Funding for retiree pro bono
Retired lawyers and those on career breaks may soon be able to continue their pro bono work after funding to the National Pro Bono Resource Centre was announced on Wednesday. Attorney-General
Retired lawyers and those on career breaks may soon be able to continue their pro bono work after funding to the National Pro Bono Resource Centre was announced on Wednesday.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced that the $40,000 funding will be given to the Centre in order to assist in creating opportunities for lawyers' skills and experience to continue to be utilised in pro bono activities, even if lawyers are not practising.
"Lawyers approaching retirement and lawyers taking a break from their careers are a valuable and under-utilised resource for providing pro bono assistance, particularly in regional and rural areas of Australia where there is a shortage of lawyers," McClelland said.
John Corker, director of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre told Lawyers Weekly on Thursday that a draft report into how the project is to be implemented will be released this week.
The idea for the project relates to the Golden Gurus program, an initiative that emerged at the 2020 Summit encouraging skilled mature-age professionals to connect with mentoring schemes and opportunities.
- Angela Priestley