Introducing a new national network for lawyers and migration agents supporting clients living with blood-borne viruses
Health+Law’s recent Legal Needs Study (LeNS), which involved more than 140 in-depth interviews and a survey of over 1000 participants, documented the everyday experiences of law among people living with HIV and hepatitis B across Australia. Among other things, this included what people think makes a ‘good lawyer’ or a ‘good migration agent’, particularly when legal issues emerge that are related to – or made more complex by – the experience of living with a blood-borne virus.
Many people in these communities know from firsthand experience which lawyers and migration agents can be trusted to make them feel safe and understood, and which have the expertise and insight to handle the specific legal needs of people living with blood-borne viruses. But this knowledge circulates unevenly and without visibility beyond small networks. Many of the people that we spoke to as part of the LeNS described relying on word-of-mouth information to access critical legal support. This can reinforce inequities, as not everyone has access to this knowledge, and it may be particularly difficult to access for people in regional and remote areas or for newly arrived migrants, for example, who may be navigating Australian legal and migration systems for the first time.
These findings from the LeNS are consistent with our previous work on Migration Information and Support for People Living with HIV, conducted in collaboration with Health+Law partner organisation the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia (NAPWHA). That work, which catalogued the breadth of national resources for migrants, visitors and non-citizens living with HIV, showed that gaps and inconsistencies in public information about migration law in Australia generates uncertainty and creates barriers to continuity of healthcare for people living with HIV. As incidences of blood-borne virus-related stigma are widespread among members of these communities, too, many people coming to see a lawyer or migration agent for the first time are likely to be bringing experiences of differential and discriminatory treatment with them.
To address this, Health+Law researchers and the HIV/AIDS Legal Centre (HALC) is developing a new approach: a national training and recognition program for blood-borne virus-responsive lawyers and migration agents.
It is a model that draws inspiration from the ways that the legal profession recognises and promotes expertise and specialisation. For example, systems of recognition like Best Lawyers, a peer-nominated and peer-reviewed international network based on the idea that ‘the best lawyers know who the best lawyers are’. This emphasis on esteem and peer-based networks aligns with approaches across the blood-borne virus sector and within its communities more widely, where safe, trusted referrals and the advice and experience of people with lived expertise are significantly valued. So too does the form of services like Best Lawyers communicate that view to the public more widely. This provides public recognition of expertise esteem, but also the opportunity for clients to find a lawyer that suits their specific needs.
The aims of our recognition system for lawyers and migration agents are threefold:
To identify and formally recognise lawyers and migration agents who demonstrate blood-borne virus-responsive legal practice
To promote aware and stigma sensitive practice among lawyers and migration agents, supporting them to provide services that are more inclusive, particularly across diverse areas of law and professional migration practice, and
To provide professional development through an Online Learning Module (OLM) and other tools.
By creating a national award that recognises lawyers and migration agents who are genuinely responsive to the needs of people living with blood-borne viruses, Health+Law aims to amplify and extend existing community knowledge. We also aim to build on the awareness and practice of professionals in workplaces such as HALC that already tailor safe legal support for people in these communities.
Recognition in this program will be based on community nominations and peer review, with nominations welcomed from people with lived experience, community organisations, and from other lawyers and migration agents. This approach recognises the lawyers and migration agents who already practice in ways that affected community members have defined as responsive and safe, and seeks to expand it.
Members of our team are currently developing an online training module, ‘Supporting clients with blood-borne viruses: legal-health literacy for lawyers and migration agents’, which will be available soon. And we will share more detail about this project, and how to get involved, in coming months. In the meantime, you can get in touch using the details on our contact page for more information or subscribe to our occasional newsletter here for regular update about this and other Health+Law activities.