LibGuides: Legal Studies Guides: Law, government and society (A)

Task 2 - Letter of advice

You are a lawyer, with experience in dealing with human rights, who has taken on a new client, from the ACT.

You should choose ONE (1) of the human rights scenarios (on the task sheet) and write a legal letter of advice to your selected client (the complainant). You must advise your client about their legal options and the discrimination they may have experienced.

You will need to include the following in your letter of advice:

Describe (briefly) the issues in your client’s case.
Analyse the case issues and provide advice to the complainant about the legal issues. Apply relevant legislation and similar case examples from Australia.
Analyse relevant legal options available for discrimination complaints in either the Federal jurisdiction OR the ACT and possible remedies.
Predict and justify the likely outcome of their case.

What is a legal letter of advice?

In a letter of advice, you advise a client on rules of law and their application in relation to a client's query.

You are to critique the effectiveness of the law and make supported suggestions relevant to the client’s case.

Remember:

Address the advice to the client
To gain a clear understanding of your topic conduct comprehensive research using a wide range of sources.
Accurately acknowledge sources throughout your letter of advice with references using Harvard format.
Submit your correctly formatted Reference list with your research assignment.

Australian Human Rights Commission

Website - Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory organisation, established by an act of Federal Parliament. We protect and promote human rights in Australia and internationally.

Australian Human Rights Commission - Complaints Process

AHRC - The Complaints Process
The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent third party which investigates complaints about discrimination and human rights breaches. It does not act as an advocate or legal representative for a party to a complaint. The complaint process is simple, free and flexible. Please click on the links below to view the outline of each one of them.

ACT Human Rights Commission

ACT Human Rights Commission - Discrimination
The Commission:
Handles complaints in relation to health, disability and community services, abuse of vulnerable people, and complaints under discrimination law.
Increases awareness of the rights and responsibilities of service users and service providers, and encourage service improvement.
Provides advice to government and others regarding their human rights obligations.
Advocates for children, young people and adults experiencing vulnerability. Advocates for and supports victims of crime.

Recommended Websites

University of Queensland Law Journal: Disability Discrimination in Education
Case study of Elizabeth Dickson-- "Disability Discrimination in Education: Purvis v. New South Wales (Department of Education and Training).
Assistance animals and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
This resource outlines-
What is the legal understanding of an assistance animal
Specific issue of regulation / policy and various laws
Complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission:
- Examples of conciliated complaints involving assistance animals
- Number of complaints received at the Australian Human Rights Commission
Previous Commission work on assistance animals
When native title fails: First Nations people are turning to human rights law to keep access to cultural sites
Guide to Human Rights Cases
This guide sets out information about human rights cases in the Federal Court and the steps involved from the commencement through to the finalisation of these types of cases.
Age Discrimination Act
This webpage provides case studies on Age Discrimination Act.

Cases - Austlii Database

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
This database contains the full text decisions of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 1985 as selected by the Commission. On 23 September 1999, the Federal Government passed the Human Rights Legislation Amendment Act No. 1 1999 (Cth)
which transferred the public hearing and determination process from HREOC to federal courts. See Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Court. This law came into effect on 13 April 2000. Consequently, this database is closed. A separate Commission database is not available. See the Commission site
for further information concerning the Commission.

Guide to Human Rights Cases

Guide to Human Rights Cases
This guide sets out information about human rights cases in the Federal Court and the steps involved from the commencement through to the finalisation of these types of cases.

Remedies

What Price Dignity? - Remedies in Australian Anti-Discrimination Law
This paper concentrates on the question of remedies and, in particular, damages for humiliation and distress.
Remedying Discrimination: the Limits of the Law and the Need for a Systemic Approach
The purpose of this article is to examine how courts are remedying discrimination. It is concerned with remedies ordered by courts in discrimination complaints5 and does not consider the outcomes reached at settlement or prior to hearing.

Researching, Writing and Presenting Information - A How To Guide

Researching, Writing and Presenting Information - A How To Guide
The 'Researching, Writing and Presenting Information - A How To Guide' provides you with scaffolds and instructions for a range of task types, including essay structure and features. Information on effective search strategies and tools is also provided.

Referencing Guide

Referencing Guide
The St Clare's College Referencing Guide follows the Harvard Referencing Style