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Stefanie Garber
A community legal centre facing closure will continue to run thanks to the support of a local university.
The Refugee Advice and Casework Service suffered severe funding shortages after Federal Government funding cuts in April last year.
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To assist the centre, the University of New South Wales has offered it rent-free premises for the next five years in Sydney’s Randwick.
“This support from UNSW has come at a critical time,” says RACS executive director, Tanya Jackson-Vaughan.
“We had to leave our previous premises and, around the same time, 85 per cent of our funding was cut, forcing us to rely more heavily on donations, grants and support like this to continue what we believe is invaluable work.”
Instrumental in sealing the new arrangement was Arthur Glass, the chair of RACS, who is also a senior visiting fellow at UNSW Law.
David Dixon, the UNSW Dean of Law, said the initiative would also benefit students, who would have the opportunity to volunteer and intern at RACS.
The service is made up of 29 staff and 15 student volunteers.
In 2014-15, the service assisted 2,827 clients from more than 90 countries.
Pictured: RACS volunteers, including UNSW law students Ruby Lew and Nadine Darling.
