Ruah Legal Services and Mental Health Law Centre

26/11/2025

📣 Reminder: RLS presenting at the Health Justice Australia Conference!

RLS is excited that our Principal Lawyer Luke Cassidy and Sarah Toovey will be presenting at the Health Justice Australia Conference on 3 December 2025 in Sydney.

Health Justice Australia is the leading organisation advocating for innovative partnerships between health and legal services.

Grown from a practitioner-led movement, it supports services to implement these partnerships while sharing outcomes about their effectiveness with policy makers and funders to advocate for system-level solutions that respond effectively to the reality of people’s lives.

Luke and Sarah will share reflections on navigating clashes of professional obligations in integrated legal services and implementing safeguards for legal professional privilege.

Collaboration between lawyers, health practitioners and other professionals is critical to providing meaningful help to people with complex, intersecting needs.

We look forward to hearing from other leaders in this space as we work together to provide transformational services to our clients.

https://healthjustice.org.au/learn-with-us/hja-conference/

07/11/2025

Calling All Law Students!

Are you passionate about social justice and looking to gain real-world legal experience? We’d love to hear from you.

Ruah Legal Services and Mental Health Law Centre is seeking expressions of interest from law students eager to volunteer and develop their practical legal skills in a supportive, purpose-driven environment.

As a volunteer, you’ll gain hands-on experience with:

📞 Managing client phone calls and enquiries
📝 Conducting intakes and drafting legal documents
👩‍⚖️ Shadowing our dedicated lawyers across diverse practice areas

This is a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful contribution while building your professional skill set.

📩 To apply, please send your resume, cover letter, and academic transcript to:
✔️ legalservices@ruah.org.au
✔️ Or apply via our website: https://lnkd.in/gTuT98K9

We look forward to hearing from you!

Volunteer Application Form Please fill out the below form to apply as a volunteer: Personal DetailsFirst Name(Required)Last NameDate of Birth MM slash DD slash YYYY PhoneEmail Address(Required) EducationUniversity(Required)Course(Required)Anticipated Date of GraduationVolunteering DetailsCommitment....

05/11/2025

RLS regional travel to expand access to legal services under the Mental Health Act continues — the second last trip of 2025! 🧳

📍 Ballardong Noongar Country | Wheatbelt Region

Our Principal Lawyer, Luke Cassidy, and lawyer, Jacinta Peet, travelled to Northam last week to deliver community legal education to the Wheatbelt Community Legal Centre and staff at Holyoake Northam.

🧠 The session with Wheatbelt Community Legal Centre covered RLS practice areas, with an in-depth exploration of key aspects of the Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) Act 2023 and Guardianship and Administration orders.

💬 For Holyoake, Luke and Jacinta presented a comprehensive overview of our practice areas and the Mental Health Act, including how RLS lawyers represent clients under the Act and the referral process.

🤝 This trip was a wonderful opportunity to connect with Wheatbelt Community Legal Centre staff and strengthen partnerships with Holyoake Northam.

RLS is grateful for the active engagement and shared commitment to improving legal and community responses to mental health across the Wheatbelt. 🌿

31/10/2025

Karni Walbirniny Koorliny | Walk of Truth and Healing

Yesterday the RLS team joined our Ruah and community legal sector companions for the Walk for Reconciliation at Galup | Lake Monger - a place of deep cultural and historical significance to the Whadjuk Noongar people.

The walk honoured the storytelling passed down to Doolann-Leisha Eatts (Garlett) by her grandmother Yurleen Bennell (Garlett) and acknowledged the Galup massacre story.

It was an important moment to reflect on the ongoing journey toward truth-telling, healing and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and a meaningful reminder of the importance of listening, learning, and strengthening partnerships across community and legal sectors in our collective pursuit of a more just and fair future.

30/10/2025

RLS travel to regional areas to increase access to legal services for matters under the Mental Health Act continues 🧳

📍 Jaburrarra and Kariyarra Country | WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Pilbara region trip

Our Principal Lawyer, Luke Cassidy, travelled to Munjaree | Karratha and Marapikurrinya | Port Hedland last week to provide training to WACHS staff and deliver community legal education to legal assistance providers.

🧠 Tailored training on the Mental Health Act was delivered to the Karratha and Port Hedland Community Mental Health Service teams. This presentation examined the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under the Mental Health Act, the Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) Act 2023, and Guardianship and Administration orders.

⚖️ Luke also presented to the Pilbara Community Legal Services (PCLS) teams in both Karratha and Port Hedland. Topics included RLS practice areas, legal professional privilege in integrated legal services, and what to do when a lawyer has doubts about a client’s capacity to give them proper instructions.

We are thankful to our PCLS partners for inviting other legal practitioners to join the Port Hedland session!

27/10/2025

RLS travel to regional areas to increase access to legal services for matters under the Mental Health Act continues🧳

👩‍⚖️ Lawyers Sophie Taylor and Heidi Rees travelled to Wardandi Country | WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Southwest region this week to provide training to WACHS staff, community legal education to legal assistance providers and in-person legal advice to consumers under the Mental Health Act.

📍 Goomburrup | Bunbury

Tailored training on the Mental Health Act was delivered to staff in the Acute Psychiatric Unit, the Inpatient Unit and the Community Mental Health Team, which was joined online by staff in other locations in the Southwest.

🧠 A two-hour CPD session covering the Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) Act 2023, the intersection between criminal law and the Mental Health Act, Guardianship and Administration and referral pathways was presented for our legal assistance colleagues from South West Community Legal Centre, Southern Aboriginal Corporation, Legal Aid and Aboriginal Legal Services.

📝Heidi and Sophie also engaged with Mental Health Advocacy Service to provide 1:1 advice sessions in the Acute Psychiatric Unit.

Our fourth trip on this year’s travel schedule is now complete. Stay tuned for an update on our Pilbara trip, which also took place this week!

🗺️Through this regional, rural and remote travel we aim to improve access to justice, strengthen collaboration with WACHS, share expertise and foster connections with local legal assistance providers.

We thank all participants for their active engagement and considered questions, and look forward to our ongoing collaboration throughout the regions.

16/10/2025

Ruah Legal Services acknowledges the important role of carers who provide ongoing support to people living with mental illness.

We see firsthand the vital role carers can play in the lives of our clients — offering compassion, stability and advocacy through some of the most challenging times. Carers can make a profound difference in helping people stay connected and navigate complex systems.

This year’s theme, “You are, know, or will be one,” underscores how universal and fundamental caring is to our communities.

https://www.carerswa.asn.au/carers-week/

10/10/2025

🌿 Mental Health Week 2025 🌿

This week has been a wonderful opportunity to recognise the power we each hold to recover, to connect, and to contribute. Through our work, we see every day how offering the right support can open doors to hope, healing and opportunity.

When individuals are supported in their recovery, communities become stronger, safer and more inclusive. 💙

As we move beyond Mental Health Week, we’re committed to challenging stigma, empowering individuals and building communities where everyone has the chance to belong and to thrive.

It’s World Mental Health Day. Time to stop casting our eyes downward about mental health and look up. Today, I need you to know these 3 things. 1. If you are struggling, you are not broken. They are not the same thing. 2. Hard things are not bad things. 3. As a species, we were not designed to sol...

09/10/2025

🌿 Mental Health Week 2025 🌿

Parents involved in child protection proceedings have often faced immense challenges—poverty, family and domestic violence, and mental health struggles that push them to the brink.

They are too often met with judgement, which only deepens the difficulties they face.

With compassion, strong legal advocacy and practical support, real change is possible.

Ebony’s story shows how parents can rebuild, recover, and keep their families together.

And when families stay together, there are better long-term outcomes for parents, children and the whole community.

View the Integrated Service model and how we walked with 'Ebony' to help achieve better outcomes for her life, escaping family and domestic violence.

08/10/2025

🌿 Mental Health Week 2025 🌿

At RLS, we work to break down stigma and empower people with the right tools, services and representation.

And we see lives transform.

People move beyond labels and diagnoses, into recovery, connection and meaningful participation in community and work.

This case study from Ruah Community Services’ Luminos Project shows how, with the right tools and meaningful support, people can create powerful and transformative change in their lives.

This week we’re continuing to celebrate empowerment, resilience and the strength that comes from community support.

When Alex* first reached out to The Luminos Project through Ruah, they weren’t sure it was the right fit and ultimately declined support. But later…

07/10/2025

🌿 Mental Health Week 2025 🌿

This year’s theme ‘Empowering Communities, Thriving Workforces’ is about recognising the power we hold as individuals, and in our communities.

This theme is at the heart of our work at RLS. Every day, we walk alongside people living with mental illness—many of whom face additional barriers in the justice system—offering both legal advocacy and intensive practical support.

Julian’s story is an example of how people’s lives can transform when they can access holistic, integrated legal support without judgement that empowers, encourages and fosters confidence.

For people living with mental illness—especially those involved in the criminal justice system—judgement and negative perceptions can be some of the biggest barriers to recovery.

At RLS we aim to break down those barriers, equipping people to make meaningful, lasting change.

This Mental Health Week, we’re proud to share stories that show how we can all empower individuals, strengthen communities, and build thriving communities. 💙

View the Integrated Service model and how we walked with 'Julian' to help achieve better outcomes for his life, as he faced stigma associated with mental hea...

01/10/2025

The Law Society recently brought together leaders from across WA's mental health services oversight bodies to discuss the legal aspects of current issues for consumers, community and the profession.

The panel was chaired by the President of the Mental Health Tribunal the Hon Dr Andrew Lu AM, and included Chief Psychiatrist Dr Nathan Gibson, Mental Health Commissioner Maureen Lewis, and Principal Lawyer of Ruah Legal Services and Mental Health Law Centre, Luke Cassidy.

The wide-ranging discussion considered the effectiveness of the new Criminal Law (Mental Impairment Act) 2023 over the last 12 months, the impact of extremely low availability of forensic mental health beds in our state, the review of the Guardianship and Administration Act (1990) by the WA Law Reform Commission, developments in therapeutic jurisprudence, and approaches promoting to the mental and physical health of prisoners.

Thank you sincerely to the Law Society and all who participated in this important discussion.