12:30pm Federation Ballroom presentation from Donnella Mills on the work of Wuchopperen Legal Clinic.

1. Working for Health, Justice and
Partnership
Wuchopperen Legal Clinic
NACCHO National Conference

2. National Aboriginal Community Control Health Organisation
Conference (NACCHO)
Canberra
Wednesday 1 November 2017
Donnella Mills, Project Lawyer, LawRight
Working for Health, Justice and
Partnership

3. HJP = Wuchopperen Legal Clinic
 What are health justice partnerships (HJP)?
At their heart, HJP provide access to legal services in health
settings.
 They are a response to two key pieces of evidence.
i. Social determinants of health
ii. Access to justice

4. Aims of the service
 To provide effective early legal intervention to
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who
would not otherwise access Legal Advice
 To build capacity amongst health professionals to
identify issues
 To improve health outcomes for clients of the legal
service

5. Australian legal needs survey 2012
More legal
problems
Face worse
consequences
Less capacity
Less likely to
recognise a
legal problem
Less likely to
see a lawyer
More non-legal
problems
The more
disadvantaged
a person is…
Coumarelos C, et al, ‘Legal Australia-Wide Survey: legal need in Australia’ (2012) Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Sydney

6. Life balance and legal needs
Family
HousingHealth
Work/Income

7. Impact of unresolved legal problems

8. Who wants to see a lawyer?!

9. Health Justice Partnership model
Traditional legal services Our model
Wait for clients to come to them Offer ‘bridges’
Co-locate with other services
Address presenting issue only Diagnose and address clustered
needs
Position lawyer as the ‘expert’ Collaborate with client and support
workers
Legal problem is siloed from other
needs
Health and social needs taken into
account

10. Legal Health Check

11. Legal Health Check
Targeted Legal Need
Assessment Tool
Covers debt, SPER, housing,
crime, guardianship &
child/family
People experiencing
disadvantage don’t know
they have legal needs and
that a lawyer can help
Tailored for different client
groups (homeless, mental
health, refugees, youth)

12. Examples of legal issues we work in
Housing &
tenancy
Social Security Debt SPER fines
Access to
super
Wills, Public
trustee &
guardianship
Stolen wages
Criminal law
referral
Family law
referral
Child
Protection
Discrimination Victims Assist

13. Collaboration
Has multiple legal
needs, but doesn’t
know what/how/who
to ask about them
Will benefit from
“diagnosis” of those
needs
Choice = knowing
what’s on the “menu”
Don’t always
identify all legal
need (just family
law and criminal)
Need training,
resources and
support to
identify, prioritise
and refer legal
need
Benefit from a structured interviewing tool
Need community workers to ask questions at
the best time, and refer/support client

14. Working for Health, Justice and Partnership
1. Commitment to reducing disadvantage through legal
and community led solutions
2. Integration
3. Early intervention
4. Systemic change
5. Person-centred services
14
What is it that makes a health justice partnership
work and the courage to be innovative?

15. 1. Commitment
 To reducing disadvantage through health, legal and community
led solutions
 To improving the health and wellbeing of clients
 Target group don’t realise they have legal needs that can
undermine their health
 No other legal service available for multiple legal needs
 Need personalised, flexible, assertive, persistent and holistic
service delivery

16. 2. Integration
 HJP at there core are a partnership between health and legal
professionals aimed at addressing inequities for people who
experience disadvantage.
 Key elements:
 Joint planning
 Priority setting
 Facilitating communication and feedback
 On-site legal services
 Healthcare training
 Evaluation
 Systems improvement

17. 3. Early intervention
 Opportunity to identify issues early
 Engage
 Respond
 Equip
Intervening in an issue early to minimise its
impact and to maximise the utility of service
provision.

18. 4. Systemic change
Systemic change occurs in two ways:
1. Cultural change
2. Change through policy and law reform

19. 5. Person-Centred Services
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who experience disadvantageTargeted
• Legal Health Check covers all relevant legal needs, not just the presenting
need (where there is one)Comprehensive
• Partner with community controlled health organisation and supporters in
referral process AND delivery of legal service as well as non-legal needCollaborative
• Assume client will have a new legal need every 6 months at least, so keep
showing the “menu”Assertive
• Recognisable faces and serviceConsistent
• Health professionals and lawyers must think outside of the boxFlexible

20. Enabling conditions
 Essential conditions to starting, maintaining and
growing an HJP:
- Leadership/champion
- Relationships
- Multi-disciplinary
- Flexibility/non traditional approach
- Organisational commitment

21. Working for health, justice and
partnership
Tenancy
Child Protection
CriminalDomestic ViolenceDebt
Employment Law
Family Law
Victim Assist
Other Civil
Stolen Wages
Areas of legal assistance – Wuchopperen Legal Clinic 2015/2016

22. Working for Health, Justice and
Partnership
“It is justice,
not charity,
that is
wanting in
the world.”Mary Wollstonecraft, A
Vindication of the Rights of
Woman (1792)

23. Contact
Donnella Mills – Project Lawyer
donnella.mills@lawright.org.au
Sue Garlick - Director
sue.garlick@lawright.org.au