Quick Exit
Quick Exit

Kimberley Community Legal Services – Charlie

Kimberley Community Legal Services

Charlie Beer, Legal Intern — on outreach with Hannah Lethlean, Senior Solicitor, Lina Bleazby, Acting Team Leader – Social Support Service, and Breda Knightly, Case Worker – Social Support Service.

Tile introducing Charlie with a photograph and text "a day in the life with Charlie"
Image of a car and three people on a desert red dirt road, and text "I'm Charlie, I'm a legal intern at Kimberley Community Legal Services, and here's a little taster of three days in my life."
Bright and early, we completed the fuel check, car check and got the satellite phone, and left Kununurra at 6am. We stopped at Warmun, 200km in, at 8:30am. Our drive there had been repeatedly interrupted by road works. At 9am we visited a client in Warmun Community to have her sign some paperwork. Then, we got back on the road.
Image of red dirt road with text "We stopped at Halls Creek to fuel up and were approached by a client who was stuck there."
The client was stuck at Halls Creek because of the lack of public transport. She needed to go to her mother’s funeral in Balgo that day but was distressed to find that the Greyhound bus didn’t go to Balgo. We called Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation to confirm it was still ok for us to come to the community that week. We decided to give the client a lift to Balgo with us. Once we were on the road, the Social Work Team Lead called the Balgo Funeral Director to ask if they could delay the funeral so that our client could get there in time.
Image of a painted fence saying "BALGO", with text "We did the remaining 280km of the drive, on Tanami Road. It’s unsealed, subject to flooding, and generally has poor road conditions. We arrived in Balgo at 4:30pm.
Image of two people sitting at a table outside with text "We set up our outreach desk next to the Wirrimanu Community Store, with Kimberley Community Legal Service bags, notepads, pens, cups, information brochures, and magnetic calling cards with the numbers and addresses of the offices."
The table and biscuits invite community members to come over for a chat – asking us who we are, where we’re from, and what services we can offer. Then, clients who want to speak with a lawyer or social worker in private can go into the private meeting room in the Wirrimanu Community Centre.
Image of painted sign saying "NO GROG, NO GUNJA, NO FIGHTING" and text "Some of the common issues people came to us about were housing and tenancy, care and protection, elder abuse, family and domestic violence, licences, criminal Injuries compensation, and the National Redress Scheme."
Sometimes people would come up to us with paperwork, and we would sit down with them to help them understand what it meant. If someone presented with an issue outside our areas of practice, we would always try to help by connecting them with an appropriate service via phone or email.
Image of a dog on a red dirt road, with text "Mid-morning, we met with Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation about ongoing, chronic issues related to housing maintenance that were impacting vulnerable Elders in the community."
We took on warm referrals for some serious cases, including elders who were living without power and with chronic plumbing or flooding issues. The social work team spoke with three clients about their tenancy concerns – repairs that hadn’t been made by Housing, and housing applications that had been submitted but clients had been given no information about their progress on the waitlist.
Image of a sunset through clouds over the desert, with text "Community members will often submit a housing application but hear nothing back."
We spoke to one client who had originally made a housing application in 2016. I listened to the client’s story and completed the client intake assessment form so that the case worker back in the office could follow up. Often, community members will submit a housing application but hear nothing back about the status, so they are left not knowing if and when a house will be allocated to them.
Image of a sign in front of a building on a red dirt road, with text "Throughout the day, we gave lifts to clients with disability and elders who needed to get back home after their appointments."
Image of a lizard on a rock, with text "In the early afternoon, we met with a family the centre has been representing in an ongoing matter relating to the exhumation and repatriation of their deceased family member who was buried off Country, in Perth."
That afternoon, the team also met with the Department of Communities about a client. The Department was not effectively communicating with our client – a mother – or facilitating meaningful contact between her and her child who was in care.
Image of a truck with logs on it driving on a dirt road with lots of dust, and text "We left Balgo at 7am to drive 110km along the unsealed Tanami to Bililuna."
We set up the outreach desk for drop-ins and then provided some general education to clients. I helped a client make a report to the Department of Housing for urgent repairs that had been reported but not rectified. The Social Work team also provided the client with tenancy education about the most effective reporting mechanism. The lawyer and social team went to a client’s house to go through and review ‘repairs’ that had been done. The safety of tenants and occupants was at risk due to major leaking and water damage, so KCLS opened a legal file to potentially pursue action against the Department of Housing.
Image of a small river with trees beside, and text "Bililuna community members are very concerned about ongoing maintenance issues, where their reports are ignored by the Department of Housing."
Image of three birds, with text "We made a call to Mulan Community because ordinarily on this outreach trip we would visit there next."
However, we were told they were having a cultural celebration out bush, and it wasn’t appropriate for us to attend. Even though we didn’t go into Mulan, Social Lead helped a client over the phone with family and domestic violence supports. We worked with the client on some safety planning and discussed the conditions on her Family Violence Restraining Order, as her ex-partner had been released from jail, and she was worried he would turn up.
Image of a road with roadworks and a diversion, and text "We continued our drive, to Halls Creek. This was another 160km on the unsealed Tanami Road, plus 35km on sealed road. We were delayed by road works but arrived around 3pm."
Image of a worm in some grass and red dirt, with text " We left Halls Creek at 7am to head back to Kununurra."
We stopped at Warmun on the way, and then at a service station to wash the car before arriving back at the office. In the early afternoon we did a debrief on the outreach trip and returned to standard work for the rest of the day.
Quote: Working in a remote community legal centre often extends beyond providing legal advice or structure social work services. Sometimes, the most meaningful support is simply helping a client when they need it most, ensuring they can remain connected to their family, community and culture during significant moments. Our job is incredibly varied. Some weeks are filled with court appearances and formal client appointments. Other weeks we are on the road, trying to find clients at numerous addresses or taking instructions next to a boab tree. No two weeks are the same. Hannah Lethlean – Senior Solicitor
Quote: Regular outreach to remote communities is essential for access to justice. Many clients would never seek legal help if we did not visit their community. There is huge value in long-term relationships, culturally safe outreach, and bringing legal services directly to remote communities. Hannah Lethlean – Senior Solicitor