TAKING THE “PRUDE” OUT

OF JURISPRUDENCE
By Serena Trezise

The Fitzroy Town Hall was the first home of the radical Fitzroy Legal Service
Photo: Committee for Urban action at State Library of Victoria (www.slv.gov.au)

The radical origins of the Fitzroy Legal Service

In 2018, community legal centres are a recognised and respected source of

free legal assistance, focused on the disadvantaged and people with special
needs. 1 They are approximately 190 community legal centres currently
operating across Australia.2 Although they are now a well-established part of
the Australian legal landscape, the first community legal centres were radical
in their approach and model of operation. They sought to challenge the
inaccessibility of traditional legal practice, and create social change by
identifying and addressing underlying systemic issues impacting
disadvantaged and marginalised people. This paper explores the radical
origins of the Fitzroy Legal Service, the first non-Aboriginal shop-front
community legal centre in Australia.

1
Melbourne’s skid row

Walking the streets of Fitzroy lined with brunch hotspots, rooftop bars, yoga
studios and organic food stores, you could be forgiven for forgetting that just
fifty years ago the suburb was considered one of the most disadvantaged and
dangerous in Victoria.3 In the early 1970s, Fitzroy was renowned as the place
where more murders were committed per square inch than anywhere else in
the state.4 High rates of unemployment and homelessness, a large immigrant
population, and a reputation as a meeting place for disaffected youths meant
that this now hipster haven was widely regarded as Melbourne’s skid row.5

Fitzroy in the 1970s was one of Melbourne’s most disadvantaged suburbs

Photo: Committee for Urban Action at State Library of Victoria (www.slv.gov.au)

For many in the Fitzroy community, their experience of poverty went hand in
hand with a lack of understanding around their rights. 6 This allowed
authorities such as the police and the Housing Commission to push people
around with little or no repercussions.7 Many residents complained of police
brutality 8 , while Housing Commission tenants struggled to enforce basic
entitlements and were frequently evicted for trivial reasons.9 As no national

2
legal aid scheme then existed and state schemes were extremely restrictive
and difficult to access 10 , there was very little advice and representation
available to low-income earners wanting to ascertain and assert their legal
rights.11

You gotta fight for your (civil) rights!

The 1960s and early 70s saw the rise of transnational protest movements.12
These recognised government and market failures to ensure that the civil
rights and liberties of all people were protected equally.13 Protest culture
became synonymous with youth culture as an unprecedented demographic of
young people expressed their frustration with conservative governments and
structures though nonviolent campaigns and civil disobedience.14 In Australia,
support for Aboriginal rights, anti-war rallies, and the women’s liberation
movement were sites of protest that demonstrated the power of collective
action to demand social change.15

Sites of protest: Vietnam moratorium demonstrations

Photo: Age, 9 May 1970, 1

3
In this context of radicalism and activism, the inaccessibility of the law and
legal processes to disadvantaged and marginalised people was increasingly
recognised as a rights issue.16 In America, community legal centres had
operated since the 1930s and the provision of free legal advice and
representation was considered instrumental in the Johnson administration’s
‘war on poverty’ in the 1960s.17 The absence of similar government support in
Australia did not deter local activists, who recognised the potential for free,
shop-front legal assistance to empower disadvantaged communities.18

Australians all let us have lawyers

The first Australian shop-front

community legal centre, the
Redfern Aboriginal Legal
Service, opened its doors for
19
business in 1970. The
service was conceived of by
Black Power activists in
response to the incessant
Australia’s first legal service: the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern
police surveillance and Photo: National Library of Australia

harassment of the Redfern

Aboriginal community.20 Gary Foley was one of the activists involved in the
establishment of the service and describes the “surge of confidence”21 that
swept through the Aboriginal community in Sydney as, for the first time, they
were being represented in the courtroom and were defending charges being
brought against them.22

In Fitzroy, youth worker John Finlayson saw the potential for a free legal
service to similarly empower his young clients who frequently faced court on
charges of theft, assault and car theft.23 Finlayson told the Nation Review that
nearly all kids from Fitzroy and surrounding neighbourhoods had police
records, and were resigned to the prospect of gaol when facing charges

4
because they couldn’t afford legal representation and didn’t know how to
defend themselves.24 In 1972, Finlayson and his colleagues Michael O’Brien
and Lou Hill organised a public meeting to discuss the establishment of a free
legal service in Fitzroy.25

Around 80 people attended the

town hall meeting on the 14th of
December, with lawyers, council
members, youth workers, and
interested Fitzroy locals
presenting arguments for and
against the opening of a free
legal service. 26 Finlayson was
accompanied by several of his
young clients who spoke about
their experiences with the
criminal justice system and their
desire to have access to legal
27
assistance. While many
concurred that a free legal
Fitzroy Town Hall in 1971
Photo: John T Collins at State Library of Victoria
service would greatly benefit the
(www.slv.vic.gov.au) Fitzroy community, others argued
that a range of welfare agencies already catered to locals, or that the standard
of free legal advice would be inferior compared with a private solicitor’s.28
Those in favour of the service decided to push ahead despite this opposition
and their limited resources, and so just four days later on the 18th of
December 1972, in a couple of dingy rooms and a crowded corridor
underneath the Fitzroy Town Hall, the Fitzroy Legal Service opened for
business.29 The service was staffed entirely by volunteers drawn from both
legal and non-legal professions. On its third night running around 50 clients
sought legal advice, and within just six months approximately 2,000 people
had accessed the service.30

5
Open for Business!
Photo: Age, 20 December 1972, 5

Fitzroy is revolting!

The Fitzroy Legal Service set out to revolutionise the way legal assistance
was provided. Private legal offices were considered inaccessible to
disadvantaged people not only because of their fees, but their inner-city
locations, opening hours and sense of formality.31 Language barriers were a
deterrent for both non-English speakers and for everyday people confronted
with complicated legal jargon.32 To improve the accessibility of legal help to
low-income earners, volunteers at the service were encouraged to dress in
causal clothing and conduct their dealings with clients as informally and in the
plainest language possible.33 Non-legal volunteers would often attend client
interviews with lawyers to make sure advice was understandable to someone
without legal training and interpreters were on hand to assist clients from non-
English speaking backgrounds.34 The service was located in the heart of the
community and opened from 5.30pm until 11pm five nights per week, so that
clients could attend outside work hours.35 The shabby, cramped offices were
a world away from the intimidating wood-panelled, leather-scented, hushed

6
realm of private legal practice.36 It was hoped that this new mode of service
delivery would give the local community confidence that they could access
and understand information about their legal rights.37 On any given night
volunteers would assist a broad range of problems, from drug offences to theft
and divorce, housing disputes, sex offences and murder.38

In addition to improving the

accessibility of legal
assistance, the service
hoped to challenge causes
of poverty and inequality
more broadly and create
social change.39 Volunteers
recognised that legal
problems do not occur in a
vacuum, rather, they
“They said we’d get lawyers, not you guys!” generally overlap with other
Photo: Age, 2 July 1986, 5
basic needs associated with
physical and social wellbeing. 40 They sought to identify the underlying
systemic issues impacting their clients and address these issues through law
41
reform advocacy and community legal education. Social workers,
interpreters, administrative staff, students and even a doctor volunteered
alongside solicitors and barristers at the service. 42 They would talk with
clients to form a complete picture of the social difficulties experienced by
clients and the interaction of these difficulties with legal issues.43 Volunteers
would also go out into the community and talk with people in health clinics,
youth centres, pubs and public housing.44 Clients with similar legal problems
were asked to participate in workgroups where they would discuss potential
courses of action to address their issues. 45 This holistic and innovative
approach to legal help focused on client empowerment and was unlike
anything explored or offered by private legal practice and legal aid schemes in
the 1970s.46

7
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The service’s commitment to bringing about social reform was not just
aspirational. When underlying issues were identified, test cases and advocacy
were employed to bring about practical change. Several clients, for example,
presented at the service having been pressured into entering credit
agreements with the Waltons chain of department stores that they could not
afford to repay.47 The service defended one of these clients against a debt-
recovery action that Waltons had initiated in the Magistrates’ Court.48 It was
successfully argued that Waltons’ contracts breached the Money Lenders Act
and that, as the store didn’t have a money lender’s license, it could not
enforce its credit agreements.49 This case resulted in change beyond one
client’s success in court. A whole class of vulnerable consumers benefited
from the store being brought within the constraints of the Money Lenders Act.

Another issue that quickly became

apparent to volunteers at the service
was their client’s lack of understanding
around their rights. With the digital
age of search engines and the 24hr
news cycle still several years away,
information on government practices
and decision making was not easily
accessible, particularly to people with
limited education or for whom English
was a second language. To combat
public lack of knowledge around
Police Standing Orders the service
printed and sold tee shirts with a
“Citizen’s Rights Upon Arrest” legend “Citizen’s Rights Upon Arrest” tee shirt
Photo: Rennie Ellis at National Library of Australia
instructing what a person should do if
they were apprehended by police. 50

8
The service also partnered with the newly opened La Trobe University Legal
Studies Department- a world leader in the study of law as a social institution51-
to produce the Legal Resources Book, a layperson’s guide to common legal
problems.52 This publication proved to be a hit, with thousands of copies
selling in just a few weeks.53 In an interview with the Age, lawyer Julian
Gardner claimed that the book had become a household staple, similar to a
dictionary.54 He attributed the book’s success to the fact that it was meeting a
real community need for legal education. 55 Sales provided much-needed
funds for the service, which originally survived on the generosity of volunteers
and supporters and ad-hoc government grants.56

I fought the law – the response of the legal profession

The Fitzroy Legal Service’s

unconventional approach to
the provision of legal
assistance attracted
widespread criticism from
the legal community,
including the Law Institute of
Victoria and the Bar
Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in 1972
57
Council. The Law Institute Photo: K.J. Halla at State Library of Victoria (www.slv.gov.au)

argued that legal professional standards could not be maintained where a

rotating roster system was employed 58 , while the Bar Council threatened
barristers who volunteered at the service with being struck off the bar roll for
violating the Bar Rules by taking instructions directly from clients. 59 The
backlash can, at least in part, be attributed to the fact that the service implicitly
criticised the traditional legal hierarchy.60 It challenged the ideas that legal
knowledge should reside exclusively with the profession, and that legal advice
should be paid for.61 Overwhelming support for the service from the public,
the media, and influential people within the newly elected Whitlam Labour
Government 62 eventually quelled professional criticism and has ultimately

9
brought about major changes in the way legal services, and in particular legal
aid, is delivered in Australia.

A radical legacy?

From its protest movement origins in the belly

of the Fitzroy Town Hall, the Fitzroy Legal
Service is now a recognised and respected
feature of the Australian legal landscape. The
service grew from and championed the radical
idea that access to the law is basic right and
should be a fundamental feature of the justice
system.63 The service was the forerunner for
other community legal services and Australia’s
national legal aid scheme, and caused poverty
lawyering to be seen as a legal professional 1986 flyer for Melbourne CLCs
Photo: Dianna Wells at State Library
obligation rather than charity work.64 of Victoria (www.slv.gov.au)

The service’s dual aims of providing accessible legal assistance on one hand,
and community education and social reform on the other have remained
central to its operation and the operation of community legal centres
generally.65 Given the limited resources of most free legal services, these
aims have at times proven difficult to balance.66 Government funding tied
solely to the provision of direct legal advice has led to claims that community
legal centres have been co-opted by the very system they set out to disrupt.67
In response to this challenge, it has been argued that it is essential for
community legal centres to continue to harness, nurture and embody the
radical urge for social justice of the 1960s and 70s.68 Continuing to agitate for
social change on behalf of disadvantaged and vulnerable people will ensure
that community legal centres continue the radical and important legacy of the
Fitzroy Legal Service.

10
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Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

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Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

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Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

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-- ‘Fitzroy legal service tots up client 30,000’, Age, 14 Mar. 1985, p. 17 in Newspapers
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[online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

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Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 16 Oct. 2018.

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Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

‘Punched by policeman, court told’, Age, 27 Feb. 1975, p. 10 in Newspapers Publisher Extra
[online database] accessed 16 Oct. 2018.

Sayers, Stuart, ‘Bringing law to the people’, Age, 1 Jan. 1983, p. 42 in Newspapers Publisher
Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018;

Sturgess, Gary, ‘Ten years on, book launch marks new legal deal for the poor’, Age, 18 Dec.
1982, p. 13 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

11
‘Young Men Without Work or Friends Trouble In Fitzroy’, Age, 25 Sept. 1963, p. 6 in
Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 18 Oct. 2018.

‘Youth in Ferment’, Age, ‘Education’, 9 Jun. 1970, p. 14 in Newspapers Publisher Extra

[online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

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in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

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Review, 5/1 (2001), 91.

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(2018) <http://www.naclc.org.au/cb_pages/clcs.php>, accessed 13 October 2018.

Biondo, Sam & Field, Chris, ‘Back to the Future: 25 years of Fitzroy Legal Service’, Alternative
Law Journal, 22/6 (1997), 282.

Chesterman, John, Poverty Law and Social Change: The Story of the Fitzroy Legal Service
(Cartlon South, VIC: Melbourne University Press, 1996).

-- ‘Twenty Years of the Fitzroy Legal Service: A Look Back for a Look Forward’, Alternative
Law Journal, 17/6 (1992), 257.

Della-Vergini, Arna, ‘Sex-starved, suit-wearing volunteers say ‘we don’t know’ to service
restructuring: Volunteers at the Fitzroy Legal Service’, Alternative Law Journal, 22/6
(1997), 287.

Foley, Gary, ‘Black Power in Redfern 1968 – 1972’, The Koori History Website, (5 Oct.
2001)<http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/essays/pdf_essays/black%20power%20in%20r
edfern%201968.pdf >, accessed 4 Sept. 2018

McCulloch, Jude & Blair, Megan, ‘From Maverick to Mainstream: Forty years of Community
Legal Centres’, Alternative Law Journal, 31/1 (2012),12.

Neal, David, ‘Delivery of Legal Services: The Innovative Approach of the Fitzroy Legal
Service’, Melbourne University Law Review, 11 (1978) 427.

-- ‘Law and Power: Livin’ in the 70s’, Law in Context, 29/2 (2013) 99.

Noble, Peter, ‘The Future of Community Legal Centres’, Alternative Law Journal, 37/1 (2012),
22.

Rich, Nicole, ‘Reclaiming Community Legal Centres’ (Report, Victoria Law Foundation
Community Legal Centre Fellowship 2007-8, 2008).

Van Moorst, Harry, Fitzroy Legal Service (Honours Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1973).

12
Images
Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islander Peoples – Industry and Employment – Aboriginal
Legal Aid Service, Redfern, 1974, c. 1974, National Library of Australia, Canberra, in TROVE
[online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

Beattie, Max, ‘70,000 marchers take over city: Big M-day sit-down for peace’, Age, 9 May
1970, p. 1 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

Childs, Kevin, ‘Lawyers open free legal aid centre in Fitzroy’, Age. 27 Dec. 1972, p. 5 in
Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

Collins, John T., Fitzroy Town Hall, c. 19 Sep. 1971, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, in
State Library of Victoria Digital Image Pool [online database] accessed 13 Oct. 2018.

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1974, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, in State Library of Victoria Digital Image Pool
[online database], accessed 13 Oct. 2018.

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west side, c. 1970-1974, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, in State Library of Victoria
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‘Dressed like this, the law looks human to the young’, Age, 2 July 1986, p. 5 in Newspapers
Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.

Ellis, Rennie, T-Shirt, “Fitzroy Legal Service…”, c. 198-?, National Library of Australia,
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13
Endnotes

1
‘Community Legal Centres’ National Association of Community Legal Centres [website],
(2018) <http://www.naclc.org.au/cb_pages/clcs.php> para. 1, accessed 13 October 2018.
2
Ibid.
3
John Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change: The Story of the Fitzroy Legal Service
(Cartlon South, VIC: Melbourne University Press, 1996), p. 47.
4
Ibid.
5
Kevin Childs, ‘Lawyers open free legal aid centre in Fitzroy’, Age. 27 Dec. 1972, p. 5 in
Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018; ‘Place of Paradox (2)
Fitzroy at Crossroads’, Age, 20 Nov. 1963, p. 25 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online
database] accessed 17 Oct. 2018.
6
Chesterman, op. cit., p. 66.
7
Childs, loc. cit.
8
‘Punched by policeman, court told’, Age, 27 Feb. 1975, p. 10 in Newspapers Publisher Extra
[online database] accessed 16 Oct. 2018; Alan Attwood, ‘Fitzroy police station tries to
maintain a positive outlook’, Age, 30 Jul. 1983, p. 5 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online
database] accessed 16 Oct. 2018; Prue Innes, ‘Sergeant must pay bash victim’s costs’, Age,
30 Jul. 1983, p. 5 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 16 Oct. 2018.
9
Childs, loc. cit.; ‘Maltreatment Alleged Over Eviction’, Age, 8 Dec. 1958, p. 7 in Newspapers
Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018; Philip Chubb, ‘Eviction-it’s an offer
you can’t refuse’, Age, 17 Jul. 1974, p. 12 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database]
accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
10 Harry Van Moorst, Fitzroy Legal Service (Honours Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1973)
p. 18.
11
David Neal, ‘Law and Power: Livin’ in the 70s’, Law in Context, 29/2 (2013), p. 101.
12
Jude McCulloch and Megan Blair, ‘From Maverick to Mainstream: Forty years of
Community Legal Centres’, Alternative Law Journal, 31/1 (2012), p. 13.
13
Ibid.
14
Sam Biondo and Chris Field, ‘Back to the Future: 25 years of Fitzroy Legal Service’,
Alternative Law Journal, 22/6 (1997), 283.; ‘Youth in Ferment’, Age, ‘Education’, 9 Jun. 1970,
p. 14 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
15
Ibid; Michelle Grattan, ‘Aboriginies get a new voice’, Age, 27 Nov. 1972, p. 9 in
Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018; Max Beattie, ’70,000
marchers take over city: Big M-day sit-down for peace’, Age, 9 May 1970, p. 1 in Newspapers
Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018; Gillian Mayne, ‘What the women’s
march was about’, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 Mar. 1972, p. 8 in Newspapers Publisher Extra
[online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
Chesterman op. cit., p, 13.
16
17
Susan Armstrong, ‘What has Happened to Legal Aid?’, University of Western Sydney Law
Review, 5/1 (2001), p. 96.
18
Chesterman, loc. cit.
19
Gary Foley, ‘Black Power in Redfern 1968 – 1972’, The Koori History Website, (5 Oct.
2001)<http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/essays/pdf_essays/black%20power%20in%20redfern%
201968.pdf >, p. 12, accessed 4 Sept. 2018; Ursula O’Connor, ‘Aborigines and the law’,
Sydney Morning Herald, 30 Mar. 1971, p. 7 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database]
accessed 16 Oct. 2018.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Chesterman, op. cit., p. 27; ‘Young Men Without Work or Friends Trouble In Fitzroy’, Age,
25 Sept. 1963, p. 6 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 18 Oct. 2018.
24
Chesterman, loc. cit.
Neal op. cit., p. 104.
25
26
Sam Biondo and Chris Field, loc. cit.
27
Ibid.

14

28
John Chesterman, ‘Twenty Years of the Fitzroy Legal Service: A Look Back for a Look
Forward’, Alternative Law Journal, 17/6 (1992), p. 257.
29
David Neal, ‘Delivery of Legal Services: The Innovative Approach of the Fitzroy Legal
Service’, Melbourne University Law Review, 11 (1978) p. 427.
30
Van Moorst, op. cit., p. 55.
31
Ibid., p. 27.
32
‘Dressed like this, the law looks human to the young’, Age, 2 July 1986, p. 5 in Newspapers
Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 October 2018.
33
Ibid., Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change, op. cit., p. 49;
34
Ibid., p. 54.
35
Cilds, loc. cit., Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change, op. cit., p. 42
36
Neal, Law and Power, op. cit., p. 101.
37
Arna Della-Vergini, ‘Sex-starved, suit-wearing volunteers say ‘we don’t know’ to service
restructuring: Volunteers at the Fitzroy Legal Service’, Alternative Law Journal, 22/6 (1997), p.
287.
38
Van Moorst, op. cit., p. 70.
39
Ibid., Della-Vergini loc. cit.
40
Nicole Rich, ‘Reclaiming Community Legal Centres’ (Report, Victoria Law Foundation
Community Legal Centre Fellowship 2007-8, 2008) p. 36.
41
Chesterman, Twenty Years of the Fitzroy Legal Service, op.cit., p. 259.
42
Van Moorst, op. cit., p. 39.
Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change, op. cit., p. 55.
43

44 Graham Hardy, ‘Lawyers to hunt cases in the pubs’, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 Feb.
1980, p. 17 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
45 Chesterman, Twenty Years of the Fitzroy Legal Service, op. cit., p. 259.
46 Van Moorst, op. cit., p. 38.
47
Chesterman, Twenty Years of the Fitzroy Legal Service, loc. cit.
Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change, op. cit., p. 99.
48
49
Ibid.
50
‘Free Legal Aid, and in a variety of sizes’, Age, 27 Jan. 1997, p. 2 in Newspapers Publisher
Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
51
Neal, Law and Power, op. cit., p. 103.
52
Stuart Sayers, ‘Bringing law to the people’, Age, 1 Jan. 1983, p. 42 in Newspapers
Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
53
Ibid.; Gary Sturgess, ‘Ten years on, book launch marks new legal deal for the poor’, Age,
18 Dec. 1982, p. 13 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
54
Sayers, loc. cit.
55
Ibid.
56
Van Moorst, op. cit., p. 44.
57
Ibid., p. 45.
58
Ibid., p. 46.
59
Chesterman, Twenty Years of the Fitzroy Legal Service, op. cit., 258; Prue Innes, ‘Fitzroy
legal service tots up client 30,000’, Age, 14 Mar. 1985, p. 17 in Newspapers Publisher Extra
[online database] accessed 13 October 2018.
60
Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change, op. cit., p. 1.
61
Ibid.
Neal, Law and Power, op.cit., p.109.
62
63
Biondo and Field, loc. cit.
64
Ibid; Graham Williams, ‘A job for the left-over lawyers’, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Sep.
1977, p. 7 in Newspapers Publisher Extra [online database] accessed 14 October 2018.
65
Rich, loc. cit.
66
Ibid.
67
Biondo and Field, op. cit., p. 285.
68
Peter Noble, ‘The Future of Community Legal Centres’, Alternative Law Journal, 37/1
(2012), p. 25.

15