About Us

SCALES

Southern Communities Advocacy, Legal and
Education Service Inc.

The Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service Inc. (SCALES) was born from a partnership between the volunteer led Kwinana-Rockingham Community Law Centre and the Murdoch University School of Law. Both had lobbied for funding for community legal services and through this partnership, funding was granted for a community legal centre incorporating a clinical legal education centre in 1996 for the Rockingham and Kwinana region. Opening our doors on 7 April 1997, SCALES began realising the vision and ambitions of many people in the Rockingham and Kwinana regions. We have now worked in our community for over 25 years providing free legal advice and assistance to those who would not otherwise be able to access legal help

In 2018 SCALES received funding from the family violence branch of the Attorney General’s Department, to establish our dedicated Family Violence Unit. Allowing us to provide specialised legal and non-legal support to victims of domestic and family violence.

Our team is also actively engaged in policy and law reform within the areas of law we practice. We regularly produce submissions to government and reviews on policy and procedures, as well as collaborating on research projects and inter-service strategies. This part of our service is usually embedded within our client based support as we come across issues affecting the community. If you or your organisation has a query in relation to policy or law that is affecting you or your clients, we are happy to meet to discuss a possible law or policy reform project.

The Student Clinic – Rockingham

Since its inception, SCALES has had a close and mutually beneficial relationship with Murdoch University. During the teaching semester, SCALES host Murdoch Law students in our Student Legal Clinic. The clinic plays an important role, allowing us to expand our services and take on additional clients.

In the clinic, students are supervised by our experienced solicitors whenever they are interacting with clients. This is to ensure that students are giving accurate advice, but also to make sure they are supported to develop their legal skills.

If you are a prospective student, we encourage you to browse our website and familiarise yourself with what we do.

Human Rights Law Clinic – Murdoch

In addition to the Student Clinic at our Rockingham office, SCALES also hosts a Human Rights Law Clinic out of our Murdoch office. This clinic focuses on applying the human rights framework to domestic cases as well as taking some domestic issue to the United Nations. For example, we assist refugees and asylum seekers both through the domestic process and at the international level through communications to the International Treaty Bodies or other UN mechanisms.

Indigenous Law Clinic – Murdoch

We also run a Human Rights Clinic which is specifically for indigenous clients, as we recognise that these clients face particular challenges in the protection of their human rights. This includes both domestic work around discrimination and international work through the International human rights framework.

Community Legal Education

Beyond our client-based support, SCALES is committed to serving the broader legal needs of the community. One of the ways we do this is by speaking to groups about either general legal procedures or a specific topic relevant to that audience. If you would like one of our staff members to come speak to your group (students/clients/employees) please call us as we are happy to consider requests.