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5 October 2011
The Fourth Performance Report on the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target was released today, showing that an average of 39.8 hours of pro bono work was undertaken in the last financial year by lawyers who have signed up.
The Target has seen a growth in the number of signatories from 58 to 66 at the end of the last financial year and now covers approximately 5,900 lawyers across Australia or 11 percent of the Australian legal profession. Solicitors, Barristers and Law Firms can find more information on the Target or sign up here.
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23 August 2011
The National Pro Bono Resource Centre has released its research report Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Planning for the Legal Profession in Australia which is endorsed by the Law Council of Australia, and includes a step by step guide on how to create a disaster response plan.
The report calls on Australia’s state and territory legal communities to adopt disaster response plans to deal with emergencies such as those which decimated parts of Queensland and Victoria earlier this year. A media release can be found here.
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8 August 2011
 The National Pro Bono Resource Centre and the Australian Law Students' Association today launched Social Justice Opportunities - A Career Guide for Law Students and New Lawyers, which provides practical information on how students and new lawyers can get involved in volunteering and careers in social justice throughout their career. Contact the Centre for a hard copy or download the PDF and visit the accompanying website at www.sjopps.net.au.
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1 July 2011
The Office of Legal Services Coordination has tightened the template for reporting its pro bono work by asking firms to report only on the amount of pro bono legal work done in the past 12 months and whether they are a signatory to the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target. The Department states that these changes will facilitate more accurate and meaningful reports.
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13 May 2011
The Australian Law Students Association (ALSA) and the Centre are teaming up with Young Lawyers’ committees around the country to produce a guide for law students and young lawyers on the social justice opportunities available to them during their career as a lawyer, including CLE, employment, pro bono and volunteering.
This guide will be launched at the national ALSA Clayton Utz Conference to be held at UNSW from 8-14 July 2011.
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28 April 2011
 Now is the time to get your walking teams together for this year’s Walk for Justice. The Walk will take place in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville on Monday 16 May 2011 starting at 7 or 7.30 am.
The Walk for Justice is the opening event for National Law Week that runs from 16-20 May 2011. The Walk for Justice is a fundraiser for the important work that pro bono clearing houses do in these cities.
Register now to walk in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, or Townsville.
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18 February 2011
Key Queensland legal organisations have worked together to establish the clearly branded “Flood and Cyclone Legal Help” pro bono legal response to assist disadvantaged Queenslanders affected by the floods and cyclones Anthony and Yasi.
The Flood and Cyclone Legal Help response is a collaborative effort of QLAF members: Legal Aid Queensland, Queensland Law Society, the Bar Association of Queensland, QAILS, ATSILS (QLD), and QPILCH.
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8 December 2010
Employment law and applications for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) tax status are areas of practice where pro bono assistance is widely provided, but also where requests for assistance are often refused, according to the Final Report on the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey 2010. The Report also reveals that the amount of pro bono undertaken by large law firms has increased despite cuts in lawyer numbers due to the GFC.
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15 October 2010
The National Pro Bono Resource Centre today released a set of 12 stories titled Stories of Pro Bono Alleviating Poverty showing how pro bono legal services have helped alleviate poverty as part of Anti-Poverty Week. These stories have come from law firms and pro bono clearing houses across Australia and illustrate how the legal profession makes a difference to the lives of the marginalised and disadvantaged.
The stories concern:
· A disabled person and a mobile phone contract
· A homeless woman defending assault police charges
· A refugee negotiating a motor accident settlement
· Exploited international students obtaining fair wages and legal education
· A Somalian refugee facing eviction from public housing
· An Aboriginal Corporation in remote WA being helped with business and governance issues
· Impoverished retirees in Brisbane facing eviction from a retirement village
· Legal education for the long-term unemployed
· Assisting vulnerable tenants in a caravan park
· Helping Aboriginal artists in remote communities create and protect their intellectual property
· Helping victims of people trafficking in Vietnam
· Assisting Canberra’s homeless
For more information please refer to the Centre's media release.
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25 August 2010
Large Australian law firms have continued their strong commitment to pro bono legal work, despite the significant economic pressures of the past two years. Those large firms who are signatories to the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target generally have performed more pro bono work for disadvantaged people and community non-profit organisations, than those firms who have not yet signed the Target.
The findings come from the Interim Report on the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey and the Third National Pro Bono Aspirational Target Report, launched today for the National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference 2010 being held in Brisbane from 26-27 August 2010.
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