annual report 08-09 - Public Interest Advocacy Centre

PIAC’s submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional
Affairs Committee’s Inquiry into Access to Justice made
recommendations on widening the standing provisions,
increasing the use of costs capping orders, and changing the costs
rules (so that each party bears their own costs) in federal human
rights cases. In addition, recommendations were made in relation
to increasing funding to community legal centres.
Recommendations about the adequacy of legal aid and resources
for Aboriginal Legal Services were also made in PIAC’s submission
to the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General Working Group on
Indigenous Justice on the Indigenous Law and Justice Framework.
PIAC’s submission to the National Alternative Dispute Resolution
Advisory Council’s Inquiry into Alternative Dispute Resolution in
the Civil Justice System recommended that courts should oversee
compulsory alternative dispute resolution (ADR), that parties
participating in ADR should have access to legal representation
and that ADR not be used as a substitute for an inadequate court
system.
PIAC also provided a submission to the Senate Legal and
Constitutional Affairs Committee’s Inquiry into Australia’s
Judicial System and the Role of Judges. In the submission, PIAC
highlighted concerns about the increasing tendency to appoint
temporary judicial officers and the impact on both the actual
and perceived independence of the judiciary. A submission was
also made to the NSW Attorney General’s Department’s review of
access to Court documents.
PIAC’s submission on the draft Federal freedom of information law
amendment Bills proposed changes to enhance access to justice
in relation to standing and timeliness (for more about PIAC’s work
on freedon of information, see the Government and Democracy
section of this report).
PIAC continues to be actively involved in the NSW Legal Assistance
Forum and the NSW Combined Community Legal Centres’ Group
(CCLCG).
Through these groups, PIAC is working with others to improve the
induction of senior staff coming into the sector, and to promote
employment in the legal assistance sector with students and
graduates. One of PIAC’s Senior Solicitors is the co-convenor of
the Law and Policy Working Group of the CCLCG and a member of
the Management Committee of the CCLCG.
PIAC provides a copy of its weekly table of current government
and related inquiries to both the NSW Legal Assistance Forum and
the NSW CLC Secretariat.
COMMUNITY LEGAL EDUCATION
Practising in the Public Interest
During the year, PIAC once again worked in partnership with PILCH
and the law faculties of Macquarie University and the University
of Wollongong to conduct Practising in the Public Interest (PIPI)
summer and winter schools. A total of 25 students from these
two universities completed the one-week intensive course. PILCH
members Deacons and Minter Ellison Lawyers each hosted a course.
Students at PIPI undertake three days of training and two days
of placement. Students work in syndicates throughout the three
training days to apply what they learn by developing an advocacy
campaign around a case study on a current public interest issue.
The training is presented by a combination of PIAC and PILCH staff,
together with external presenters.
All students have the opportunity to attend placements at both a
public organisation that practises law in the public interest such
as Legal Aid NSW and Aboriginal Legal Service, and at a law firm
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PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE • ANNUAL REPORT 2008-2009