Street Law is a free outreach legal service for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness in Western Australia.
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TRUE OR FALSE THURSDAY!![]()
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FALSE: A family violence restraining order is a court order that restrains a person from committing family violence by imposing restraints on their behaviour and activities. The family violence restraining order is not a criminal offence. ![]()
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If a family violence restraining order is breached, the person bound by the family violence restraining order may be charged with the criminal offence of breaching the order.
Welcome, Darcie!![]()
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Last month, we welcomed our new solicitor Darcie to Street Law. Since starting, Darcie has been responsible for managing the majority of enquiries to the Street Law Telephone Advice Line. ![]()
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On reflecting on her time thus far, Darcie said she loves the diversity of the work and being part of such a passionate team of people. ![]()
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Darcie joins us from a commercial law background , and said she became a solicitor because she enjoys learning new things and using that knowledge to empower others. This is certainly an aspiration we share at Street Law. ![]()
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We are delighted to have you on board, Darcie!
At Street Law we specialise in the legal areas our client group most commonly present with. The stats are in for our 2021/2022 financial year and our top 5 legal issues we assisted clients with are:![]()
1️⃣ Identity documents![]()
2️⃣ Criminal Matters![]()
3️⃣ Fines & Infringements![]()
4️⃣ Criminal Injuries Compensation![]()
5️⃣ Violence Restraining Orders![]()
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Many of our clients need assistance with these legal issues due to their circumstances of experiencing homelessness. For example, we assist many clients with managing large amounts of outstanding infringement debt for offences that are directly correlated to their homelessness and limited financial resources. Having outstanding infringement debt creates a barrier for our client group to exit homelessness, as it leads to licence suspension orders, and entrenched social exclusion. ![]()
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Unresolved legal issues are a significant barrier to exiting homelessness, whether that legal issue is infringement debt, having no identity documents to secure housing or employment, outstanding court matters, or a restraining order that prevents a person from employment or their home. We provide our clients with free legal advice and legal assistance, which assists our clients to break down one of the barriers they face to exit homelessness. Our service also ensures that our clients gain access to justice, which we strongly believe is a right everyone should have.
Today Street Law was presented with a grant from Lotterywest for $29,915 by the John Carey, Minister for Housing and Homelessness. ![]()
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It was fitting that we met at Tranby, where Street Law has invested substantial time in providing outreach, trauma informed legal services to hundreds of clients over a number of years.![]()
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The grant enables Street Law to facilitate vital improvements to its IT infrastructure, which will allow it to deliver legal services more efficiently and effectively.![]()
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Street Law Principal Solicitor Ann-Margaret Walsh was joined by Management Committee members Julian Blais and Conrad Liveris, staff Anna Hitomi and Nina Lafferty, and Rhys Powell from Uniting WA, to celebrate the announcement. ![]()
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Afterwards, we chatted with the Minister about the work we do at Street Law, the issues around housing and homelessness in Western Australia, and our important partnership with Uniting WA that enables us to provide weekly legal services at Tranby for people who are experiencing homelessness.![]()
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Many thanks to Minister Carey for his supportive words.
Yesterday we farewelled our most recent secondee, Georgina, from King & Wood Mallesons. Georgina has been with Street Law every Tuesday since August providing valuable support to our legal services team. ![]()
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On reflecting on her secondment, Georgina said her highlights during her time at Street Law was the opportunity to spend time researching matters, the fast pace and diversity of work, and the individual feedback she received at the end of each day.![]()
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Georgina said she was very grateful for her time at Street Law and was sad to leave! Although Street Law is also sad to see her go, we are very thankful for her time with us, and wish her all the best in her future career.
