New Joint Standards Committee Member being sought

The Joint Standards Committee of the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency and the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency wish to appoint an independent member and are now seeking applications.

Further information, with details on how to apply, can be found here (PDF)

Monday 10 December 10am to 2pm, lunch at 1.15pm.  Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, 61 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.

Guest speakers: David Hanson MP, Minister of State for Justice, Professor Martin Partington: Special Consultant with the Law Commission.

For more info, contact Ann Cartwright at 028 9024 4401.

Border Country by Melanie Friend is an installation of medium-format photographs and voiced testimonies of asylum seekers and migrants in detention in the UK. A publication of the work, with essays by Mark Durden, Alex Hall and Melanie Friend will also be launched at the opening event.

Exhibition runs: 16 November 07 to  11 January 08, Belfast Exposed Photography, Donegall Street, Belfast

14 November 2007

Job vacancies at Law Centre (NI)

Policy Officer (Maternity cover - minimum of six months) and Administration Manager. More details here. 

 5 September 2007

The future of advice services in Northern Ireland

The Advice Services Alliance invites you to its conference on 10 September 2007, 9.30 am to 12 noon, Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast, to discuss the DSD Advice and Information Strategy.

For more information, contact Vicky Moore at Citizens Advice 9026 2542.

4 September 2007

Bill of Rights conference

The Human Rights Consortium conference Getting the Bill Right Agreeing a Bill of Rights for everyone will take place on 28 September 2007 in the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast.

For more information contact the Human Rights Consortium: 028 9096 1128

25 August 2007

New dates have been set for the Belfast WRAP training course. It will now be held each Tuesday from 16 October to 4 December 2007. More details on the Training page.

15 August 2007

Written by Law Centre (NI) Director Les Allamby. Third edition, expanded and updated, with index of cases.  Published by Law Centre (NI) £18.95.  Order here

Welfare Rights Adviser Programme (WRAP)

Details are now available in the Training section about this autumn's Welfare Rights Adviser Programme. 

Your Rights in Northern Ireland - Chinese edition online

A simplified Chinese edition of this guide for migrant workers is now available here. 

Also Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Portuguese, Russian, Tetum and Slovak.

English versions for A8 workers, EEA workers, Work Permit Employees.

Briefing for A2 workers in English and in Romanian.

Frontline 64 now available

The summer edition of the Law Centre's magazine is out now. Articles from it are online here.

Postal strike - extension of job application deadline

Due to industrial action by workers at the Post Office applications for the post of Legal Secretary at Law Centre (NI) are extended from Friday 29 June to 5.00 pm on Tuesday 2 July 2007. For further information contact the Law Centre on 028 9024 4401.

Job vacancy:  Graduate Casework Volunteer 

Law Centre (NI) is looking for a graduate casework volunteer for the summer of 2007. More details here (PDF).

Training at Law Centre (NI)

Download the Law Centre's training programme 2007-2008 (PDF).

Casework updates

Law Centre (NI) Strategic casework selection strategy is now online, as is the latest Casework Bulletin.

Frontline 63 now online

Features and other articles from Frontline 63, including the 2007 benefits and tax credit rates now online. Access them here.

New benefits & tax credits rates available

Law Centre (NI) yearly benefits and tax credits chart online here.  It is presently only available as a PDF, a text version will be available soon.

Russian & Slovak versions of migrant workers guide now online

The popular migrant workers guide: Your Rights in Northern Ireland is now in Russian and Slovak and can be accessed here.

Frontline 62 online

Read features and other articles from Frontline 62 here.

Intercultural and Anti Racism Week 2007

19-25 March is Intercultural & Anti-Racism Week in Ireland North and South. The week is built around and includes the United Nations designated International Day Against Racial Discrimination (March 21). This year Intercultural & Anti-Racism Week will also be part of 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All and it coincides with the Bi-centenary of the Abolition of Slavery on 25 March.

Intercultural Week 2007 provides an important opportunity for statutory, non-government, social partner, media, youth and community and voluntary sector organisations to organise events and develop initiatives which celebrate diversity in Ireland, North and South. This week should also be used to develop and initiate long-term intercultural and anti-racism programmes.

The week is coordinated by the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) in partnership with the National Action Plan Against Racism and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. This year the theme of the week is ‘Working to Improve Services to Minority   Ethnic Groups’ focusing on: Health, Education, Employment, Housing and Policing.

If you are organising an event please let us know about it by email before 7 March 2007 so we can add it to our national calendar of events, which will be circulated to all our subscribers and posted on our website. Please email information to koakes@equalityni.org.  

For free posters and booklets or if you are looking for further information please consult our website www.equalityni.org

EGSA free workshops

EGSA is providing 2 free half day workshops in March 2007 to be held at their premises. The first workshop is Connecting Adults with Essential Skills Learning: a customised workshop for frontline staff wishing to know more about the impact of poor literacy, language and numeracy skills and the benefits of addressing these issues for their service users. It will be held on Tuesday 13 March from 1.30-4.00.

The second workshop is Connecting Employees with Essential Skills Learning: customised training to enable line managers to identify and address their employees' learning needs through mechanisms such as performance management. It will be held on Thursday 29 March from 10.00-12.30.

To book a place on either workshop contact Maxine Bray, Area Guidance Network Adviser (Essential Skills). Tel: 028 90244274 Email: events@egsa.org.uk or visit: www.connect2learn.org.uk/Content.aspx?nSectionId=809&nSubSectionId=821&nContentId=1699

E-consultation: Experiences of Buying and Renting in Northern Ireland

The cost of buying and renting a home in Northern Ireland has never been higher and many people are being priced out of the market. Advice NI is taking a unique approach to finding out how this issue is affecting people by facilitating an online discussion with everyone invited to log on to www.adviceni.net and have their say. Key findings will then be fed into an independent Review into housing affordability in Northern Ireland.

To participate in the online discussion, log on to www.adviceni.net. The eConsultation will run until Friday 26 January.

Advice NI successfully tendered to carry out this qualitative research. The online discussion is one of a variety of methodologies being employed to research this issue. Other partners are:

Belfast Interface Project: www.belfastinterfaceproject.org

Rural Community Network: www.ruralcommunitynetwork.org

Housing Rights Service: www.housingrights.org.uk

NI Anti Poverty Network: www.niapn.org

Organisation for the Unemployed NI: www.ouni.ie

The Affordability Review will consider not just the problems experienced by first time buyers and low income households attempting to enter owner-occupation but will also look at social and private rented sectors. The Advice NI eConsultation will feed directly into this Review.

Rights guide for migrant workers launched

The Law Centre, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Animate have launched a booklet in several languages aimed at migrant workers in Northern Ireland.

Some of the booklets are available online here, with more to follow.

Discrimination and migrant workers

The Equality Commission has produced a leaflet for migrant workers to advise them of their rights not to be discriminated against in employment and tell them how to contact the legal division. This is available in English, Polish, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Lithuanian and Spanish: www.equalityni.org.

In this section of the website, there is also information in English, Polish, Portuguese and Cantonese on how to make an application for assistance to the Commission. The Commission plans to translate these into the other languages in the next financial year. The information can be downloaded and is not in printed form.

In the section www.equalityni.org/publications/downloadlist.cfm?id=21, the Commission has information in the seven languages, plus Irish, on lodging complaints at the Tribunal and FAQs on the questions procedure.