LAW IN THE COMMUNITY
A week in the life of a CLC lawyer
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campaign has been launched by the Australian Services Union in Victoria calling for greater State and Federal Government funding to create better working conditions for community legal centre (CLC) staff. But these issues are not peculiar to Victoria. Staffing has been an issue in CLCs across Australia, including SA. Not only are CLC staff generally paid less than their counterparts in other sectors, but staff have to deal with extremely high caseloads, meaning they often cannot give each case the attention it deserves. In SA, a number of CLCs are having difficulties recruiting and retaining staff, and this has been exacerbated by COVID-19 which has not only increased demand for CLC services, but led to rolling staff shortages. The most vulnerable people in the community are seriously disadvantaged by an under-resourced CLC sector, and it is essential that the State and Federal Government ensure these services are adequately funded so that people who have legal issues that could jeopardise their livelihoods or safety have access to legal help. To demonstrate the essential work of community legal centres, we spoke to two people about what it’s like to be a community lawyer.
NATALIA KASPRZYK, SENIOR SOLICITOR & PROGRAM COORDINATOR (FLAGS) AT COMMUNITY JUSTICE SERVICES SA
6 THE BULLETIN July 2022
What kinds of legal issues do you assist people with? Community Justice Services SA provides advice and representation to those who require assistance with legal issues stemming from minor indictable criminal matters and minor civil disputes to issues stemming from separation. I am employed as senior solicitor and program coordinator of Family Law Guidance and Advocacy Services (“FLAGS”), a new program of Community Justice Services SA that specialises family law and provides representation for those requiring ongoing-assistance with property settlements and disputes regarding children’s care arrangements. What might a typical week look like for you? Community Justice Services SA allows for flexible workplace arrangements. As such, I am able to perform my full-time role (38 hours a week) by working from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Thursday. When I worked under the generalist section of Community Justice Services SA, a typical week would consist of me seeing 5-7 new clients daily for advice only appointments (1 hour at a time) amongst various court attendances, ongoing work on open files, CPDs, general administration and 8-10 cups of coffee. Working for FLAGS, the only change is amount of clients I see weekly which has changed to approximately 6-8. How do you determine whether a person is eligible for assistance, and what kind of assistance they need? At Community Justice Services SA, everyone is entitled to free advice and appointments can be made by contacting the Service directly. For clients seeking ongoing assistance and/or representation in the areas we give, we have eligibility criteria the client must
meet to obtain our free service. These criteria include, but are not limited to, means, merit and complexity. We have a guideline when it comes to the income a client (individually and jointly with a dependent) can earn and still use our service, whether this is in combination with Centrelink payments or not, and is weighed up against the client’s expenses. When it comes to merit, the client’s position in the matter must have some likelihood of success. We can also apply other discretionary criteria to help us determine whether a particular client needs assistance with negotiations and/or court representation where, for example, English is not the client’s first language, the client suffers from mental health issues that prohibit them self-representing, the client is a victim of domestic violence and they cannot directly liaise with a legal matter against their abuser. The purpose of FLAGS is to assist those who cannot be assisted with family law matters under the generalist funding, i.e. their income falls outside of the eligibility criteria and/or their matter is quite complex. We can also apply other discretionary criteria to help us determine whether a particular client needs assistance with negotiations and/or court representation. What are the demographics of your client base? Community Justice Services SA provides services to persons living south of Adelaide, including Marion, Victor Harbor, Kangaroo Island, as well the Limestone Coast and extending to the Riverland. The scope of our ongoing assistance is subject to eligibility for those already ineligible for or have been refused legal aid who cannot afford to engage or continue to pay a private solicitor. Have you noticed any trends with regards to the type of issues people are
