. Also, on the issue of capacity, the Service supported the position of the SouthPort Community Legal Service that the attorney should be required to obtain a medical certificate “confirm-ing the donor has lost capacity… before an enduring power of attorney can take effect.” The Service expressed concern

that the power of attorney process can be used to facilitate economic abuse of an older family member. As a safeguard against this, the Service supported the Federation of Com-munity Legal Centres’ recommendation of the creation of ‘composite’ powers of attorney allowing for the appoint-ment of more than one power of attorney.

Drug-Related OffendingThe Service contributed to, and endorsed, a submission pre-pared by Flat Out Inc and the Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People to the Inquiry into the Impact of Drug-Related Offending on Female Prisoner Numbers conducted by the Parliamentary Drugs and Crime Prevention Commit-tee. The Service provided information about the efficacy of the Drug Outreach Lawyer program (for more about the program see the DOL Program report above).

Equal Opportunity Bill 2010The Service made a submission to the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee and wrote to several Members of Parliament expressing disappointment that the Equal Oppor-tunity Bill did not include protection for individuals against discrimination on the basis of “irrelevant criminal record” despite the Gardner Review recommendation in the “An Equality Act for a Fairer Victoria” – Equal Opportunity Review Final Report (June 2008) that ‘irrelevant criminal record’ be included as a protected attribute.

Local Government & Gaming MachinesIn early 2010 the City of Bayside conducted a review of their 2008 Bayside Electronic Gaming Machines Policy. In a letter to the City of Bayside, the Service supported the view of Gamblers’ Help Southern that it would be valuable for the Council to undertake a detailed investigation into the impact of gaming machines on the “well-being” of the local community as understood in the broad sense of the word, including both economic and social impacts.

Federation of CLCs Working GroupsThe Federation of Community Legal Centres, as our peak body plays a vital role in coordinating CLCs in Victoria in lobbying for social justice and human rights. One way this is achieved is through Federation Working Groups. Thank you to Federa-tion staff and the policy officers who resource and support the activities of CLCs and the working groups. This year the Legal Service has continued to participate in working groups addressing the following issues:

Violence Against Women & Children Access to Interpreters

Infringements Community Development & Legal Education

StatisticsInformation and Referral Statistics

A number of those who access the Service are assisted through the provision of information and referral during the day. When someone initially contacts the

service, whether in person or by telephone, an assessment is made as to whether their problem is actually a legal one and also if our service is the most appropriate organi-sation to assist them.

All staff and volunteers within the Community Centre are trained in making appropriate legal service appointments and providing basic referral information. Complicated matters requiring further clarification, request for urgent legal telephone advice and request for follow-up on existing matters are referred to legal service staff.

The statistical data on the provision of information and referral is collected on the Port Phillip Community Group database and is not incorporated into CLSIS (Community Legal Services Information Sys-tem) due to resource constraints. The data gathered is quite basic and during busy times client contacts are not always recorded by staff and volunteers however it does provide a good indication of the number of people who are assisted in the provision of legal information and referral.

Information & Referral Assistance Provided 1/7/09 -

30/6/101475 persons were assisted when either presenting in person or contacting the Service by telephone.

Advice & Casework Statistics

Statistical information relating to all clients’ advice and case-work activities undertaken by the legal staff and volunteers of the service is collected from clients and then en-tered into CLSIS (Community Legal Services Information System) - a national databse used by the majority of com-munity legal centres. CLSIS is maintained by the Common-wealth Attorney General’s Department. However to ensure client confidentiality, all our client’s personal details remain at our Centre and are not transmitted to the con-solidated database.

Advice & Casework: Total number of clients for the period 1/7/09 - 30/6/10

Total Number of Clients 1705

New clients 978

Repeat clients 316

Existing clients 411

Activities

Total advice activities 754

Cases

Total cases open during period (open & new) 1218

Open at period start 434

New (opened in period) 784

Still open at period end (ongoing) 504

Total cases closed during the period 714

Minor cases closed 539

Medium cases closed 135

Major cases closed 40

Closed involving court representation 313

Closed involving primary dispute resolution 9

Note: The above data includes clients of the DOL Program and Intervention Order Program. Extract from CLSIS CMR 1.1 Centre Activity Summary Report

Total Centre Statistics (Includes Outreaches)

Top 10 Problem Types (CLSIS PT 1)

Including DOL clients and Intervention Order Program

Problem type Number Proportion

Family or domestic violence order 275 12.1%

Govt/admin issues relating to fines 268 11.8%

Road traffic and motor vehicle regulatory of-fences

144 6.3%

Credit and debt owed by client 90 4.0%

Theft and related offences 76 3.3%

Motor vehicle accident 64 2.8%

Other & misc offences inc weapons/explosives 61 2.7%

Neighbourhood disputes other 55 2.4%

Injuries compensation 53 2.3%

Child contact or contact orders 52 2.3%

All other problem types 1133 49.9%

Total problem types 2271 100.0%

clients by gender

0

20

40

60

80

100

malefemale

perc

ent

clients by income

clients by age

Client DemographicsPr

oble

m T

ypes

0

20

40

60

80

100

not s

tate

d

18 yr

s & un

der

18 - 3

4 yrs

35 - 4

9 yrs

50 - 6

4 yrs

65 yr

s & ov

er

perc

ent

1% 3%

low income

medium income

80%

19%

1%high income


0

20

40

60

80

100

malefemale

perc

ent

Family Violence (Intervention Order) Applicant Lawyer Project

Total number of clients assisted during the period: 219

clients by gender

0

20

40

60

80

100

adjo

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d

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lved

on

the

day

perc

ent

rate of resolution

applicant

respondent

5%

68%

27%

ap

plicant &

re

spondent

client types

Total court representations: 218

Drug Outreach Lawyer Program

clients by gender

0

20

40

60

80

100

femalemale

In total 349 clients - new & ongoing

0

20

40

60

80

100

18 yrs & under18 - 34 yrs35 - 49 yrs50 - 64 yrs65 yrs & over

perc

ent

2% 1%

clients by age

low income

medium income

(high income 0%)

97%

3%clients by

income

criminal

civil

family

44%

45%

11%

clients by law type

Total advice & cases: 236

Total advices only: 18


Financial Statements


2010 2009

ASSETSCurrent AssetsCash at Bank - MCCC 8,510 2,766 Cash at Bank - CBA Investments 222,000 206,000 Cash at Bank - CBA 4,682 2,424 Petty Cash 92 260 Other Debtors 436 6,780 Accrued Income 2,155 1,202

237,876 219,433

Non-current AssetsComputer, Office Furniture & Equipment (at cost) 52,740 52,740 Less accumulated depreciation 43,720 36,603

9,020 16,137

TOTAL ASSETS 246,896 235,570

LIABILITIESCurrent LiabilitiesSundry Creditors 28,726 30,781 Provision for Asset Replacement 5,280 Provision for Annual Leave 23,404 27,566 Provision for Long Service Leave - 13,275 Income In Advance 53,635 59,586

111,044 131,208

Non-current LiabilitiesProvision for Long Service Leave 53,959 25,461

53,959 25,461

TOTAL LIABILITIES 165,003 156,669

NET ASSETS 81,893 78,901

EQUITYRetained Earnings 81,893 78,901

81,893 78,901

ST. KILDA LEGAL SERVICE CO-OP. LTD.BALANCE SHEET

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St Kilda Legal Service Co-Op Ltd ABN 83519 420 198 St Kilda Community Centre, 161 Chapel St, St Kilda, 3182

T: 9534 0777 F: 9525 5704 e: [email protected] www.communitylaw.org.au/stkilda

Donations over $2 are tax deductible

Annual-Report-2009-2010.pdf - St Kilda Legal Service

Documents

Transcript of Annual-Report-2009-2010.pdf - St Kilda Legal Service