Youth homelessness and women in prison are topics that need be addressed, according to the 2019 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year, Farzana Choudhury.
Ms Choudhury, who is a senior solicitor at Canberra Community Law, works in Street Law โ an โoutreach legal service for people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessnessโ.
Practising law for over five years, Ms Choudhury says she was always interested in โsocial justice issues more broadly, being able to help people experiencing disadvantageโ.
Illustrating her passion to help, Ms Choudhury established Street Law’s health justice partnership with the Junction Youth Health Service as well as the Women in Prison Legal Empowerment Sessions (WIPLES).
The health justice partnership sees a lawyer working alongside health practitioners and youth work staff to address the unmet legal needs of young people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.
โI thought this might be a good idea because I had heard about health justice partnerships, but they are relatively new in Australia, and with youth homelessness a real problem in the ACT โฆ I wanted to try and make our services as accessible as possible for young people.โ
According to Ms Choudhury, WIPLES came about from discussions with the Womenโs Centre for Health Matters, of which she is board chair, and issues โaround services, particularly for women in prisonโ.
WIPLES is a series of legal education seminars and advice clinics with the goal of supporting and empowering women in prison. The project started in April this year with support from Capital Giving, and has also received a grant from the Chief Ministerโs Charitable Fund.
Ms Choudhury also volunteers with several community organisations, including the Night Time Legal Advice Service, Beryl Women Inc, Homeless Connect Canberra, and the International Tenantsโ Beryl Women Inc Day.
โMaybe Iโm just a bit of a go-getter,โ she smiles. โI think Iโve always been interested in building a better community and using the skills that Iโve got to do that.โ
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