About Us
The RLC is housed on the ground |
History
Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) was established in 1977 - the first community legal centre in NSW, and the second in Australia - by lawyers, law students and academics, social workers and community activists outraged at the injustice created by the lack of affordable legal services for disadvantaged and marginalised people. The Centre opened with one paid staff member, barely any money, and lots of volunteers with expertise, enthusiasm, passion, commitment and a vision.
Mission and Objectives
Redfern Legal Centre promotes social justice by:
- Providing an accessible and appropriate legal advice, information and referral service.
- Providing ongoing casework assistance to people who live in the RLC catchment area and who cannot access the services of a private solicitor or obtain adequate assistance from the Legal Aid Commission or elsewhere.
- Identifying inequalities in the laws, legal system, administration practices and society as a whole that affect RLC’s clients and disadvantaged people generally, and to work for social and legal change to remove these defects and inequalities.
- Promoting and providing community legal education.
- Examining and developing new models of service delivery to ensure RLC provides an accessible, appropriate and responsive service to its clients.
AcknowledgementsThe RLC acknowledges that we work on Aboriginal land, traditionally the home of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. |
Redfern Legal Centre gratefully acknowledges the assistance of:
- Legal Aid Commission
- NSW Department of Community Services
- Office of Fair Trading, NSW Department of Commerce
- Department of Family and Community Services
- NSW Attorney-General's Department - Crime Prevention Division
- City of Sydney Council
- Microsoft
- and all our volunteers and pro bono solicitors