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The ASRC Human Rights Law Program (HRLP) is a Community Legal Centre auspiced by the ASRC and a member of the Federation of Community Legal Centres. The program exists to provide access to justice for refugees and people seeking asylum.

The HRLP offers holistic legal support at all stages of the refugee determination process, including expert immigration advice and representation, inc. visa applications and tribunal and court work. We also actively engage in policy and law reform, community legal education and training, and outreach to detention centres.

Representation

For information on how to get legal help, click here.

Our expert lawyers may be able to offer full representation across all stages of the refugee status determination process, including at review stages.

Legal clinics

The HRLP offers weekly legal clinics, including the Dandenong Generalist Clinic, the Wednesday Night Clinic, the Temporary Visa Clinic, and the Gender Clinic, allowing us to offer tailored and targeted legal support to those in need.

In order to adapt to an ever-changing policy environment, the ASRC utilises its legal network to scale up service delivery to provide legal assistance. For example, in 2021-2022 we offered the Afghanistan Clinic and Triage service to respond to the crisis in Afghanistan, receiving exceptional support from our sector partners.

We also partner with universities to offer training for students, increasing our capacity to assist our community.

• Gender clinic: The HRLP offers specialised legal assistance and representation to vulnerable people who have gender based claims for asylum, including because of persecution relating to gender or sexuality. We also assist people who have faced family violence elsewhere or in Australia. The service offers weekly legal clinics as well as advocacy and education to external agencies, strategic litigation and policy reform work.
• Wednesday Night Clinic: To assist people who may not be able to attend appointments during the day, the HRLP offers a night clinic catering to a broad range of legal problems.
• Dandenong Generalist Clinic: To improve accessibility, HRLP offers a clinic from its premises at the Refugee Resource Hub, assisting with a broad range of legal problems.
• Temporary Visa Clinic: To respond to the re-introduction of temporary protection, HRLP developed a clinic targeted to assisting people subjected to the so-called ‘fast track’ regime.

Legal Advice

HRLP offers one-off legal advice through the Response & Support Team, to enable us to address discrete questions or issues as soon as possible. Our lawyers also regularly respond to one-off enquiries and provide in-depth advice and assistance. CPD and training Our lawyers’ expertise is highly regarded across the community, and we frequently offer training and information to build capacity to assist the community.

Information sessions

The HRLP conducts information sessions and workshops for refugees and people seeking asylum in the community. These provide valuable opportunities for people to be informed about the impact of changing policies, ways to gain access to community-based legal services and how to navigate a complex refugee determination process.

The Human Rights Law Program comprises the following immigration lawyers:

• Jayasuriya Chrishantha Weliamuna (Principal Solicitor) 
• Catherine Holbeche (Deputy Principal Solicitor)
• Nick Newlands (Deputy Principal Solicitor)
• Emma Svehla (Senior Solicitor)
• Jeanne Renuka Senanayake (Solicitor)
• Kevin Williams-Besy (Senior Solicitor)
• Kon Karapanagiotidis
• Michaela Rhode (Senior Solicitor)
• Neerja Thirunavukarasu (Associate Solicitor)
• Rachel Saravanamuthu (Senior Solicitor)
• Praveena Vijayakumar (Solicitor)
• Eloise Cox (Associate Solicitor)
• Edith Fahey (Solicitor)
• Betia Shakiba (Solicitor)
• Debby Xu (Legal Policy Lead)

Please see the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (Vic) and the Migration Agents Registered Authority (MARA) Code of Conduct, for more information.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”sidebar-cta mauve”][vc_column_text]For information on how to get Legal Help, click here.

Click here for information for TPV/SHEV Holders and Applicants – A Pathway to Permanence

For non-legal enquiries, visit ASRC Footscray or the Refugee Resource Hub.

Getting legal help from other providers:

Click here for the ASRC referral sheet for people in Victoria.

Click here for the ASRC referral sheet for people Interstate.

[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Get Legal Help” style=”custom” custom_background=”” custom_text=”” link=”url:%2Fget-help/legal-help%2F”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”sidebar-cta green”][vc_column_text]Interested in volunteering for the Human Rights Law Program? The ASRC recruits new volunteer positions quarterly.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Find out more” style=”custom” custom_background=”” custom_text=”” link=”url:%2Fbecome-a-volunteer%2F”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”sidebar-cta blue”][vc_column_text]Ensure more people are able to gain access to justice by supporting the work of the Human Rights Law Program[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Donate now” style=”custom” custom_background=”” custom_text=”” link=”url:%2Fdonate%2F”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]