Public Interest Law Clearing House - New South Wales, our projects

Predatory Lending

Project

Poor lending standards and deliberate targeting of vulnerable people by unscrupulous credit providers is a significant issue of public concern. PILCH NSW is coordinating the efforts of its membership to assist affected consumers and lobby for law reform in conjunction with Consumer Credit Legal Centre NSW, and Legal Aid.

Stolen Wages of the Stolen Generation

For most of the twentieth century, aboriginal children and young people in NSW came under the control of the Aborigine Protection Board/Aboriginal Welfare Board. Many were part of the Stolen Generations. The Board placed the children and young people in employment and managed wages earned by retaining a portion in a statutory trust fund.

The trust fund faced a number of problems including poor administration, internal fraud and poor record keeping. Furthermore, when the trust fund regime came to an end in 1969, monies outstanding were not distributed.

Following pressure from the community, including by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the NSW Government established and ex-gratis compensation scheme to enable the payment of monies improperly held in or distributed out of the trust accounts. There are thousands of potential claimants.

PILCH NSW Member law firms and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre are assisting a large number of claimants to bring their cases forward.
PILCH NSW, its Members and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre are working together to make representations to the Government improve the repayment scheme.
PILCH NSW is working in the commuity to raise awareness of the scheme and to encourage claims to be made.

Cooperative Work & Projects

As a peak body, PILCH NSW identifies emerging and important issues that
affect the broader community. PILCH NSW also works in partnership with
Community Legal Centres, Government Agencies, not-for-profit organisations and
law schools to address emerging issues of unmet legal need.

PILCH NSW members are provided opportunities to work collectively on
these important issues. For example, working in conjunction with several agencies
PILCH NSW coordinates services and projects in which members
have the opportunity to participate such as the Homeless Persons' Legal
Service (see above).

Projects coordinated by PILCH NSW aim to address systemic problems
which require redress for the public good. Members assist with advocacy
and in shaping proposals for law reform.

PALS@PILCH

The Pro Bono Animal Law Service

The Pro Bono Animal Law Service, or PALS@PILCH, is a national referral service being jointly operated by PILCH NSW and PILCH Victoria.
The operation of the service is guided by an Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from PILCH NSW and PILCH Victoria (and a number of their Member firms), Animals Australia, Voiceless, the NSW Young Lawyers Animal Law Committee, Lawyers for Animals and the Victorian Bar.

PALS@PILCH primarily provides assistance to organisations that aim to:

Protect endangered species and native wildlife
Promote biodiversity
Advocate for the ethical treatment of animals
Increase public awareness of animal protection issues

PALS was originally based at the Redfern Legal Centre in Sydney and was established in response to a growing need by animal protection organisations to access high quality, expert legal advice and representation to advance animal welfare through the legal system, including ensuring that existing legal protection mechanisms are enforced through the courts.

PALS@PILCH:

works with peak animal protection non-government organisations;
acts as a broker between concerned individuals, peak animal protection organisations and the legal sector; and
seeks to ensure that organisations with a substantial knowledge and a legitimate interest in the area of animal protection are able to participate in and contribute to the formulation of legislative and regulatory animal welfare frameworks as they develop.

PALS@PILCH will also undertake policy and law reform work on significant animal protection issues, within its areas of priority.

Homeless Persons' Legal Service

HPLS is an outreach based model which operates at nine welfare agencies around Sydney. PILCH NSW member law firms and Legal Aid NSW provide volunteer lawyers to HPLS and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre employs a policy officer, court advocate and coordinator. Since its inception in 2004, HPLS lawyers have provided over 15,000 hours of pro bono advice to clients.

The Cancer Patients' Legal Service (CPLS)

On 25 February 2010, the Cancer Council NSW advised PILCH that it was terminating the Agreement with PILCH concerning CPLS as of 25 May 2010.

PILCH members currently involved in CPLS will decide how they best manage existing client referrals from PILCH, and PILCH will refer any new cases back to the Cancer Council NSW.

PILCH remains ready to assist the Cancer Council NSW in relation to any aspects of CPLS, such as data retrieval, but for practical purposes PILCH’s involvement in the service has ceased.