Our legal services

RACS has an outreach service, based in Auburn in Western Sydney, for those seeking legal advice, or need to contact us on behalf of someone who is.

Visit us at:

Auburn Centre for Community
Wednesdays, 10am-12pm
44a Macquarie Road, Auburn NSW 2144

This service runs with thanks to Cumberland City Council and Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club and is part of an asylum seeker hub.

In the process of seeking protection, many refugees become separated from their families or are forced to leave their loved ones behind. RACS’s Family Reunion service helps refugees sponsor family members to come to Australia.

The program assists those eligible by:

• Providing information and advice about options to reunite with family members in Australia

• Preparing applications and sponsorship forms and collating evidence to support applications

• Representing clients at the Department of Home Affairs and Administrative Appeals Tribunal where necessary

• Working with partner organisations while client cases are being reviewed

Separation from family members compounds the pain refugees feel when they are forced to flee their home countries. Being able to reunite with family plays an immensely positive role in helping refugees start to rebuild their lives and heal from trauma.

Stateless Children

RACS has a dedicated legal program assisting stateless children born in Australia to apply for citizenship.

Children born in Australia to stateless parents are sometimes given temporary protection visas, which means they can’t access the freedoms citizens have, such as being able to vote in elections and going to university without paying international student fees.

They are continually needing to re-apply for one temporary protection visa after another, as these expire every few years. This situation creates stress, insecurity and vulnerability.

RACS recognises and understands the need to ensure refugee children can access their rights. We work to support stateless children and their families throughout this process.

This program operates with the support of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness and the Melbourne Law School Clinics at the University of Melbourne.

To read about and download our Stateless Children Report, click here.

Unaccompanied Children

Children who have had to flee their home countries without their parents are particularly vulnerable when they arrive to a new country. They do not have a support system, often can't speak the language of the new country and have no one to help them.

RACS’s dedicated program for unaccompanied children provides long term legal support for children who arrived in Australia without their parents.

Our program helps children find safety in Australia through permanent protection, access to health services and a safe community.

RACS provides support for women seeking protection in Australia, who have experienced or fear they will experience sexual or gender-based violence, or family and domestic violence.

Through this dedicated program, people who identify as women receive free legal help from our all-female team of lawyers and support staff. We assist women with:

• Visa applications, including protection and temporary visas, and bridging visas

• Attending Department of Home Affairs interviews

• Attending tribunal interviews

• Connecting women with health and welfare services, which can provide financial and housing assistance

For more information, click here.

RACS has witnessed an increase in protection claims from LGBTQI+ people who are persecuted in their home countries due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

In response, we have developed the LGBTQI+ Safety Program, supporting refugees and people seeking asylum who are fleeing danger based on SOGIESC grounds.

Individuals may be fleeing their home countries based on:

• The criminalisation of same-sex relationships

• Consensual sexual conduct between two people of the same sex

• Law regarding transgender and gender diverse people

• Sexual and gender-based violence

• The denial of rights to assembly, freedom of expression and/or political opinion

Our lawyers in this program are specially trained to support refugees who identify as LGBTQI+ in accessing safety in Australia.

For more information, click here.

RACS’s Judicial Review program allows those who have had their refugee claims refused one last chance at being granted protection in Australia. We provide critical representation at this last stage of appeal, making sure individuals understand their rights and understand the legal process.

Judicial Review means when a court reviews an applicant’s case, and decides if the Department’s decision to reject your refugee claim was made following correct legal procedure. It is not a chance for the individual to better explain their case, which is why legal support is vital.

If you have had your claims refused by the "fast track assessment and removal" process, you may be eligible for Judicial Review. This process was introduced by the Australian Government to assess the protection claims of people who arrived in Australia by boat.

Our help can mean the difference between staying in safety or being sent back to danger. Please contact us to speak to a lawyer today.

RACS has responded to various international crises over the years, establishing dedicated crisis clinics to help those fleeing conflict.

After the Fall of Kabul in 2021, RACS established the Afghanistan Crisis Response Clinic to help hundreds of people whose families remained trapped in Afghanistan. Through this clinic, we provided:

• Dedicated telephone support for people with family members in Afghanistan

• Targeted assistance to people with additional vulnerabilities and case complexities

• Support filling out complex offshore humanitarian visa applications

• Assistance to charities and other NGOs supporting and working with people on the ground in Afghanistan.

RACS has always assisted those in offshore detention to access legal support, to gain permanent safety in Australia. Before the Medevac Bill was repealed in 2019, we supported people seeking asylum to access their medical records, in order to access proper medical treatment when transferred onshore to Australia.

RACS continues to assist those who were detained in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to gain permanent safety and protection.