Women's Legal Services NSW

Number of Employees	20-25 including solicitors, law reform and community education coordinators, project workers, administrative staff and volunteers
Major Practice Areas	Family law, parenting issues, domestic violence, sexual assault and discrimination
Management	A voluntary board of 9 directors with the day-to-day management delegated to the Principal Solicitor & Executive Officer
Date Founded	1982
Website	http://www.wlsnsw.org.au

The Women’s Legal Services NSW (WLS NSW) formerly the Women’s Legal Resource Centre, is an independent, non-aligned, non-profit organisation funded by the Australian Commonwealth and State Governments. It is part of the Community Legal Centre Network.

WLS NSW is dedicated to promoting women’s human rights and social justice statewide. The organisation:

Provides free legal advice and assistance to women over the phone or in person, prioritising those who are the most disadvantaged by their social and/or economic circumstances.
Creates publications and runs training workshops, including free online seminars (Ask Lois) enabling community and support workers to successfully advocate for their clients.
Pursues law and policy reforms in areas that affect women by writing submissions to government and other stakeholders.
Offers specialised legal services and/or resources for Indigenous women, women from culturally and linguistically
diverse communities and women in correctional facilities (the Legal Education and Advice in Prison program).^[1]

WLS NSW has a strong domestic violence focus, pioneering a trauma informed and qualitative approach to advice and advocacy for victims. Other major areas of practice include discrimination in employment (Working Women’s Legal Services Program)^[2] family law, parenting issues, victims support and sexual assault.

Ethos

WLSNSW works from a feminist perspective. Through casework, education, training and reform WLS NSW intends to promote legal and social change to redress the inequalities women experience.

“Women’s Legal Services NSW works from a feminist perspective to promote access to justice for women in NSW. We seek to promote women’s human rights, redress inequalities experienced by women and to foster legal and social change through strategic legal services, community development, community legal education and law and policy reform work. We prioritise women who are disadvantaged by their cultural, social and economic circumstances…We focus on areas of law that most directly have a gendered impact on women. This includes domestic violence, sexual assault, family law and discrimination.” – Women’s Legal Services NSW strategic plan 2013-16^[3]

The Indigenous Women’s Legal Program (IWLP)

In 1996 with the aid of Federal Government funding, WLS NSW founded the Indigenous Women’s Legal Program in consultation with Aboriginal women. The Indigenous Women’s Legal Program is staffed by Aboriginal women and offers services including: free legal advice, assistance finding a lawyer, training and community workshops, face to face advice through outreach services and community legal education across NSW.

In 2000 Women’s Legal Services (at that time the Women’s Legal Resource Centre) received the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Law Award for its specialised Aboriginal women’s services.^[4]

Partnerships

WLS NSW has developed a number of partnerships in order to promote access to justice, these include:

Legal Education and Advice in Prison (LEAP): WLS NSW alongside Warringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre and Hawkesbury Nepean Community Legal Centre provide civil and family law services to women, particularly Aboriginal women, who are incarcerated.
Winnima Wirawi Family Law Outreach: WLS NSW run advice clinics at Koolyangarra Aboriginal Family Centre and Marrin Weejali Aboriginal Corporation providing Indigenous women with free legal advice on family law issues.
Women’s Health Centre Advice Clinics: WLS solicitors give free legal advice from clinics in Blacktown, Fairfield, Liverpool and Penrith.
Family Relationships Centres Partnership: WLS NSW and the Hawkesbury Nepean Community Legal Centre work together to provide legal advice clinics, some lawyer assisted family dispute resolution and professional development for Family Relationships Centre staff.

History

In 1982, a group of female legal activists founded Australia’s first legal service for women. The Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WLRC) was established to promote access to justice through the provision of legal services, law reform, and community legal education; particularly for women disadvantaged by social and economic circumstances.

In 1986, the Women’s Legal Resources Centre recognised the need for a community legal centre dedicated solely to women experiencing domestic violence. The Domestic Violence Legal Service (DVLS) provides advice, advocacy, information, and education, in addition to developing policy and working towards law reform.

Between 1995 and 1998, the Women’s Legal Resources Centre established five Legal Outreach services across Western Sydney and in Wyong, enabling women to receive face-to-face legal advice in their local areas. Due to resource constraints the Campbelltown and Wyong services were discontinued in 2010.

In 1996, the NSW Government, through the Legal Aid Commission of NSW, provided funding to set up a Training and Resource unit for the (then called) Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Program. This unit provided training and resources to (then called) Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Schemes (WDVCAS) throughout NSW, and administrative support and resources to the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Schemes Network (WDVCAS Network). This unit was resumed by Legal Aid NSW in 2008.

As the Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WLRC) grew and developed its diverse programs, the board of directors changed the name of the service to Women’s Legal Services NSW to reflect the work of the organisation. This change occurred in 2003.

Until 2010, Women’s Legal Services NSW auspiced the Walgett and Bourke/Brewarrina Family Violence Prevention Legal Services (WFVPLS & BBFVPLS), which were funded by the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department. The Family Violence Prevention Legal Services aimed to facilitate community development in the prevention of family violence. The services combined legal resources with skills training, group and individual support, community education and advocacy. In 2010 the auspice of these services transitioned to Thiyama-li.

In 2015 Women’s Legal Services NSW, along with other specialist women’s services, faces uncertainty due to government cuts to funding.

Publications & Resources

Ask LOIS: a secure website providing a free online legal information service for community workers across NSW who are working with women experiencing or escaping Domestic Violence, particularly targeted at regional and rural workers^[5]
Women and Family law (10th ed, 2014, Women’s Legal Services, NSW Sydney)^[6]
GP’s Toolkit “When she talks to you about the violence,” A toolkit for doctors in general practice in NSW (2014, Women’s Legal Services NSW with financial assistance from the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW)^[7]
Women’s Legal Services Brochure in 10 community languages or in pictorials
10 Things you need to know when DoCS/FaCS removes your child (2013 Women’s Legal Services NSW, Sydney)^[8]
A Long Way to Equal (2007, Women’s Legal Services NSW, Sydney)^[9]
Our Silence is Abusing our Kids (Women’s Legal Services NSW and Dympna House, Sydney)^[10]
Our Dream: Stopping the Violence (2nd ed, 2007 Women’s Legal Services NSW, Sydney)^[11]
Partnerships, Prevention and Rural Action III (Burrendong Report) 2007.^[12]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.