ABSTRACT

Legal Aid NSW civil lawyers provide community outreach clinics and civil legal assistance to address the civil legal needs of participants in High Intensity Program Units (HIPUs) in prisons in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Legal Aid NSW staff to explore their work in HIPUs. Interviews focused on the types of civil legal issues faced by HIPU participants, the value of providing such services in the HIPUs and the challenges and barriers associated with this work. The findings indicated that HIPU participants have a range of civil legal needs including issues relating to housing and tenancy, outstanding debts, welfare payments, victims’ compensation, driver disqualification, tort claims and family law matters. Successful resolution of these matters can be critical for ensuring the best chance of post-release desistance from crime. However, provision of civil legal services in prisons can be adversely impacted by practical and operational issues attributable to the time- and resource-intensive nature of this work. Some of these barriers include considerable travel times to prison, delays upon arrival at the prison and unexpected lockdown procedures.

摘要

Legal Aid NSW 民事律师提供社区外展诊所和民事法律援助，以满足澳大利亚新南威尔士州 (NSW) 监狱高强度计划单位 (HIPU) 参与者的民事法律需求。对新南威尔士州法律援助中心的工作人员进行了半结构化访谈，以探索他们在 HIPU 的工作。访谈的重点是 HIPU 参与者面临的民事法律问题类型、在 HIPU 中提供此类服务的价值以及与这项工作相关的挑战和障碍。调查结果表明，HIPU 参与者有一系列民事法律需求，包括与住房和租赁、未偿债务、福利金、受害者赔偿、司机取消资格、侵权索赔和家庭法事务有关的问题。成功解决这些问题对于确保释放后停止犯罪的最佳机会至关重要。然而，由于这项工作的时间和资源密集型性质，在监狱中提供民事法律服务可能会受到实际和操作问题的不利影响。其中一些障碍包括到监狱的旅行时间长、到达监狱时的延误以及意外的锁定程序。