Mental Health Law Centre

MENTAL HEALTH LAW CENTRE / RUAH LEGAL SERVICES

255 Hay Street, Subiaco East 6008

mhlcwa.org.au fhr@ruah.org.au

The Mental Health Law Centre provides free advice and representation for people with legal problems directly related to their mental illness.

Volunteering

Which areas of law will clerks be exposed to? • Criminal law. • Administration law. • Mental health law.

What kind of tasks do student volunteers undertake? • Administrative tasks. • Our volunteers run our

Telephone Advice Line and take all new intake calls. • Provide sufficient referrals where our centre cannot assist. • Liaise with mental health teams to best assist our clients. • Shadow our lawyers when they go to court. • Draft legal advice letters. • Contact clients to gather information for our lawyers. Do you have opportunities for courtroom work/advocacy? Our volunteers can shadow our lawyers when attending the Magistrates Court but do not represent our clients.

What are the skills/benefits of taking a position at your CLC? • Fantastic opportunity to gain experience dealing with clients directly. • Managing difficult clients will significantly increase people management skills. • Working on open files and learning new aspects of the law. Do you offer any opportunities to do PLT? Yes.

Applications

How can students apply? Email to Mhari Grant at fhr@ruah. org.au or mhari.grant@ruah.org. au What does your recruitment/ interview process consist of? We run a few intake sessions each year, potential volunteers will need to submit a completed application form, their current resume, transcript of results and a cover letter. If successful, they will attend the interview and then if successful they will attend the induction day and begin volunteering from there on.

Roughly how many positions are available for students in 2022? 20-30.

What attributes do you look for in an applicant? • Accurate data entry skills. • Pays close attention to detail. • Professional communication skills. • Emotional resilience.

What advice do you have for students looking to apply? Please ensure you are aware of our practice areas before you apply.