Annual Report 2004 – 2005 - pilch

The other significant feature of PILCH’s new vision statement is its express recognition
of a role for PILCH in law reform, policy work and legal education. These activities
are a central and increasing part of PILCH’s operations and are closely connected to
PILCH’s role of linking clients and pro bono lawyers. Through the pro bono referral
work, we are able to identify structural issues which significantly cause and compound
marginalisation and disadvantage in our clients. We seek to collaborate with other
advocates to highlight the impact of these issues on our clients and to press for
appropriate reforms. Similarly, legal education has formed a greater part of PILCH’s
activities in the last few years and we are committed to continuing training and
education around issues related to pro bono, public interest lawyering and substantive
legal issues affecting our clients. One aspect of this is our involvement with several
universities in the development of public interest lawyering subjects at undergraduate
and Masters levels.
In its strategic plan, PILCH has also made an express commitment to innovation and
creativity in pro bono. PILCH seeks to develop the capacity of the Victorian pro bono
sector by involving more lawyers in pro bono work, extending the range of work which
pro bono lawyers do and developing new models for pro bono service delivery which
best serve clients. The HPLC is one recent example of PILCH’s capacity to incubate
new ideas for improving access to justice. In the coming year, one of the key goals
in PILCH’s strategic plan is to establish, with Liberty Victoria, a Human Rights Legal
Centre, which will be dedicated to the protection, promotion and fulfilment of human
rights in Australia. This is an exciting possibility which will involve community legal
centres, community organisations, the private legal profession and universities.
The goals in the PILCH strategic plan for the development of the pro bono sector have
been produced in recognition of the fact that we are operating in an environment where
there is a clear lack of affordable legal services and there are resulting high levels of
unmet legal need. We have witnessed this through the significant growth in inquiries to,
and referrals by, all of the Schemes administered by PILCH. The number of inquiries
for pro bono assistance has risen by an average of 19% and the number of referrals to
pro bono solicitors has also grown by an average of 31% in the last financial year. In the
absence of adequate government funding of legal services, pro bono lawyers are being
called on increasingly to satisfy the need for legal services of many individuals and
community organisations. Given the cost of legal services, the courts are also seeing
an increase in the number of self-represented litigants. These include people who are
employed but whose incomes would not possibly stretch to cover the payment of legal
fees. This growth in the demand for PILCH’s services evidences the need for Federal
and State governments to dedicate greater resources to access to justice programs.
Both levels of government must realise their obligation to the community and its
members to guarantee access to justice and equality before the law.
The capacity of PILCH to respond to the legal needs of the community, in circumstances
where the government is failing to do so in an adequate manner, is dependent on the
commitment and support of the private legal profession. PILCH is very fortunate to
have received exceptional support from our members again this year. This support has
been both financial and in-kind. It has also come from three new members to PILCH:
Ebsworth & Ebsworth, the Law Institute of Victoria and Sparke Helmore. We would
also like to encourage other law firms and corporate legal departments to take up
membership of PILCH. PILCH would greatly appreciate your support and would be able
to extend additional services to the community.
We are also very pleased that the PILCH Board has again been stable, with many
board members having been involved in PILCH for several years now. The board
members have shown that they are very capable and active, particularly through their
involvement in the strategic planning process.
The staff and student volunteers at PILCH are also especially deserving of gratitude
for their dedication and commitment. They are a talented group of people who work
diligently to serve the community. We have had the benefit of increased staffing this
year, which has allowed us to service the increased demands for pro bono assistance.
We have also expanded our student volunteering program considerably to give more
students the opportunity to participate in PILCH and experience how pro bono and
public interest lawyering works.
We also greatly appreciate the support and contribution which the Legal Practice Board,
the Victorian government, the courts, the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian Bar,
community legal centres, community organisations and many others provide to us.
Emma Hunt and Paula O’Brien
November 2005
Emma Hunt –
Co-Executive Director
Paula O’Brien –
Co-Executive Director
4