History

1980

Volunteer Solicitors Rally to Answer Call for Legal Assistance

The Inner City Legal Services Centre is established by local private solicitors who see a need for a legal centre in the area and seek funding from the Legal Aid Commission of NSW.

1981

Allen, Allen & Hemsley throw the Centre a pro bono

The Inner City Legal Services Centre gratefully receives its first pro bono solicitor from law firm Allen, Allen & Hemsley. It is hoped that many other local firms will follow their generous lead.

1982

Freedom at last!

1983

The Centre Formerly Known as…

1984

ICLC celebrates the Crimes (Amendment) Act 1984 which decriminalises adult male homosexual sex

1985

ICLC solicits support for the deregulation of prostitution in NSW

1986

Residents Lobby to Derail the System

1987

ICLCs say ‘No’ to the Australia Card

1988

St Vincent’s Hospital draws on ICLC assistance for patients suffering from AIDS to draw up their wills

1989

ICLC’s Immigration Assistance Expands its Borders

1990

Defunding of Tenants’ Advice and Referral Services throughout NSW Fills the House

1991

ICLC Opens its Doors to the Public

1992

ICLC kept busy with the newly unemployed as a result of the recession

1993

The Introduction of the Lesbian and Gay Legal Rights Service on Wednesday evenings

The Lesbian and Gay Legal Rights has now been incorporated into our statewide legal advice service for the LGBTIQ+ community and our Trans and Gender Diverse Legal Service.

1994

The ICLC successfully launched the Lesbian and Gay Wills Project

1995

ICLC becomes involved in a discrimination test case for an HIV+ woman who has been denied access to a clinical drug trial on the basis of her potential to childbearing capacity

1996

ICLC wins major victory in HIV and homosexual vilification case

1997

Unfairly Dismissed Employees Find Guidance in New ICLC Publication

1998

NSW Dept of Corrective Services recognises the special needs of transgender inmates

1999

The community learns the true meaning of de-facto with a bit of help from ICLC

2000

ICLC assists a client who has been denied a war widow’s pension on the basis that the Veterans Entitlement Act 1986 excluded same sex couples from eligibility

2001

Worked in partnership on the development of Acts of Passion: lesbians, gay men and the law

2002

With the assistance of ICLC, a victim of multiple sexual assaults is awarded $250,000, one of the largest amounts of compensation ever made under a Victims Compensation Tribunal claim

2003

Auspice of the weekly Lesbian and Gay Legal Rights Service

2004

Launch of a joint publication with the Inner Sydney Legal Groups for An Indigenous Legal Cadetship Scheme for the Not for Profit Sector

2005

ICLC involved in a discrimination test case for a transgender client who has been denied access to gender affirmation surgery

2006

Launched the second edition of Talking Turkey: A Legal Guide for Lesbian Mothers and Sperm Donors in NSW

2007

The beginning of the Women’s Employment Rights Project

The Women’s Employment Rights Project concluded after 24 months.

2008

The ICLC relocated from Oxford Street to 50-52 Darlinghurst Road

2009

ICLC creates two world firsts: a legal advice service for intersex people and the Safe Relationships Project (SRP). SRP is a service for people in same sex relationships, transgender people and intersex people who have experienced domestic violence

2010

ICLC, with support from pro bono counsel, wins land-mark homophobic vilification case Carter v Brown. The client was awarded $35,000 in damages for vilification on the basis of his sexuality.

2011

Commencement of the Safe Relationships Community Education Awareness Project

2012

Launch of the ICLC Foundation

2013

Commencement of the Sex Worker Legal Service

2014

The Safe Relationship Project is allocated a safe room for LGBTIQ+ domestic violence at the Downing Centre and awarded the Prestigious Law and Justice Foundation of NSW Community Legal Centres NSW Justice Award

2015

Contributed to the LGBTIQ DV Interagency’s ‘Calling it what it really is: A report into LGBTIQ Experiences of DFV’ and the Southern Women’s Group’s ‘Just Another Piece of Paper? Making your AVO work for you’

2016

The Safe Relationship Project partnered with TAFE NSW to deliver training to community sector organisations on the dynamics of LGBTIQ+ family and domestic violence

2017

Participated in planning meetings for the LGBTIQ DV Interagency in Tweed Heads

2018

The successful outcome in Re Kelvin [2017] FamCAFC 258 where the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia empowered transgender youth to have more control over treating their Gender dysphoria by allowing them access to oestrogen or testosterone treatment without the Family Court’s intervention