The DibbsREACH Program

At DibbsBarker, we believe that just one person can make a difference in our community. Our commitment is to provide pro bono legal advice to individuals and charitable organisations and contribute to the community through donations of time, expertise or money depending on the need.

To do that, we have in place the initiative REACH. It is our Pro Bono and Community Involvement program. As a firm, our stated focus areas are supporting community needs and healthcare (including research charities and mental health). The long term and ongoing objective is collective and effective contribution particularly in our identified areas.

Our program is structured in three parts:

Dibbs Pro Bono + DibbsGiving + Dibbs in the Community

As part of our policy, all staff members are encouraged to participate in the program and their participation is recognised as a key criterion in our people & development framework.

Dibbs Pro Bono

Not surprisingly, we believe that one of the most important fundamental achievements in a community is equal access to justice. We take pride in the fact that we use our knowledge and expertise to assist people and organisations to achieve their goals and protect their rights when it might not have otherwise been possible for them to do so. From setting up charitable organisations to providing advice and legal representation, our staff members play a valuable role in this area.

Our major pro bono client is the Starlight Children's Foundation, with whom we have partnered for a number of years now. We will also consider matters referred to us from independent referral networks or our own staff member referrals.

Our policy sets a target for each of our full-time partners, lawyers, graduates and paralegals to aim to undertake 24 chargeable hours of approved pro bono legal work per calendar year (pro-rata for part-time). That work can take the form of pro bono files or legal services at various community legal centres.

DibbsGiving

DibbsGiving is based on fundraising activities arranged by the firm from time to time and on individual donations to nominated charities from within our focus areas. Those charities benefit from donations throughout the financial year and at the end of the year, the donations raised will be matched by DibbsBarker.

Dibbs in the Community

Our staff members love to give something back and many of them give their time and expertise to community initiatives. As a firm, we support our staff to participate in a number of different initiatives, some of which are:

Lawyers Encouraging and Assisting Promising Students (LEAPS)

LEAPS is a mentoring program established a number of years ago jointly between the legal community and the Department of Education. The program is aimed at 14-15 year olds (year 9 students) who are at risk of not continuing their education or who would benefit from interaction with a mentor who is not their parent, teacher or counsellor. Our staff “mentors” meet fortnightly with their students to discuss different issues and it has certainly proven to be a valuable interaction for both the mentor and the student.

Penpal

This is a program run by the NSW Department of Education in which a number of our staff members are paired up with primary school students from relatively isolated country areas. As penpals, the staff member and students write to each other and the staff member purchases a book to send with each letter, which encourages the students to read and write and get excited about receiving their book and letter!

Telecross

Telecross is a program for the elderly in which staff members telephone one elderly person, living alone, each morning for a week. It is aimed at allowing the elderly to maintain their independence, have some additional conversational interaction and to alert carers if there is anything wrong.

Redfern Legal Centre

For many years, a number of lawyers have given their time in the evenings to provide legal services to clients of the Redfern Legal Centre. DibbsBarker supports our lawyers who do this after hours by providing taxi fares/car park vouchers so our lawyers can easily travel home after their shift.

The FSHD Global Research Foundation

An international and not-for-profit organisation dedicated to finding a treatment and cure for Facio-Scapulo-Humeral Dystrophy, which is the second most common form of Muscular Dystrophy seen in adults and the third most common genetic hereditary disease seen in skeletal muscle. Dibbs provides permanent office space and office resources to representatives of the Foundation and takes part in various fundraising activities supporting the Foundation, including raising awareness.

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