The Homeless Persons’ Legal Service (HPLS) was established in 2004, to provide free, accessible and practical legal help to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
HPLS was launched by the (then) NSW Attorney General, the Hon Bob Debus, and Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore.
From the outset, HPLS helped people where they were, getting out of the office to homelessness ‘clinics’ across Sydney. It offered a holistic, trauma-informed service to its clients: practices maintained to this day.
The HPLS approach was described in our 2005 Annual Report: ‘Legal problems are tied to emotional displacement: clients are often trying to reclaim parts their life and search for ways toward independence; a ‘normal life’, an end to the social isolation they feel. Providing legal advice in this context is about recognising personal experience’.
In its first year, HPLS helped 430 clients with issues including debt, fines, unfair dismissal and tenancy blacklists. Since then, HPLS has helped more than 15,000 clients to stay in safe housing, avoid or exit homelessness, clear debts and fines, escape domestic or family violence, and deal with other legal challenges.
Reducing the impact of unfair fines
An early achievement for HPLS came in 2006 with the publication of Not Such a Fine Thing! This report examined how fines are issued and enforced in NSW, and their impact on people experiencing homelessness.
The report suggested options for reforming the fine system, by introducing alternatives to fines, increasing discretion for officers issuing fines, simplifying the fines system, and offering more accessible ways to pay fines. Many of these recommendations were later reflected in NSW Government amendments to the NSW Fines Act in 2008.
HPLS was invited to work with the NSW Attorney General’s Department, government agencies and non-government organisations to write guidelines underpinning a two-year trial of Work Development Orders (WDOs), which allowed people to reduce their fines by up to $1000 a month through voluntary work, courses, counselling, mentoring or treatment programs.
As of March 2025, more than $400 million worth of fine debt had been resolved for 138,000 people via WDOs.
Court advocacy for people experiencing homelessness
In response to increasing numbers of criminal law referrals to HPLS, the service added the position of criminal Solicitor Advocate in January 2008. The Solicitor Advocate provides clients not only with experienced representation for their day in court, but support through the entire legal process, with a focus on diverting people from the criminal justice system.
In 2025, the HPLS Solicitor Advocate Jeremy Rea was recognised with a NSW Legal Aid ‘Bondie’ award for his outstanding work over 17 years in the role.
StreetCare – a voice for people with lived experience of homelessness
In February 2009, HPLS founded StreetCare, an advisory group of people with lived experience of homelessness. StreetCare began with seven foundational members, representing people experiencing homelessness, people who had exited homelessness, people who had been in prison, women escaping family violence, young people and transgender people.
StreetCare members provide advice directly to government and service providers to improve policy, delivery and outcomes. They are also active advocates for the rights and needs of people experiencing homelessness in the media and law reform processes such as parliamentary committees.
StreetCare had an instant impact. By 2010, two members of the group were appointed to the NSW Premier’s Council on Homelessness. In 2011, the Law and Justice Foundation gave HPLS the Community Legal Centre NSW Award for its work with StreetCare.
StreetCare’s successes have continued. The group played a key role in changing NSW Government Temporary Accommodation rules, meaning people in crisis could more easily access a safe place to stay and for longer. Another major success was working with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) to improve the Protocol for Homeless People in Public Spaces so it was easier to understand and protected the rights of people sleeping rough.
‘[StreetCare] has given me a sense of purpose back in my life. I’ve enrolled to start doing a Cert lV in Mental Health, the inspiration arising from engaging in StreetCare’s valuable services,’ Tiki, StreetCare member, 2025.
Responding to the challenge of COVID-19
COVID-19 brought new challenges to people sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness. As well as the immediate threat to health, the pandemic limited opportunities for people to get help and closed many homelessness services.
In response, we maintained remote phone clinics and helped people to access COVID tests and vaccinations. We produced plain English factsheets explaining health orders and lockdown rules for people experiencing homelessness.
We also established an Outreach Solicitor who opened new pathways for people to seek legal help from HPLS. The Outreach Solicitor connected with people who might struggle to get support elsewhere, including people with insecure Australian residency status.
HPLS and Streetcare also played an important role in advocating with government to provide temporary accommodation for many people sleeping rough. This was a major success, with effectively all people experiencing primary homelessness being provided with accommodation.
A service dedicated to women at risk of homelessness
Women face specific economic and social factors that can push them into homelessness. In 2022, responding to an increase in women seeking help from homelessness organisations, we established the HPLS Women’s Service. The service provides free, holistic, compassionate assistance to women and non-binary people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and has a specialist understanding of issues like domestic and family violence, and sexual assault.
The Women’s Service is a women-only multidisciplinary team of lawyers and support workers. The service provides civil and criminal legal advice and representation, along with social casework support. Its primary focus is on keeping women safe and preventing homelessness through early intervention.
Testimonials
‘Our family’s journey to homelessness happened extremely quickly. One night we were safe, secure and in a home we had lived in for over 5 years but due to our inability to find a new rental we had nowhere to go. The Homeless Persons’ Legal Service is an invaluable service that provides a safety net to those in the community who have nowhere else to turn. Thank you HPLS for all that you’ve done for our family but also the wonderful work that you continue to do for other.’ Tilly*, HPLS Client.
‘Thanks everyone at HPLS. Your kind heartedness and active support and compassion and professionalism and your humanity, has renewed my hope and faith in people.’ – HPLS Client, 2021
’HPLS improves people’s access to justice and saves lives. Through our work at The Shed, an Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Service, we see the impact when people are supported by high quality programs.’ – Rick Welsh, coordinator at the Shed, 2022
