INTERVIEW
Please briefly summarise your volunteer experience.
with Emma Liang, Student Volunteer at RACS
Becoming a student volunteer at RACS has allowed me to demonstrate a commitment to human rights and social justice by understanding and supporting the issues that affect asylum seekers. By being able to obtain firsthand experience in human rights law, this has allowed me to recognise the importance of protecting and advocating for refugees. Knowing that part of my work will be put into making a positive change into someone's life, I find that volunteering at RACS is a very rewarding experience. What's a typical day like? While working at RACS, I assisted with client intake through RACS' 'Front End' telephone advice call centre, as well as at RACS' Outreach clinic located in Auburn in Sydney's west. My role involved receiving and directing calls or face-to-face drop-in requests for assistance from vulnerable and highly stressed clients. Additionally, a range of tasks would be allocated to individual volunteers at the direction of RACS' team of solicitors, including transfer of client information on application forms, legal and country research, and working with RACS' client database. What legal skills are you required to apply and what skills have you developed? Being a legal volunteer at RACS, requires effective communication and problem solving skills to clients over the phone, as well as in person. Prioritising and planning is also necessary when conducting legal research tasks. While at RACS, one of my tasks was to provide legal research and draft correspondence for a solicitor to aid with case management. I
20 | Careers Guide 2016
had the opportunity to develop my research skills such as summarising key points from documentation and cases, determining what information is most relevant, and being able to communicate clearly both in writing and verbally. What is the most challenging aspect of your role? The most challenging aspect was performing tasks that were unfamiliar to me. When I started at RACS, I was not confident at completing tasks I had been given. However, I was surprised by my capability when I received positive feedback from the supervisors. I was encouraged and able to achieve these challenging tasks and be proud of my work because guidance was always available from the team. RACS staff were always willing to help and assist with tasks regardless of what was required from the job. How has this experience changed your career ambitions? This experience has helped me understand the law better and how the law can grow into a different area. Volunteering at RACS has allowed me to observe life from a different socioeconomic angle. It has helped me gain a better insight into social justice issues as well as appreciating the amount of work community legal centres achieve. What advice would you give someone who is interested in a similar role? Apply as a student volunteer! Working at RACS will give you an insight on human rights law and may even help you determine what you want to do after your degree. RACS is also an encouraging place to further develop your legal skills and will definitely be useful to you in the future!
Macquarie University Law Society