National Pro Bono Legal Centre - Now Online!
17 April 2003 at 1:04 pm
The National Pro Bono Resource Centre is now up and running with its new headquarters in Sydney and the first stage of its Internet web site.
The Centre’s brief is to support and promote pro bono legal work in Australia. It was established by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre with partner organisations and was launched late in 2002.
Its role is to produce guides, directories, information and advice to legal practitioners, community and government based legal services and community organisations.
The web site will provide easy access to research reports and publications. In particular two of its current activities include the development of a Pro bono Good Practice Guide and Resource Kit. – a substantial publication aimed at law firms interested in establishing a pro bon program or wanting to build on their existing pro bono practice. It will include sample policies and other documents for firms to adopt or adapt.
The Guide will be published jointly with the Victorian Law Foundation with an expected delivery in September 2003.
The Centre has also approved a project to explore the current uses and future pro bono needs of Indigenous legal organisations including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Legal Services and Indigenous Women’s Legal Services and land Councils.
The Centre with PIAC will also organise the Second national Pro Bono Conference in Sydney on October 20-21. A number of international keynote speakers will take part including Esther Lardent, the President of the Pro Bono Institute in Washington.
The conference will be an opportunity to learn from successful pro bono initiatives in Australia and from a diverse range of overseas jurisdictions including South Africa, South America, the USA and the UK.
Check out the new web site at www.nationalprobono.org.au. The contact telephone number is 02 9385 7381.
