Legal Aid NSW has established a number of health justice partnerships with health and welfare agencies. These collaborations provide on-site legal assistance to vulnerable people in health-related settings including hospitals, community health centres and drug rehabilitation services. They attempt to reach people who are at most disadvantage in the justice system. Research by the Law and Justice Foundation demonstrates strong links between long-term illness/disability and legal need.
For further information about Legal Aid NSW Health Justice Partnerships, please contact Nerida Walker (Civil law HJPs) or Ruth Pilkinton (Family Law HJPs).
See also Health Justice Australia, the National Centre for Health Justice Partnerships.
Legal Aid NSW Health Justice Partnerships:
- Western Sydney Local Health District - Legal Aid NSW partners with Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) by providing an on-site and over the phone family lawyer at Blacktown Hospital each Tuesday. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, the antenatal health clinic, Aboriginal and CALD Liaison Officers and other professionals to reach people connected to the hospital through their work or as a support person for a patient at the hospital who need help with family, care and protection or family violence legal issues. The Family Lawyer works collaboratively with Legal Aid lawyers from Criminal and Civil Law. This advice service can also be accessed by staff of Blacktown hospital.
- Coffs Harbour Health Service – Legal Aid NSW partners with Coffs Harbour Hospital to deliver family law advice clinics for patients as well as staff every Tuesday. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, and with other Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice. This service is provided in person and over the phone.
- Port Macquarie Health Service – Legal Aid NSW partners with Port Macquarie Hospital to provide patients and staff with family law advice clinics every Tuesday. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, and with other Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice. This is provided over the phone at the moment.
- Illawarra and Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) - Legal Aid NSW partners with Wollongong Hospital to provide patients and staff with family law advice clinics every Tuesday. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers at the hospital, and with other Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice. This service is currently provided over the phone at the moment.
- Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick and Royal Hospital for Women – Legal Aid SNW partners with the hospitals to deliver family law advice clinics for women, children and their families every Tuesday. This service is also available to staff of the hospital. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, and with other Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice. This is provided over the phone at the moment.
- Royal Hospital for Women – Legal Aid NSW partners with the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District to provide a family law service at the Royal Hospital for Women each Tuesday morning. This service is also available to staff of the hospital. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, and with other Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice. This is provided over the phone at the moment.
- Sydney Children’s Hospital Network at Randwick – Legal Aid NSW provides a family law service each Tuesday afternoon to people seeking assistance with legal issues at the Hospital. This service is also available to staff of the hospital. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, and with other stakeholders in the hospital. Our HJP lawyer is often linking clients with Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice and assistance to the client.
- Sydney Children’s Hospital Network at Westmead – Each fortnight Legal Aid NSW partners with the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network to provide a service to people seeking assistance with legal issues at the Hospital. This service is also available to staff of the hospital. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers with other stakeholders in the hospital. Our HJP lawyer is often linking clients with Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice and assistance to the client.
- Forster Aboriginal Medical Service – Legal Aid NSW partners with this Medical Service to provide monthly family law advice clinics. Our family lawyer works closely with social workers, and with other Legal Aid lawyers who provide Criminal and Civil law legal advice. This is provided over the phone at the moment.
- We Help Ourselves (WHOS) at Lilyfield (in person) and other locations around NSW. Legal Aid NSW has a Health Justice Partnership with the onsite drug rehabilitation service. Each Wednesday a Legal Aid solicitor is onsite to provide a service to residents at WHOS: one week a family lawyer from the Family Law Early Intervention Unit attends and the other week a lawyer from the Civil Law Division attends. Residents from other WHOS sites can also book in for an appointment over the phone at these times. Our lawyers work to support residents to resolve the many legal issues they can face at this time in their life and often link them with ongoing lawyers for any current court matters.
- HealthOne, Sutherland Hospital - Legal Aid NSW partners with the Sutherland Hospital to deliver weekly civil law advice services to for patients of Sutherland Hospital, and people with complex health needs or chronic illness living at home.
Aniela's storyOur client was 26 weeks pregnant with her fourth child. She had a long history of domestic and family violence and substance abuse issues. Her three older children were in the care of the Minister in two different family placements, and Aniela’s arrangements for seeing the children were causing her concerns. We assisted her to improve contact with her older children and worked with her hospital social workers to put in place appropriate referrals to services to help Aniela with counselling, parenting courses, housing and drug treatment. We advised Family and Community Services (FACS) of the way Aniela was addressing their concerns and reinforced how her earlier life experience had affected her parenting capacity. While FACS took Aniela’s baby into care soon after the child’s birth, she still has regular contact with her baby for breast feeding and bonding and there is a plan for the baby to be restored to her care. A lawyer represented Aniela at court and obtained letters from the hospital social workers to support her court case. |