Secondments and clinics

Secondments 

We offer ongoing secondments (both full-time and part-time) with a number of key relationship charities. 

Organisation	Location	Type of work	What’s involved?
Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)	Sydney / virtual	Strategic litigation projects	PIAC is a unique community legal centre conducting test case and strategic litigation to bring about positive systemic change. Secondees are involved in strategic and ongoing policy and advocacy work on a number of innovative litigation projects such as the Asylum Seeker Health Rights Project which advocates for better treatment of people in detention. This project has had success in relation to Hepatitis C treatment which was denied to detainees. Federal Court proceedings were brought and the Commonwealth agreed to change its policies to give access to the treatment. Our secondees have also been involved in achieving a confidential settlement of a 3 year Federal Court test case concerning the use of handcuffs to transport a vulnerable asylum seeker to medical appointments.
Marrickville Legal Centre (MLC)	Sydney	Tenant advocacy Employment	MLC is a not-for-profit community legal centre providing accessible legal services to vulnerable people. Our secondees work alongside MLC’s solicitors to deliver advice and provide advocacy and representation for vulnerable clients.
Law Access	Perth	Placing community legal requests	Law Access is a not-for-profit community legal centre providing accessible legal services in WA. Secondees assist Law Access by reviewing and assessing applications for pro bono legal assistance across various areas of law. Secondees also have the opportunity to work alongside senior lawyers to analyse complex factual and legal issues arising out of the applications and then transform their analysis into a referral to a pro bono legal practitioner, firm or barrister.
Youth Law Australia (YLA)	Sydney / virtual	General   Employment	Youth Law Australia is a community legal service that is dedicated to helping children and young people in Australia and their supporters to find a legal solution to their problems. Secondees provide legal assistance and support to children and young people. They are involved in advising on a variety of issues affected young people. Our secondees have also been involved in creating and delivering webinars at YLA on a range of issues such as employment law including workplace underpayments, workplace sexual harassment. In addition, advice is commonly sought by clients in relation to driving offences, suspension and expulsion from school and police cautions, checks and criminal records.
Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC)	Sydney / Melbourne / virtual	Whistleblower Project	The Human Rights Law Centre uses strategic legal action, policy solutions and advocacy to support people and communities to eliminate inequality and injustice and build a fairer, more compassionate Australia. Secondees assisted in establishing Australia’s first Whistleblower Legal Service which advocates for stronger protections for whistleblowers. Lawyers are involved in assisting whistleblowers to safely reveal wrongdoing, ensure any disclosure is dealt with promptly and fairly, and protect them against any reprisal.
Oxfam Australia	Melbourne / virtual	Commercial	Secondees join the Oxfam in-house legal team to provide legal, regulatory, compliance and commercial advice on transactions and projects ultimately helping Oxfam eliminate poverty and tackle inequality. For example, this can involve drafting and advising on agreements such as fundraising and procurement agreements and advising on compliance, privacy, data protection and information security issues as well as ensuring effective systems are in place to protect the Oxfam brand.
Domestic Violence Legal Service	Darwin/virtual	Legal education	Our lawyers are assisting DVLS to reach target clients and share relevant legal education with clients and the community through various social media channels.

 

Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre: 

Johnson Winter Slattery’s pro bono support has been instrumental in the Human Rights Law Centre launching an Australia-first legal service for whistleblowers - the Whistleblower Project. The firm has provided us with fantastic secondees to boost our internal capacity, for service-delivery, strategic litigation and law reform work. Johnson Winter Slattery also acted for the Centre in a landmark whistleblower protection appeal, where we were a friend of the court. The Human Rights Law Centre believes that whistleblowers play a crucial role in upholding transparency and exposing human rights abuses in Australia - we are deeply grateful to Johnson Winter Slattery for helping us pioneer this innovative new legal service.

Kate Richardson, Acting Associate Director, Youth Law Australia:

Throughout 2023, thanks to Johnson Winter Slattery’s probono support, YLA was able to provide legal assistance to an additional 229 children and young people who were seeking help. 30% of those children and young people had experienced harm or were at risk of harm due to their legal problem. Without the support of our incredibly hard-working JWS secondees, YLA would not have been able to meet the additional demand for our services.

Esther Nambiar, Managing Solicitor, Domestic Violence Legal Service, Darwin NT

I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU for the incredible work that is being on the DVLS social media platforms. When I met you Frances, I thought we would have a few witty emoji riddled posts and what your team has delivered has FAR exceeded that. I cannot believe the time, talent and thoughtfulness that goes into all of the content that is being produced with and for us : )

I remember us having a chat in the early days about what we might be able to do to tell you more about domestic, family and sexual violence. if you would like to have a bit of an informal teams Q&A we would be keen to facilitate that coming in to the end of the year : )

Please let me know what works and when. Once again on behalf of our team and in particular Zara and I … THANK YOU : ) : ) : )

Clinics

We participate in a number of legal advice clinics providing direct advice to persons who cannot afford a lawyer.

Organisation	Location	Type of work	What’s involved?
Melbourne Self-Representation Service	Melbourne	Litigation	Lawyers support the Justice Connect State Self Representation Service. This may involve providing advice on legal matters, guidance as to the processes and procedures of the Court, preparing a client for mediation or assisting with discrete drafting tasks such as drafting correspondence or court forms.
Adelaide Legal Outreach Service (ALOS)	Adelaide	Litigation	Lawyers support the ALOS which is run by the University of Adelaide by providing assistance both to clients managing their own cases and to the university students working on cases, helping to develop legal minds. This is an open service which is available to any member of the public but which has a particular focus on vulnerable clients. Clients are often from low socioeconomic backgrounds but do not qualify for other assistance (such as Legal Aid).
Adelaide Homeless Legal Clinic	Adelaide	Litigation	Lawyers support the JusticeNet SA Homeless Legal Clinic at the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT). The clinic assists vulnerable clients experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless by running in-person and remote appointments and advising clients on their tenancy and property rights and legal options, preparing documents and statements to be heard in SACAT hearings and providing referrals to other service providers.
Marrickville Legal Centre Youth Legal Service (MLC YLS)	Sydney	Various	Lawyers provide free legal advice to NSW residents aged 25 years of age and younger on criminal law, civil matters, employment disputes, traffic offences and general legal inquiries. This work is carried out by a team of JWS lawyers who provide direct, over-the-phone advice to YLS clients who are ineligible for Legal Aid and also unable to afford private legal advice or representation.
UNSW Tax Clinic	Sydney	Tax	Our lawyers have been supporting the clinic on a project designed to alleviate holistic system issues affecting domestic violence victim survivors who have acquired taxation debts and liabilities due to financial abuse, identity theft and fraudulent activity. This work includes advocating to achieve a change in ATO procedures to deal with taxation debts arising in these circumstances with a view to ensuring fair and efficient outcomes for the domestic violence victim survivors.
LawRight QCAT Clinic	Brisbane	Litigation	JWS attends LawRight’s Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) clinic to assist with matters which typically involving persons seeking review of a decision related to a Blue Card, anti-discrimination or rights to information and information privacy.

 

Antonia Kloss, Homeless Legal Managing Solicitor, JusticeNet SA

JWS’s lawyers, in conjunction with JusticeNet SA’s administrative support and legal supervision via the Homeless Legal clinic model, are making a critical difference in the lives of South Australians facing financial hardship, complex physical and mental challenges and housing uncertainty.

Recently, a Homeless Legal client who was able to remain in her home after receiving support from JWS’s lawyers, described the lawyers who assisted her as “Extremely helpful & concerned for my future – they did everything they could do for me”. She continued “I am so very grateful for the help & assistance I received. Very professional in obtaining information … Thank you so very much”.