By Mark Speakman -
Most readers will need no introduction to the Redfern Legal Centre. For more than 40 years, this pioneer of the community legal sector has changed the lives of thousands upon thousands of clients through free legal assistance. Along the way, the Redfern Legal Centre has helped nurture many a law student from legal minnow to well-rounded practitioner with a highly developed social conscience, and the occasional High Court Justice. The centre was the first of its type in NSW and the second in Australia. I was honoured in early August to visit the busy centre to meet the lawyers, students and staff who every day find solutions to legal problems that have the potential to derail the lives of already vulnerable and disadvantaged people. This work is mirrored in more than 30 community legal centres (CLCs) across metropolitan and regional NSW, which together help more than 50,000 people a year.
