Community Legal Centres NSW

Modern forms of slavery are everywhere, even if we don't notice them. And refugees and people seeking asylum are at particular risk of exploitation.

While the Australian Government has committed to tackling modern slavery, RACS has found that there is:
🔸A lack of proper recognition for the experience of modern slavery and fears relating to modern slavery in the context of assessing asylum claims, as seen in our client Aya's* case
🔸Risk of exploitative practices and modern slavery in Australia for people on temporary visas

Click through to see our list of recommendations, made in preparation for the Special Rapporteur's country visit to Australia: racs.org.au/advocacy/contemporary-slavery

*Name changed to protect identity

🚨 Renters in NSW are concerned about data privacy.

A recent CHOICE report revealed that 60% of renters are uneasy about the amount and type of information collected about them. Tenants' Union of NSW says that in May, nearly 230,000 renters were on the hunt for a home across NSW, with an average of 6 applications per property. That's a staggering amount of rental data! 🏡📊

Last month Leo joined a series of roundtable discussions hosted by NSW Rental Commissioner Trina Jones, and including Sonia Minutillo, Kylie Davis, Sophia Malden, Linda Przhedetsky, Nicholas Anderson to discuss better protections for renters information. This also included discussion of the reforms required to better regulate with appropriate limits the information that can be requested by landlords and their agents when applying for a property.

In her the Rental Commissioner Trina Jones says a recent CHOICE report found 60% of renters were uncomfortable with the amount and type of information collected about them. In the month of May this year there were almost 230,000 renters looking for rental properties across NSW, and with an average of 6 applications for every rental property, that is a huge volume of rental data.

A closer look at the rental application process and how and what data needs to be collected can also foster trust and transparency in the rental market.

*You can read more of Trina's posts via her LinkedIn page.

How do you feel about the information asked of you when applying for a rental home?

Want to have a better understanding of the Disability Support Pension?

Our free webinar will explain the complex Disability Support Pension (DSP) rules that determine eligibility by working through the multi-layered assessment process, including eligibility criteria, evidence requirements, and key steps in the claim process.

Speakers will cover manifest eligibility, Impairment Tables, Programs of Support and job assessment capacity. They’ll also explain temporary exemptions from mutual obligations to look for work for those struggling to gain access to DSP.

We will cover important points about obtaining the right medical evidence, including who can be considered a medical expert, and give direction about the content of letters and necessary forms. Finally, the session will outline what to do if your claim is rejected, including where to go for help.⠀

Target audience: Community workers and volunteers, disability advocates, social workers and lawyers⠀

Tuesday 6 August 2024, 2 - 4pm AEST
Register through our website: https://buff.ly/4eCgicU

Thank you to Ecstra Foundation for making our training programme possible!

NEW GUIDE: Australia is facing a climate catastrophe, but there's one untapped source in the fight for climate justice: whistleblowers.

Read our new Climate and Environmental Whistleblowing Information Guide, to protect and empower people to raise concerns about climate and environmental wrongdoing in Australia.

https://www.hrlc.org.au/reports-news-commentary/climate-whistleblowing

📢 Tune in to Human Rights Law Centre's David Mejia-Canales discussing the growing threats to our right to protest. 🎙️ Listen now: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-drive/is-the-act-of-protesting-in-peril-/104077136

Is the act of protesting in peril? - ABC listen The right to protest, a foundation of democratic tradition, is being undermined and eroded by punitive laws aimed at limiting people’s ability to gather and speak freely on issues they care about. That’s according to a new report from the Human Rights Law Centre called, Protest in Peril, which h...

🛑 As of last week, NSW has implemented new laws targeting coercive control. Coercive control involves abusive behaviours aimed at manipulating or dominating a current or former intimate partner.

💪 Women's Legal Service NSW has put together essential resources and information to help you understand and identify coercive control.

📚 Find out more: https://www.wlsnsw.org.au/training/coercivecontrol/

Coercive Control - Women's Legal Service NSW We have compiled resources to assist with understanding the Coercive control laws that came into effect on 1st July 2024.

🎤 Listen to Arlia Fleming from Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains Community Legal Centre speaking on domestic and family violence in remote parts of Australia with ABC radio last week.

Women in rural areas at greater risk of domestic violence - ABC listen Domestic violence in rural Australia is back in the spotlight with another two women being killed at home, allegedly by their partners. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says women living in regional Australia are up to 24 times more likely to be hospitalised than women in urban areas.....

It's NAIDOC Week! 🖤💛❤️💚🤍💙 This year's theme 'Keep the Fire Burning ' celebrates the unyielding spirit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and invites all to stand in solidarity. Check out your local NAIDOC Week events here: https://www.naidoc.org.au/local-events/local-naidoc-week-events

📢 Great news: Women's Legal Service NSW has been funded to establish a Working Women's Centre in New South Wales. Congratulations, all! ✨

Read the media release: https://www.wlsnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Media-Release-New-Service-Announcement.pdf?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1uMOSWmelKuMZ6q61t4jdqcXbPbxReFOfZMG1ShC9ssaxI0TjdvZbvwvc_aem_vrY6-rmOOSwmy_XS9iYJ1w

We are so excited to announce that we will be joining Working Women's Centres across Australia to establish a national network of specialist centres to assist women who are experiencing sexual harassment, discrimination and other workplace issues.

The Albanese Government has funded established centres (South Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory) and women’s legal centres, community legal centres, unions and workers' compensation services to establish centres in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.

Newly established WWCs are set to commence operations as soon as possible, and will shortly provide free and confidential support to women seeking information, help and advice about workplace issues, with a focus on sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

The S*x Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins AO, in her Respect@ Work Report recognised the unique holistic support provided by Working Women’s Centres and this new funding responds to recommendation 49 in the report.

Our CEO Katrina Ironside said "Women's Legal Service NSW has provided legal services to working women for more than 20 years, enhancing women’s economic security and moving the dial on gender equality...We are delighted to have been recognised for this work by being funded to establish the new Working Women’s Centre in NSW...This is the only gender-specific trauma informed service for working women in NSW...We look forward to being able to assist more women to stand up for their right to a safe workplace."

Read the full media release here:https://www.wlsnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Media-Release-New-Service-Announcement.pdf



Community Legal Centres NSW Fair Work Ombudsman

🪧 CLCs started out of protest. The right to protest is fundamental to the fight for justice and our social wellbeing. on National Day of Protest Rights! ❤️‍🔥 If you have not yet endorsed the Declaration of Our Right to Protest, do it today: https://australiandemocracy.org.au/protest-rights-declaration

And check out the Human Rights Law Centre's new report, Protest in Peril: https://www.hrlc.org.au/reports-news-commentary/protest-peril #:~:text=The%20report%20recommends%20governments%20to,federal%2C%20state%20and%20territory%20governments

NEW REPORT: The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy. Protest has been crucial to achieving many historic human rights achievements, from First Nations people’s right to vote, to the eight-hour workday. But the right to protest is in peril in Australia.

Over the past 20 years, parliaments across Australia have introduced 49 laws which have steadily eroded our ability to come together. The Human Rights Law Centre is calling on governments across Australia to change course, by repealing anti-protest laws and introducing human rights acts across federal, state and territory governments.

Read our new “Protest in Peril” report here: https://www.hrlc.org.au/reports-news-commentary/protest-peril

📢 Tenants on rolling leases in NSW can get three months’ notice to leave at any time.

🏠 Tenants' Union of NSW highlights a critical issue: tenants can be evicted for asking for repairs or because the landlord wants to increase the rent.

“Fundamentally, it is not having to give any reason at all, not being accountable for any reason, and not giving any evidence, or be genuine in the reason, that is the problem here," says Tenants' Union of NSW CEO, Leo Patterson-Ross.

"A benefit to New South Wales of being left behind a little bit by the other states is that we do have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and do this reform properly to begin with."

💪 Support the campaign and help create change! 👉 https://rentingfair.org.au/

📰 Read the article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-01/nsw-no-grounds-evictions-ban-for-renters-pending-inquiry-report/104037532

Eman was told she was a good tenant, but without warning received an eviction notice Fifteen months after both major parties in NSW promised to end no-fault evictions, the government is yet to put forward new legislation, as more renters are pushed out of their homes amid a rental crisis.

We demand action for safe housing! 🏠💪

CLCNSW joins over 25 organisations and Community Legal Centres across NSW, in calling on the NSW Government to ensure safe, liveable public and community housing. It's time for Homes NSW to step up and make fundamental repairs a priority. Safe and habitable housing is a basic legal right.

Alongside 25+ organisations including Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services and Community Legal Centres across NSW, we demand action from the NSW Government for safe, liveable public and community housing homes. Everyday we collectively help thousands of people whose lives and health is directly affected by the state of their public housing and community housing homes. Many of our services are providing direct support for people to try and get fundamental repairs – to make sure their houses are safe and habitable – a basic right under the law.

Recent tragic events have put a spotlight on long understood and acknowledged critical failures in the current system. Homes NSW must do better to ensure all people in public and community housing live in safe and healthy homes - and this requires additional resourcing and focussed action from the NSW government.

Read the full statement here: https://www.tenants.org.au/reports/safe-secure-social-housing-homes

‼️🏡 Rents are skyrocketing. In the March quarter, asking rents for houses rose by more than six times the rate of wages, according to ABS wage price index and Domain rent data.

This alarming trend is pushing many into difficult situations, and more people are likely to face homelessness.

For valuable resources and support on renting, follow Tenants' Union of NSW.

Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/no-doubt-we-will-see-more-homelessness-rents-increase-more-than-six-times-the-rate-of-wages-20240611-p5jkw2.html

‘No doubt we will see more homelessness’: Rents increase more than six times the rate of wages Experts say other interim measures, such as rent caps and slowing immigration, are needed to ease the pressure on renters until 1.2 million needed homes are built.

A NSW parliamentary committee has today cleared the LGBTIQA+ Equality Bill for consideration by the NSW Parliament. That means the Bill can proceed to the next stage.

The Bill presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring NSW into line with other states and territories on LGBTIQ+ equality.

The Bill will protect LGBTQ+ staff and students from discrimination in private schools, ensure trans and gender diverse people can access ID that matches their identity without cruel and unnecessary barriers, and better recognise our families.

It's now time for the NSW Government and all NSW Parliament to pass this Bill and ensure LGBTIQ+ people and their families are treated equally under law.

Head to the link in the comments and sign the petition to pass the Bill – every voice of support makes a world of difference!

After years of resistance and resilience in the face of colonisation and a system of denial, on 3 June 1992 the claim of native title by Eddie Koiki Mabo was recognised by the High Court of Australia - overturning two centuries of the lie of terra nullius (land belonging to no one).

On Mabo Day 3 June, we recognise and honour Eddie Mabo’s achievement and pay tribute to him for setting us on a path to equally and respectfully inhabiting this continent side by side as First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians.

Explore our new content on native title, land rights, and the global Land Back movement. Learn how the movement is mobilising locally and how allies can support.

Read about it👉🏿 antar.org.au/issues/native-title-land-rights/

💘 Join the Inner City Legal Centre and ACON's Trans Health Equity Team on Wednesday 12 June (6pm-8pm) for a free in-person workshop on how to change your name and/or gender marker in NSW. 🪪 Whether you have questions for yourself or someone you are supporting, this is important knowledge for all! ICLC will also be on-hand to certify copies of your identity documents in real time, so register now to secure your spot. 👉 https://forms.acon.org.au/form-6636952/changing-gender-marker-workshop

📢 "Current funding levels are insufficient to meet the legal assistance needs of the Australian community," the reviewer Dr Mundy said. "Government has treated service providers like sporting clubs tendering for funds to renovate a block of change rooms." Read the review report here 👉 https://www.ag.gov.au/legal-system/publications/independent-review-national-legal-assistance-partnership-2020-25

'Government has treated service providers like sporting clubs': Legal services can't meet Australia's needs An independent review of legal service funding has found that current levels are insufficient to meet Australia's legal assistance needs, especially help for marginalised groups.

The NLAP report is finally here. Read it now: https://www.ag.gov.au/legal-system/publications/independent-review-national-legal-assistance-partnership-2020-25

🔴 “Despite the much-needed spotlight on domestic and family violence this year, there has been very little investment in the legal sector, with women’s legal services and community legal centres being overlooked in their entirety.” - Christine Robinson, Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women's Legal Centre

🔴 “Even before we had the federal budget announcement, we’ve been doing sausage sizzles to top up the money that we need, just to pay for that one lawyer in that one service.” - Katie Green, Inner City Legal Centre

NSW LGBTQ+ domestic violence centre turns to sausage sizzles to meet funding gap Inner City Legal Centre among rising number of community organisations forced to raise money so victims don’t fall through the cracks

It's next week! Check out the events in NSW at this link 👉 https://www.reconciliation.org.au/calendar/photo/?tribe_state%5B0%5D=21763-21881-21946-22183-22198-22204-22208-22318-22348-22358-22428-22505-22550-22561-22746-22810-22841-22853-22934-22968-23063-23085-23153-23157-23281-23311-23337-23448-23456-23491-23643-23647-23726-23773-23799-23804-23899-23921-24017-24067-24142-22262-22590-24009-24247-24290-24296

Legal centres have told the ABC funding uncertainty will leave them with no choice but to stop taking on new clients escaping violence.

'Trickery and deception': Frontline domestic violence services say federal budget a let-down Domestic, family and sexual violence organisations are warning they will need to start winding back services because the federal government hasn’t invested enough in the sector in its latest budget.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

The new coercive control laws come into effect in NSW from 1 July 2024.

To successfully prove the offence, the prosecution will need to identify the period of time and the range or nature of coercive and controlling incidents.

Our Coercive Control Forum will focus on:
- the elements of the new offence,
- what evidence will be required to support a prosecution and an application for an ADVO,
- how best to support your clients to report coercive control to police

Join presenters from NSW Police and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to explore the new coercive control laws

https://bit.ly/3UO1EpM

Community Legal Centres NSW

This might have gotten lost in the Budget news this week, but we are watching! Protect whistleblowers.

BREAKING: David McBride has been sentenced to almost 6 years’ jail for leaking documents to the ABC which helped expose war crimes in Afghanistan. He is the first person to be imprisoned in relation to Australia’s war crimes in Afghanistan – the whistleblower, not a war criminal.

This is a dark day for our democracy and will have a grave, chilling effect on potential whistleblowers. Whistleblowers make Australia a better place by exposing human rights abuses, wrongdoing and corruption.