Volunteering with us

Volunteers are essential to the running of Macquarie Legal Centre and some of its associated services. At any one time, Macquarie Legal Centre has between 20 and 30 volunteers on the roster.

Our categories of volunteers are as follows:

• Macquarie Legal Centre Volunteers
• Macquarie Legal Centre Volunteer Solicitors
• Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme Volunteers
• Children's Court Assistance Scheme Volunteers

MACQUARIE LEGAL CENTRE VOLUNTEERS

These volunteers assist us in our main legal information referral and advice service. Most of the volunteers are law students, however some come from different backgrounds, such as social work and psychology, and others have taken time out from full-time work or other commitments in order to volunteer.

What Volunteers Do
Volunteers undertake a variety of tasks, including the following:

• Taking incoming client inquiries via phone, and face-to-face. We receive over 5000 client inquiries per year, and attending to these take up the majority of volunteer's time.
• Administrative support - Volunteers input mail, file documents, and update resources, including referral manuals and service brochures. They also photocopy documents, and file/update loose-leaf services.
• Legal Research/Legal Support - volunteers can undertake legal research for solicitors on matters arising out of casework, and one-off advice sessions. Volunteers undertake research for information resources, and non-legal research, for example, regarding the provision of legal services to various sectors of the community for submission in reports.

What You Get Out of Volunteering
As a volunteer, you will gain many skills and experiences.

Volunteers can expect:

• to gain an understanding of the provision of legal services, especially with regards to family law, employment law, and other general civil law.
• to learn how to interact with people in difficult situations, and interact on a regular basis with members of the legal profession, and their clients
• to improve their legal research skills, and gain an understanding of the functioning of a legal office.
• to gain an in-depth knowledge of referral services for legal and non-legal issues, and be able to assist clients with that knowledge
• to learn how to interpret legal documents, and understand how they are used.
• to make contact with other like minded volunteers and students, and members of the legal profession.

Rosters
We have volunteer shifts between 9-1 am and 2-5 pm, Monday-Friday, and from 5.30 to 8.30 on Thursday nights.

We generally have two volunteers each session, and 3 on Thursday evening. On each shift you will have a supervisor.

We prefer that you volunteer once per week, however volunteering fortnightly is also OK.

Becoming a Volunteer/Training
If you wish to volunteer at Macquarie Legal Centre, you should have a commitment to the ideals and goals of the centre. You must also attend a training session and, and be available for a minimum of 6 months on a regular basis.

To register your interest in volunteering at Macquarie Legal Centre, download our Volunteer Application Form [ word ; pdf ] and send it in to our postal address. We will be in contact with you on our receipt of your application.

MACQUARIE LEGAL CENTRE SOLICITOR VOLUNTEERS

We also have volunteer solicitors, who come to the centre and give legal advice during phone advice and evening appointments. We generally have about 10 solicitors on the roster at any one time. The solicitors are also from a range of backgrounds, some from medium/large sized firms, some from Legal Aid, and some from suburban and sole practitioner backgrounds. On Thursday evenings, some of our more experienced student volunteers assist with interviewing clients, taking instructions and briefing solicitors.