As the year rapidly draws to a close, I've been reflecting on what 2010 has meant for PILCH. It's been a year of change ...

• We've created a Referral Team to make our referral processes more streamlined. This new team brings together the lawyers that make referrals on behalf of the Victorian Bar and Law Institute of Victoria pro bono schemes, as well as public interest referrals to PILCH member law firms.
• We've completed a thorough strategic review of the Homeless Person's Legal Clinic. In 2011 - the 10th anniversary of the HPLC - we will start to act on the findings of the review and introduce changes to make the service more effective and to ensure its ongoing success.
• We have reviewed and refocused our policy and law reform efforts, including producing a policy platform to ensure our priorities received the attention of all the major parties in the recent Victorian election campaign.
• We held a number of interesting and well attended events. We co-hosted the annual Human Rights Dinner with our colleagues at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre in May and were inspired by the words and example of Louise Arbour. And in October we held our first annual Law and Social Change Dialogue. Over 200 people were challenged to think about the role of law in bringing about change, hearing from Simon Sheik from GetUp! and social entrepreneur Nic Frances, with Julian Morrow from The Chaser guiding the conversation. The video and audio of the Dialogue is on our website at http://www.pilch.org.au/change/
• We also farewelled Sarah Matheson from Allens Arthur Robinson as our wonderful and longstanding President. We are very grateful for Sarah's nine years of service to PILCH and wish her well. We are looking forward to working with Mitzi Gilligan, from Minter Ellison, who has taken over the President role.

In the midst of the changes, we have seen demand for our services increase across all our programs, as people continue to feel the effects of the GFC, cost of living pressures and the severe lack of public housing. We have continued to help thousands of disadvantaged Victorians get access to free legal advice and representation. You can find out more about our work over the last financial year by reading our Annual Report, which is available on our website at http://www.pilch.org.au/about/

We do not do this work on our own. We continue to be encouraged by the generosity and strong support we receive from all our partners - in particular the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian Bar and our member firms - and the many individual lawyers, students and community organisations who work with us.

On behalf of all of us here at PILCH, we hope you have a cheerful, safe and restful Christmas and new year. We look forward to working with you in 2011.

Telephone Advice Service - A major success in 2010 has been the continued growth of PilchConnect’s Telephone Advice Service (TAS). In its first full calendar year, the TAS program delivered over 230 simple advices to community organisations on a range of legal issues faced by not-for-profits, from questions on intellectual property, to proxy voting at meetings. One client that received advice via TAS was the Berwick District Woodworkers Club. This group produces 500-600 handmade wooden toys each year that are distributed via various community organisations.  PilchConnect advised this group over the phone on the availability of tax concessions and the process for applying deductible gift recipient status. This photo shows what an amazing job this small woodworkers club does each and every year for underprivileged children!

HPLC Street Soccer Challenge - From tackling clinics, casework, negotiation and advocacy, HPLC lawyers are key players in ensuring equality before the law for the homeless, marginalized and disadvantaged. But on 10 November, 10 teams of lawyers tackled something different – the HPLC Street Soccer Challenge!  Street Soccer uses sport as a means to promote social inclusion and personal change for homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people, creating healthier communities.  Teams representing eight law firms, the Victorian Bar and PILCH (and including regular participants in the Street Soccer program) fought out a tough (but fair!) competition, with Allens Arthur Robinson taking out the trophy in a double-overtime thriller!

PilchConnect's final not-for-profit seminar for 2010 was presented by Clayton Utz lawyers on the subject of ‘Volunteers - Protections and Liabilities’.  It proved an extremely popular seminar, attended by 80 participants from 61 organisations, representing approximately 12,440 volunteers. PilchConnect’s 2010 seminar series has been a tremendously successful program, with 10 training sessions for community organisations presented throughout the year, attended by a total of 577 participants representing 339 Victorian community organisations.
www.pilch.org.au/nfpseminars2010/ 

GLBTIQ Legal Need Scoping Report: PILCH has now completed a scoping report to determine the nature, scope, and extent (if any) of legal need in GLBTIQ communities in Victoria: Equal Access to the Justice System: Report on Legal Services and Information for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer Victorians. This report explores whether GLBTIQ communities can access legal services and information in Victoria that are affordable, accessible, appropriate, and of good quality. PILCH is committed to continuing its work on GLBTIQ issues and will work to implement the recommendations made in the report. The report is available online (click here).

Inquiry into Powers of Attorney: In August 2010, the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee released its final report following its Inquiry into Powers of Attorney.  Seniors Rights Victoria (SRV) made two submissions (click here) to the inquiry and SRLC staff also gave evidence before the Committee.  SRV is pleased to note that the Committee adopted a substantial number of SRV’s recommendations, including recommending a new comprehensive Powers of Attorney Act and new protections such as a system of registration and the creation of new offences.  SRV applauds the human rights and empowerment approach adopted by the Committee and has commended the Committee’s report to the Victorian Government (click here). The government response is due on 28 February 2011.  

Victoria’s regulatory framework: In September, PilchConnect made a submission to the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) in response to its inquiry into Victoria’s regulatory framework. VCEC was asked to identify priority areas of regulatory reform in Victoria, including the current regulatory approach to the State’s not-for-profit sector. PilchConnect’s submission highlighted issues with the current regulatory regime and detailed opportunities for the Victorian Government to make a real and lasting difference to the sector. The submission resulted in a request from the VCEC for a meeting with PilchConnect to discuss its views in further detail.  The full PilchConnect submission is available online.

Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic
It has been a busy few months for HPLC policy. Some of our work is outlined below. All our reports and submissions are available online.

Inquiry into human rights parliamentary scrutiny laws: The HPLC, together with the Council to Homeless Persons, prepared a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee inquiry into the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Bill 2010 and the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2010. We welcome the introduction of the Bills, as the starting point for legislative protection of Australians’ human rights. However, we recommend further strengthening and specificity within the Bills to further protect and promote the human rights of Australians experiencing homelessness.

Universal Periodic Review of Australia in January 2011: As noted in the October edition of PILCH Matters, Australia is due to be reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review on 27 January 2011. In July 2010, a coalition of non-government organisations (NGOs) from across Australia prepared a joint NGO submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Australia.  To assist States, National Human Rights Institiutions and NGOs to participate in the Universal Periodic Review of Australia, the NGO coalition has prepared a range of thematic fact sheets, and the HPLC prepared the factsheet on Housing and Homelessness.

Severe Substance Dependence Treatment Act: The HPLC convened a roundtable meeting with the Department of Health and legal organizations (including Victoria Legal Aid, YouthLaw, Fitzroy Legal Service and Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service) to discuss the implementation of the new Severe Substance Dependence Treatment Act 2009. This allows for the compulsory detention and treatment of severely addicted individuals. We discussed the process for applying for an order, treatment, seeking review of an order, and the information that would be provided to patients.

The impact of drug related offending on female prisoner numbers: The HPLC, together with the Council to Homeless Persons, prepared a submission to the inquiry into the impact of drug related offending on female prisoner numbers, conducted by the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee of the Parliament of Victoria.  Our submission noted that there are three key causal factors that influence drug related offending and reoffending - lack of safe and appropriate housing, continuing substance use and abuse, and poverty. The Committee’s interim report agreed, noting that ‘[t]he most overwhelming problem identified by the Committee during the course of this Inquiry has been the lack of sufficient housing and accommodation options for women associated with the criminal justice system’.

Infringements and family violence: People leaving violent relationships face a number of legal issues, including often responding to infringements incurred by an abusive ex-partner.  There are limited options for people in these situations, so the HPLC has met with the Magistrates’ Court, Domestic Violence Victoria, Department of Justice and the Federation of Community Legal Centres to discuss policy responses that are consistent with the whole-of-government approach to family violence.

In the past two months, PILCH has written or contributed to the following media and publications:

Shining a light on human rights, Department of Justice panel forum, 8 December 2024
Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic manager/principal lawyer James Farrell joined prominent barrister Julian Burnside QC AO and new Attorney-General Robert Clark to discuss human rights and the impact of the Charter on the Victorian community. Read online

Homelessness and human rights: Using human rights as an advocacy tool for ending homelessness - “doing rights” in casework, organisational change & law reform VCOSS/CHP forum, 16 November 2024
Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic manager/principal lawyer James Farrell spoke on how human rights instruments and advocacy can achieve improved individual outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

Anti-social behaviour in public housing, Shelter NSW, December 2010
Chris Povey, Senior Lawyer with the PILCH Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic, discusses 'at risk' tenants.

Strengthening access to legal services to increase opportunities and uptake of related services Conference Paper, Integrating Services to Reduce Homelessness Conference, 1 December 2010, Melbourne
Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic lawyer Lucy Adams and St Kilda Legal Service lawyer Vanda Hamilton discuss how legal issues can inhibit the homeless from seeking and benefiting from other essential services, by breaking down barriers between service providers and those in legal sector and increasing access and awareness of the availability of legal services for the homeless and those at risk.

Keeping in touch
Close to 25% of HPLC client matters are closed due to loss of contact with the client. The HPLC released a report as part of its Lost Contact Project which addresses the complex and transient nature of working with homeless clients. The findings indicate that best practices include effective communication at each initial interview and the provision of alternative contacts, amongst other recommendations. You can read the report here.

We want change
Criminalising begging is tantamount to criminalising poverty. It perpetuates, rather than alleviates, the marginalisation and disadvantage experienced by people who beg. It also violates the fundamental human rights of some of the most vulnerable in our society. The HPLC prepared a research report on the incidence of begging in Melbourne and better policy responses to deal with the issue.  You can read the report, watch a video and view more information here. 

Street Rights
The HPLC’s produced a special 2010 State Election edition of our regular StreetRights magazine, where we asked the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal/National coalition and the Greens if they commit to halving homelessness by 2020, and how they would address homelessness in Victoria. Back issues of StreetRights are available here.

Strategic Public Interest Litigation: Opportunities and hurdles for Community Legal Centres, Conference Paper given by Gregor Husper, Director of Referral Services, at the Annual NACLC conference on Monday 25 October 2010.

Challenge to the rules governing the change of sex on birth certificates
Paige Phoenix is a female to male transsexual who has hormonally transitioned to being a man and has undergone breast reconstructive surgery. He is regarded as male by his doctors and his Medicare records and driver's licence all reflect his status as a man. Mr Phoenix is unable to have full sex affirmation surgery due to a complex set of medical conditions.

Seeking to have his sex legally recognised as male, Mr Phoenix applied to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Victoria) to change the record of his sex on his birth certificate to male. The Registrar refused Mr Phoenix's application as Mr Phoenix had not undergone full sex affirmation surgery.

Mr Phoenix contacted PILCH seeking to challenge the requirement in the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 (Vic) that a person must undergo full sex affirmation surgery before being permitted to change the record of their sex on the birth register. PILCH assisted in obtaining legal advice on challenging the decision of the Registrar however it was determined that there was no legal basis to have the decision reviewed by VCAT. PILCH has subsequently referred the matter to a member firm who has agreed to assist Mr Phoenix in submitting a communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee alleging violations, by the Australian Government, of its human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Mr Phoenix's matter is one of several matters in this area across Australia. A similar case relating to the equivalent WA legislation is proceeding on appeal to the High Court of Australia, while in NSW there are several current challenges to the equivalent NSW legislation. This is an important area of law reform which PILCH is pleased to be involved in. The current law permits the differential treatment of sex and gender diverse individuals and entrenches discrimination against this marginalised group. It requires sex and gender diverse individuals to undergo invasive surgery before they will be permitted to have their sex properly recorded in official documentation or government records. As Mr Phoenix's case demonstrates, not all persons are in a position to conform to this requirement and, even if they are able to undergo surgery, they may wish not to due to health risks and costs, amongst others reasons.