#42 November

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South Coast FLPN News

November 2014

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CHRISTMAS CLOSURE DATES

CatholiCare

Contact Changeover Nowra

Family Relationship Centre

Marriott Oliver Solicitors

Shoalcoast CLC

Waminda

Wollongong FCC & Registry

Closed from Dec 24 - Reopen Jan 5th

Closed from Dec 24 - Reopen Jan 5th

Closed from lunchtime Dec 24 - Reopen Jan 5th.

Closed from 24nd Dec - Reopen Jan 5th. (On Dec 24^th and 29^th – 31^st there will be a skeleton staff working for urgent client matters)

Closed from 24th Dec - Reopen Jan 12th *See Note

Closed from Dec 24 - Reopen Jan 5th

Closed from Dec 25th - Reopen Jan 7th ( During this time, phone calls will ne redirected to the National Enquiry Centre )

* Note - Shoalcoast is closing for the year on Tuesday 23 December. So this will be our last phone advice session for 2014 between 10am and 12noon.
We open to clients at 9am on Monday 12 January 2015. Our first phone advice session is on Tuesday 13 January 2015, 10am to 12noon.
We will not have any outreach legal advice clinics in January.
Our 2015 Outreach Schedule will come out early December which we will email around and details will be posted up on our website (www.shoalcoast.org.au).

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Revised practice standards for Independent Children's Lawyers

There are important changes to responsibilities to clients and to Legal Aid NSW.

The Independent Children’s Lawyer Practice Standards have been revised. The new practice standards took effect from 20 October 2014.
Panel lawyers are required to comply with panel practice standards.
The new standards contain important updates on panel lawyers' responsibilities to legally aided clients and Legal Aid NSW and file management requirements.

Clauses have been added to provide information to panel lawyers about what is expected in relation to:

Family Dispute Resolution
Recovery of costs and expert fees from non-legally aided parties
When the assigned ICL is unable to appear
When an order discharging the ICL is made
Acceptance of a minimum of three offers of ICL grants per annum and
Documentation to be kept on file to demonstrate work undertaken as ICL.

There is also a requirement to undertake at least three Continuing Professional Development points a year relevant to the practice of representing children.*

A copy of the revised practice standards is available at the Practice standards in legally aided matters web page.

*Note: To assist ICLs to satisfy this CPD requirement Legal Aid NSW will be offering a day of social science training ( see below ) for ICLs on 3 December 2014 facilitated by one of the most experienced Court Experts, Associate Professor Carolyn Quadrio.

Source : Legal Aid ebulletin Nov 2014

Social science training sessions for Independent Children's Lawyers

Learning from the experts - interactive training on mental health diagnoses.

Independent Children’s Lawyers are now required to complete at least three Continuing Professional Development points each year specifically relevant to the practice of representing children.

To assist ICLs to satisfy this requirement Legal Aid NSW will be offering a day of social science training for ICLs on 3 December 2014 facilitated by one of the most experienced Court Experts, Associate Professor Carolyn Quadrio.

This training has been provided on several occasions throughout the year and feedback about the training has been excellent. The seminar will provide in depth discussion and interactive training on:

mental health diagnoses of parents and their possible impact on parenting capacity in the family law context
mental health diagnoses of children and how they might influence parenting arrangements in the family law context.

For further details and to register for these courses please login to the Legal Aid NSW Learning Management System.

Source : Legal Aid ebulletin Nov 2014

Aboriginal family law conference

This Statewide conference will take place in Sydney on Thursday and Friday, 27-28 November 2014.

This conference is for members of the Aboriginal community as well as Aboriginal workers and service providers and those who work with the community. It is being held by the Aboriginal Family Law Pathways and the Greater Sydney Family Law Pathways Network in partnership with Jumbunna House of Learning, UTS, Sydney.

It is an opportunity:

to Increase your knowledge of the family law system in the Family Law Courts, Children’s Court and the Criminal Courts
Learn about available services to help achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal children and their families.

Location: UTS, The Guthrie Theatre, Harris Street, Broadway

There are no registration fees but online bookings are required by Thursday 13 November to help with organising catering.

PDF flyer here.

Source : Legal Aid ebulletin Nov 2014

Note: Katie Lahodny and Mary Jean Kelly from Shoalcoast will be presenting on the Indigenous Family Law project on day 1.

Expressions of Interest - 2015 program, Family Law Specialist Accreditation

The Specialist Accreditation Board is pleased to announce that the following areas of law will be offered as part of the 2015 Specialist Accreditation program:

Business Law
Commercial Litigation
Criminal Law
Family Law
Property Law
Wills & Estates Law

Submit your expression of interest to receive alerts for 2015 program information and document downloads.

What is accreditation?

The Law Society of NSW operates the Specialist Accreditation Scheme to help the general public identify solicitors who have demonstrated proficiency in a particular area of law.

Solicitors who fulfil the requirements of the Scheme are entitled to use, after their name, the words ‘Accredited Specialist’ in the nominated area of practice.

Only individual solicitors can be Accredited Specialists, not firms.

Why become an Accredited Specialist?

Gaining accreditation is a significant achievement which offers practitioners a recognised means of differentiation and demonstrated expertise.

In an increasingly complex and competitive market, the expertise and professionalism which forms the cornerstone of Specialist Accreditation remains an easily identifiable choice for consumers of legal services.

Accreditation provides practitioners with the opportunity to:

Promote and highlight expert legal knowledge, skills and services for the public and the profession
Build new and strengthen existing relationships with peers
Support and continued learning and development with access to CPD for Accredited Specialists
Maintain standards and contribute to the future of the profession by joining a Specialist Accreditation advisory committee.

Source : Law Society of NSW

INFO SHARING

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to take a moment to inform you that the Adolescent and Family Counsellor (AFC) is still available at the premises of Shoalhaven Youth Accommodation at 27 Junction St Nowra.
Shoalhaven Youth Accommodation is operating a new initiative named the Shoalhaven Homeless Hub, which opened 4^th November 2014.
The Adolescent and Family Counsellor will continue to service youth (12 – 21 years old) and families in a counselling role.
The office is open Tuesday to Friday.
Here is the new Shoalhaven Homeless Hub brochure outlining the services the Hub provides.
Many thanks for your time and your support in the past. We hope that we can continue to build and strengthen relationships with agencies in our community.
Take care and kind regards,
Veronika Malesevic I Adolescent & Family Counsellor

Shoalhaven Youth Accommodation
27 Junction St, Nowra NSW 2541 PO Box 746
(P) 4422 7584 (F) 4421 2032 (E) veronikasya@bigpond.com

Shoalcoast’s South East Women’s Legal Service solicitor will be in Bega on Thursday 20 November from 9am to 1pm giving free legal advice by appointment.

Please see info here. Appointments are made by telephoning 4422 9529 or 1800 229 529.

Wrap up : CLSD Wallaga Lake event and Bega Legal Showcase ( Oct 29^th ) -

At Bega we had about 15 organisations represented and from our feedback sheets the day was a great success in terms of networking with other services, particularly having an opportunity to meet with service providers from out of the local area.
The morning event boosted our numbers for the partner meeting which was a great bonus as we had the opportunity to hear from local services and get lots of information on legal gaps and needs for the area.
In terms of participation by the general community the numbers were disappointing to say the least, however on the bright side the few people we spoke with now have information to help them resolve their problems. We have some ideas on how to improve numbers for next time- thank you for your feedback and suggestions. In the new year, we hope to discuss 2015 with our far south coast partners.
At the Wallaga Lake event we had 10 services attend and the day was well attended with about 14 people having their fines and other debt matters resolved or advised on. Thanks also to Anne and the team at Merrimans for providing the venue for the day and making us welcome.
Thank you all again for your participation and support.
Regards
Dianne

Centre Support Worker and CLSD Coordinator
Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre Inc.

Invitation to Family Law Practitioners

You are invited to enjoy a Christmas function with Judge Altobelli, the Wollongong Federal Circuit Court staff and fellow members of the Family Law Profession.

Please click here to view the invitation and details. We look forward to seeing you there.

Kind Regards,

Megan Carter

Family Court & Federal Circuit Court of Australia,
Family Law Registry Wollongong

NEW KAYAKS ( Kids and Youth are Kool post separation ) Moruya -
Client Information brochure

The Law Society is pleased to have launched an all new job board - advertising relevant legal job opportunities straight to you - and all in one place. If you are interested in advertising a position in house or with your firm or practice directly to the profession, please view www.lawsociety.com.au/jobboard

NEW RESOURCES

NEW phone apps -

A review of Shared Family Calendar Options
by Nowra FRC

Nowra FRC have prepared a Fact sheet for you about some cool new phone apps that assist separated parents to communicate about parenting arrangements and messaging. They're an excellent third party communication tool for parents in conflict. The three apps include 'Mymob', 'Cozi' and 'Google calendar'.

Mymob is a free application that has been developed by Step Families Australia. It works on both iOS and Android devices. It has been designed for both intact and shared parenting families. Nifty calendar function so kids can see where and who they are staying with. Also has a message function.

Cozi is free for basic app – accessible on Iphone and android phones as well as computers and tablets. Can add multiple family members – all have same password that is shared but accessed through individual emails.
Features: shared calendar – can colour code to easily identify who is involved and there are good options for printing out the calendar. Journal where photos and info can be uploaded – feature where this can be emailled to extended family monthly. To do lists. Weekly email sent automatically with weeks events listed. See fact sheet for links.

Google Calenda r is probably one of the most widely used family calendars because most people are quite familiar with Google, it is free with your Google account and already handily displays on the menu bar if you are using Gmail. It also syncs nicely with other calendars that each parent might be using at the office such as Microsoft Outlook. While it is not the most feature-laden calendar in terms of being designed with a family in mind it has all of the main functionality that you need to make it work well for your family.
There are options of using Google Docs to share information and documents – including school notes, photos etc too. See fact sheet for links.

WAITING LISTS

Nowra Family Relationship Centre

Phone: 4424 7150

CatholiCare Contact / Changeover

Phone: 4227 1122 Wollongong, Nowra
4628 0044 Campbelltown

( Click here for referral info pack )

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