Public Interest Law Clearing House - New South Wales, legal assistance

Access to Justice for Individuals

PILCH NSW members assist individuals to raise issues of public importance through litigation, by giving advice and other forms of advocacy in a range of forums.

Access to Justice, considered a cornerstone of our democracy, is often limited to those who have access to money. This is particularly evident for individuals seeking to raise civil law public interest issues.

Case Study
An individual being held in immigration detention contacted PILCH seeking representation in the Federal Court to oppose a deportation order. PILCH NSW assessed the matter as being in the public interest and referred the matter to a member law firm and to a member barrister. The members worked together to provide pro bono representation.

Case Study
Ms R was facing eviction from her home. Investigation into the lending practices in the case revealed predatory behaviour of the parties involved. PILCH NSW referred this urgent matter to a member law firm and to junior and senior counsel who prepared court documents and appeared in the matter within two days of referral, stopping the eviction.

Justice for Not-For-Profit Organisations

Not-for-profit organisations assist people to become active agents in their own lives. PILCH NSW members assist such organisations by helping them with vital structural, administrative and legal matters.

Case Study
A peak organisation contacted PILCH NSW seeking advice on the impact of Australia's ratification of an international human rights convention. A PILCH NSW university law school member assisted that organisation to understand the legal impacts and formulate a response to Government.

A request for pro bono referral will be considered where the not-for-profit organisation provides services that are in the public interest and if the organisation has limited resources.

How to Access our Services

To speak to our staff about your problem you can:

call PILCH on (02) 9114 1793
email PILCH on info@pilchnsw.org.au
write to PILCH at GPO Box 863 Sydney NSW 2000, DX 78 Sydney

How PILCH Considers your Request of Assistance

PILCH enables access to justice for individuals and not-for-profit organisations. PILCH NSW is the only service in NSW that assists not-for-profit organisations with their legal needs.

Referral requests are assessed against a public interest criteria developed over our years of service and with an evolving understanding of community needs.

'Public Interest' is interpreted to include issues that particularly impact on disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalised groups or raise matters of broad public concern.

Public interest issues arise across a range of disciplines including accountancy, corporate law, credit and debt, discrimination, employment, human rights, administrative law, homelessness, environmental matters, criminal, immigration, associations management and international law.

Each year PILCH receives hundreds of requests for assistance. Our staff will do their best to reply to your request within a few days of your enquiry. If your matter fits our criteria, it may take some time to successfully place your matter with one of our members for pro-bono help.