Western Australia Attorney General Christian Porter

Attorney General recognises Champion of Workplace Laws

Victor P Taffa

A dedicated legal practitioner who volunteers her time and energy to help the disadvantaged get a fair deal in the workplace is the recipient of the 2010 Attorney General’s Community Service Law Award.

Attorney General Christian Porter today presented Ms. Samantha Maddern from Corrs Chambers Westgarth with the annual award at the WA Law Week luncheon.

The award recognises an outstanding legal practitioner who has made a sustained pro bono contribution to the Western Australian community.

“Ms. Maddern works pro bono with the Employment Law Centre to offer legal assistance to people with disabilities, young people, and people from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal people and people with limited literacy.” Mr. Porter said.

“These are the vulnerable people who are at greatest risk of being offered unfair, and even illegal, employment conditions in the workplace.”

For the past four years, Ms. Maddern, of Scarborough, has regularly volunteered her time at an evening legal clinic where she gives her clients advice on the legal merit of their cases, reviews legal documents and drafts correspondence or submissions on their behalf.

The Attorney General said that while State and Federal governments provided access to legal services through various agencies including Legal Aid, the Aboriginal Legal Service and community legal centres, the significant role that legal practitioners played in offering pro bono legal support to many West Australians could not be underestimated.

“WA lawyers and law practices volunteer their time and effort very generously, offering thousands of hours each year in legal assistance to those who would otherwise be unable to access legal advice, services and representation.” Mr. Porter said.

The finalists for this year’s award included:

• Jaswant Singh Brar of Midland Information, Debt and Legal Advocacy Service;
• Linda Cao of the Women’s Legal Referral Service;
• Terri-Anne Famlonga of FamLaw Legal.