Brown Bag Lunch Series

Speaker: James Farrell, Director of the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services in Australia

Domestic human rights legislation can and has played an integral role in addressing homelessness issues. In Australia, the recent passage of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities in Victoria has helped advocates, service providers and public authorities to better assist homeless individuals and those at risk of homeslessness. Core and functional public authorities increasingly turn to Charter-based frameworks for guidance in making difficult decisions in the face of limited resources and competing priorities.  James Farrell, Director of the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services in Australia, will discuss how the formal legal protection of human rights in Victoria has brought about a gradual but noticeable improvement in legal service provision for the homeless and in the way decisions are made by public authorities.

James Farrell is the Director of the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services, the peak organisations for community legal centres in Queensland, Australia. James also chairs the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum, and has worked in voluntary and paid roles at community legal centres in Australia for over ten years. He is a lecturer with the Deakin University School of Law, and treasurer of the National Association of Community Legal Centres. He is also a fellow of the Centre for Rural Regional Law and Justice, a member of the UQ Pro Bono Centre advisory board, the visiting committee of the Griffith University Law School and the Law and Society Association of Australia and NZ committee. James’ research has been published in the International Journal of the Legal Profession, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, the Monash University Law Review, the Family Law Review, Parity, and the Alternative Law Journal, where he is a member of the editorial board. James has degrees in law, commerce, legal practice, education and human rights, and has received alumni achievement awards from both Deakin University and the University of New England. He received a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours, for his community work, particularly in social welfare and legal access programs.

Kosher pizza will be served.

Photo credit: bixentro/Creative Commons

Brown Bag Lunch Series