During its second year of administration by PILCH, the Victorian Bar Legal Assistance Scheme (the'Scheme') continued to develop and improve the accessibility of pro bono legal services of barristers for members of the public who are in need.
The Scheme and the current arrangement for its administration by PILCH, were formalised in July 2000. Prior to this the Victorian Bar ran an informal pro bono scheme. However as demands for assistance and upon those voluntarily administering the Scheme increased, a more dedicated service and administrative structure were needed. Thus the administration of the scheme was passed to PILCH, and renamed the Victorian Bar Legal Assistance Scheme.
The Scheme aims to increase access to pro bono legal services provided by barristers for those in need, by providing a mechanism undertaken by PILCH for screening and, in appropriate cases, referring requests for assistance from members of the public to members of the Bar. In return for administering the Scheme, the Bar provides PILCH with accommodation, some infrastructure and a contribution towards PILCH's ongoing administrative expenses. Since June 2000, quite apart from attending to inquiries and referrals, PILCH has also undertaken various tasks to further develop and promote the Bar Scheme.
The Bar has recently increased its level of financial support to PILCH for administering the Scheme. The demand for the legal services provided by the Scheme has increased over time, particularly with the withdrawal of funding to legal aid services, and there is no sign of this demand abating. Therefore the increase in financial support will enable PILCH to continue administering the Scheme and allow the Bar to be at the forefront of developing a model for an organised, integrated and accessible pro bono network. Nowhere else in Australia are a number of major pro bono schemes administered centrally, as is now the case at PILCH.
The most significant difference between the Scheme and the PILCH scheme is that the Scheme does not require that a matter be in the public interest to qualify for pro bono assistance. Rather the focus is on the means of the applicant, whether the matters is legally meritorious and whether the provision of assistance is in the 'interests of the administration of justice'. The Scheme can therefore play a 'gap-filling' role, for instance by providing assistance in matters that would otherwise fall outside the PILCH criteria.
Applications by individuals make up ninety-nine per cent of applications to the Scheme. Quite often such clients have complex legal problems and have exhausted their own resources and the resources of legal aid. Frequently, matters come to the Scheme which have been propelled though the court system by unrepresented litigants, who reach the point where their expertise and endurance fails them, and who urgently need assistance. There is therefore a strong argument for assistance to be provided to such applicants in the interests of the fair and efficient administration of the legal system. Indeed quite a considerable number of inquiries to the Scheme come from court staff seeking to assist unrepresented litigants in particularly needy circumstances to find representation.
Over the past two years, demand for the Scheme's resources has grown. In the year to 30 June 2002, the Bar received 219 inquiries resulting in 49 referrals. This brings the total number of inquiries received by the Scheme since its inception to 366, resulting in 99 referrals.
Matters referred to barristers cover diverse areas of law including family, crime, migration, contract, trusts, tort, personal injury, TAC, employment, debt recovery, tenancy and discrimination. Although in the past two years the number of referrals made under the Scheme remained steady, there has been a notable increase in demand for the service with 25 per cent more inquiries, all of which require screening, assessment and, where appropriate, redirection, to ensure that wherever possible clients receive the assistance they require.
The Scheme and the provision of pro bono legal services by barristers are essential to improving the accessibility to the legal system for members of the public and are integral to the operation of all the other pro bono and legal assistance schemes currently existing in Victoria. PILCH is grateful to the Victorian Bar Council and the members of the Bar generally for their ongoing commitment to the Scheme.