Integrated Practices and Partnerships

Partnerships and co-location

This section discusses the advantages of partnering and co-locating with other organisations to provide a more holistic, trauma-informed response to clients’ needs. The section also introduces the concept of health justice partnerships and provides examples of successful partnerships and co-location initiatives.

This section also explores the concept of integrated practice, an approach that unifies different services to comprehensively meet an individual’s or community’s diverse needs. It highlights the importance of a client-centred focus that recognises and addresses the broad spectrum of challenges a client may be dealing with, beyond just the legal issue. The section also provides examples of successful integrated practice models and resources for implementing such practices.

Partnering and co-locating with other organisations can significantly enhance the effectiveness and reach of a legal service. By being located in close physical or digital proximity, or working in partnership with organisations that address other aspects of social, health and economic issues, legal services can provide a more holistic, trauma-informed response to their clients’ needs. This approach also increases access to legal services, as clients with histories of trauma may feel more at ease seeking help in familiar settings or may discover legal help that they would not have otherwise sought out. Moreover, a culture of collaboration can be cultivated, where organisations learn from each other, share knowledge, and work together to better serve their clients. Generalist legal assistance services can leverage expertise from specialist services or pro bono firms, and individual lawyers can benefit from secondments and fellowships.

However, it is crucial that successful co-location and partnership arrangements maintain clear communication, shared objectives and mutual respect, with strict measures in place to ensure client confidentiality and privacy in the shared space. Partnerships are most successful when made at multiple levels through an organisation, not just at the service delivery level.

Resource: Building Blocks for Health Justice Partnership Development

Building Blocks for Health Justice Partnership Development is a resource developed by Health Justice Australia to help organisations seeking to set up a health justice partnership based on strong foundations.

Legal assistance organisations and potential partners might find it beneficial to explore each of the fundamental components outlined in this resource. This resource can serve as a valuable guide in crafting and implementing a Health Justice Partnership (HJP) that addresses unique local conditions and needs.

Health justice partnerships embed legal assistance services, usually lawyers, in healthcare services and teams. They provide the kinds of integrated legal, health and welfare services that people who have experienced trauma or mental distress often need. Legal help can be seen as a kind of mental healthcare when provided in this way, as it targets underlying causes of mental distress. There are over 100 health justice partnerships across Australia.

There are many examples of health justice partnerships across Australia and internationally, with many resources available to support legal, health and other organisations set up robust partnerships.

Example of Partnership: The Katherine Health Justice Partnership

Katherine Health Justice Partnership recognises that legal and health problems are often interconnected. The partnership aims to integrate legal help within healthcare services and teams. The main objectives of this partnership are:

  • To train health workers to identify legal issues when talking to patients.
  • To identify legal issues and refer patients to appropriate legal services.
  • To directly provide legal assistance to people within the familiar healthcare setting, before legal problems escalate.

This approach is designed to improve the overall health and wellbeing of vulnerable individuals. In Katherine, the partnership involves the Wurli Wurlijang Health Service, Katherine Hospital, the Salvation Army, and a range of other social support services. They provide collaborative case management to support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, who suffer from chronic illness, and who frequently attend the Emergency Department of Katherine Hospital.

The partnership offers training for healthcare workers, free legal clinics in the community, casework, and social support.

Partnerships can also facilitate co-location and enable outreach legal services to ensure access to justice for people who might find accessing traditional legal services difficult. Co-counselling, where a legal service and legal firms acting pro bono work together to undertake public interest litigation, has also proven successful.

Example of co-location:
WestJustice School Lawyer Program

The WestJustice School Lawyer Program involves a lawyer being embedded in a school’s wellbeing team, providing accessible, free, confidential, and trusted advice to students. The School Lawyer is employed by a legal service. The lawyer is not at the school full-time due to the importance of having legal supervision and support at the legal organisation.

The core activities of the School Lawyer Program include:

  1. One-on-one legal advice and legal case management to students.
  2. General and targeted legal education to students in school to respond to emerging issues.
  3. Warm referrals of students to other sources of legal and non-legal support.

The key objectives of a School Lawyer Program are to overcome the barriers students face in accessing legal services and to build a better understanding of legal rights, responsibilities, and the legal system in students and teachers. The ultimate impact of a School Lawyer Program is improved health and wellbeing for students and engagement at school.

The areas of law covered and the way the program is delivered may vary depending on the needs of the students, the school, the legal organisation’s expertise, and the level of funding available.

Other resources include the VicHealth Partnerships Analysis Tool.

Example of partnership: Seniors Legal and Support Service

The Seniors Legal and Support Service (SLASS) is a partnership between Caxton Legal Centre and Metro South Hospital and Health Service that aims to address the issue of elder abuse. By integrating legal, social, and health services, it provides a comprehensive approach to identifying, preventing, and addressing elder abuse.

Health professionals, including doctors, social workers and nurses, are trained to identify signs of elder abuse, which can often be subtle or overlooked. This can include physical signs of abuse, as well as indicators of emotional, financial, or other forms of abuse. Social workers are trained to provide specialist elder abuse support.

A specialist elder abuse lawyer visits the hospital to provide legal advice and representation to older patients who are experiencing abuse. The lawyer can help them understand their rights, navigate the legal system, and take necessary legal action to protect themselves.

The community social worker plays a vital role in providing continued support to patients after they are discharged from the hospital. This can include follow-up care, assistance with accessing resources and services, and ongoing emotional support.

The SLASS  initiative represents a holistic and proactive approach to addressing elder abuse. By bringing together professionals from different fields and providing comprehensive support to older patients, it can help prevent and respond to elder abuse, protect the rights of older individuals, and improve their overall wellbeing.

Integrated Practice

Integrated practice, often called integrated service delivery, is an approach that unifies different services to comprehensively meet an individual’s or community’s diverse needs. In the context of a legal assistance organisation, this involves coordinating with various other services, such as mental health, social work, housing, and employment services. The goal is to address the interconnected issues clients face, ensuring they receive a holistic support network that addresses their legal, social, emotional and economic needs, ultimately providing a more seamless, supportive experience.

Embracing an integrated practice approach within your legal service can provide a multitude of advantages. The heart of this approach is a client-centred focus that recognises and addresses the broad spectrum of challenges a client may be dealing with, beyond just the legal issue. These challenges can encompass social, financial, health and mental health, all of which can be intricately interconnected with the legal situation.

A trauma-informed approach, when incorporated as an integral part of integrated practice, ensures that the legal service is sensitive to the trauma experiences of the client. This recognition can lead to more effective communication and trust-building, ultimately providing a safer environment for the client.

Simultaneously, the rights-based approach reaffirms the inherent human rights of every individual and guides the practice in delivering justice. This approach promotes respect, fairness, dignity and autonomy, aligning with the ethical obligations of the legal profession.

The integrated practice model creates a more efficient system by reducing the need for multiple appointments and referrals. It encourages a preventive approach to discern and mitigate potential legal issues before they escalate, resulting in both cost savings and improved outcomes for clients.

Additionally, this practice promotes greater collaboration with professionals from other disciplines, such as social workers, healthcare providers, Aboriginal field officers, community liaison officers and financial advisors. This fosters a holistic and comprehensive solution for complex client problems, taking into account all aspects of their situation, including any trauma they may have experienced and their inherent rights.

Within the organisation, integrated practice cultivates an environment of innovation and ongoing learning. It prompts team members to think creatively and beyond traditional boundaries, fostering a culture of problem-solving and adaptability.

Finally, funding bodies are recognising the value of such a wrap-around approach. Organisations that demonstrate their ability to work in a cooperative, trauma-informed, rights-focused and client-centred way are more likely to receive financial support. Hence, adopting an integrated practice not only improves the quality of client service but also nurtures a more collaborative, innovative, and sustainable legal service.

Example of integrated practice: Eastern Community Legal Centre’s ELSA and ROSE programs

The ELSA (Engaging and Living Safely and Autonomously) and ROSE (Rights of Seniors in the East) programs are integrated practice models that incorporate a trauma-informed rights-based approach to support older people experiencing elder abuse. The model includes a lawyer, an advocate and a financial counsellor, working together.

ELSA and ROSE offer a blend of legal and non-legal services that work in tandem to help individuals achieve their goals. Clients can have support to maintain relationships with their families if that is their primary goal, or choose to take legal action if they prefer. This integrated practice model ensures that by providing non-legal supports, legal outcomes can be reached, and vice versa. They empower older people to take legal action if they choose and provide them with the support, tools, and resilience to continue dealing with issues. The integrated practice model helps to boost the self-esteem of individuals, providing them with a sense of support, reducing feelings of isolation, and fostering hope. This sense of empowerment is often as highly valued by clients as the more tangible legal or other outcomes.

In terms of service planning, design, delivery, and evaluation, ELSA and ROSE embed partnership and community input. This promotes integrated practice at the service level and allows ELSA and ROSE to support broader initiatives and other work in the prevention of elder abuse.

Some resources have been produced to assist legal services to implement integrated practice. This includes the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centre’s Integrated Practice Toolkit. This is a practical guide that supports lawyers and other community and health professionals to navigate the risks related to legal professional privilege and mandatory reporting in the context of integrated service models. Eastern Community Legal Centre have a model of integrated practice that provides further examples that can be easily adapted to other legal assistance settings, while South-East Monash Legal Service has undertaken research into integrated service models in community legal centre settings. These resources are particularly useful in ensuring role clarity between lawyers and other professionals.


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