Australia.
Providing a secondee to a civil society organisation working to combat climate change
Ashurst provided secondment support to Community Legal Centres NSW in light of the recent bushfires and pandemic. The secondment was aimed at providing background support direct to Community Legal Centres NSW.
The secondment was deployed in immediate response to the 2020 bushfires and was adapted into support during the pandemic.
Under the Law Reform Project, Ashurst assisted in the drafting and preparation of a broad sector response to the Bushfire Inquiry for eight community legal centres and prepared a literature review considering insurance as a base right in light of the climate crisis, taking into account the policy approaches in international jurisdictions for a rights organisation.
“When our centres are under pressure, our own workload as the peak body increases too. Getting pro bono support at this time has enabled us to do our bit to respond to this exploding demand for free legal assistance. What is needed when centres are responding to crises is pro bono support that is flexible and that can be deployed quickly and without it being a burden on the centre. We’ve been very lucky to receive this.”– Tim Leach, Executive Director of Community Legal Centres NSW