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Uniting Communities Law Centre – Murtaza and Cheryll

Uniting Communities Community Law Centre

Murtaza Dostdar, Solicitor and Cheryll Rosales, Solicitor

Tile introducing Murtaza and Cheryll with photographs and "a day in the life with Murtaza and Cheryll"
Images of Murtaza and Cheryll smiling at the camera, with text "We’re Murtaza and Cheryll. We’re solicitors at Uniting Communities Community Legal Centre and here’s a day in our lives."
We arrived at the office bright and early, thankful for the preparation we’d done that meant we didn’t need to get in even earlier. Part of the challenge in regional work is the travel. If we have a 10am court appearance, we need to leave the office by 8 so planning ahead becomes particularly important. We got on the road out to Mount Barker, where Murtaza would be serving as duty solicitor, and Cheryll would be handling the walk-in service at the community centre.
Image of Mount Barker sign, with text "Mount Barker, on Peramangk Country, is one of Australia’s fastest-growing regional centres."
The rapid growth is increasing pressure on housing, health, and community services. Demand for legal help continues to grow. People living outside metropolitan Adelaide deserve the same access to justice and legal support as people living in the city. This area was also significantly impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. Many people are still experiencing long-term legal and recovery issues from the fires, in areas like insurance, rebuilding, and financial resilience.
Image of Murtaza out in front of a courtroom with text "Serving as a duty solicitor once or twice a week is a highlight of my work."
MURTAZA We work alongside the other duty solicitors and help people with a wide variety of legal matters. It’s rewarding to be able to help clients who need immediate legal assistance, and work as part of a supporting team.
Image of Murtaza with the Mount Barker Courthouse sign, with text "Every court has its own dynamic."
MURTAZA Working across different regional courts allows me to work on ongoing files, while also appearing before different magistrates and meeting a broad range of people. I have the opportunity to work with different court staff, different clients, and different legal practitioners.
Image of Murtaza sitting at a desk working on his laptop, with text "I think access to legal assistance has improved over time, but there are still significant challenges, including for multicultural communities living in regional areas."
MURTAZA It can be difficult for people to access legal information and support in their own language. Many migrant workers live in regional areas and may need to go to the local court if an incident occurs nearby. It can be challenging to access appropriate legal support. Many migrant workers also live or work in regional areas and may need to attend the local court if an incident occurs nearby. Accessing appropriate legal support can therefore present additional challenges.
Image of Cheryll at the reception of Mt Barker Community Centre, with text, "I spent the day at the Mount Barker Community Centre providing a walk-in service. "
CHERYLL What really stands out to me is that people are looking for help wherever they can find it. Even when they aren’t looking for legal assistance, people still come to our outreach service because they know we are here to help, and they hope we can connect them with the right supports. Someone came in today looking for financial advice and financial counselling. During the conversation, I discovered they also did not have access to enough food. I was able to connect them with a service where they received a food hamper with enough food to last the week.
Image of the front of the community centre, with text "Another matter I took on today was around the NDIS."
A person wanted support with the Administrative Review Tribunal, seeking to have family members recognised as paid supports. One of the reasons I took on the matter was because the client lives in a very remote area, where access to legal assistance was very limited.
Image of Cheryll standing out front of the community centre, with text "One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is knowing that every single client can make the outreach worthwhile."
CHERYLL We may spend between $1500 and $2000 travelling to a remote location and only see one person, but for that individual, receiving legal help can make all the difference. The hardest part about this work is not having enough services and resources available for people. There are very few places you can realistically refer people to that are both appropriate and accessible.