How to Support or Get Involved with RACS (Refugee Advice & Casework Service)

Updated

You can support RACS through two main paths listed on its website: donating via the Support us section, or offering your time and skills through Volunteering and Pro Bono. The site also provides a Contact us link if you want to reach the organisation directly before committing. RACS frames this support as essential: it describes seeking asylum as "a long and difficult road" that people "can't do it alone."

Start with the Right Entry Point

RACS is a nonprofit that has fought for refugee rights for almost 40 years, providing trauma-informed legal help to people of all nationalities, religions and gender identities. Its homepage navigation points to four areas relevant to supporters:

Entry point What it is for
Support us Giving to RACS's work
Volunteering and Pro Bono Offering time or professional legal skills
Contact us Reaching RACS with questions
Legal services The help RACS provides to clients (context for supporters)

If your goal is financial support, go to Support us. If your goal is hands-on involvement, go to Volunteering and Pro Bono. The site does not publish specific donation amounts, payment methods, or volunteer eligibility rules on the page reviewed, so treat those sections as the place to confirm current details.

Why Support Matters: What RACS Delivers

The homepage reports results from the last 12 months, which give a sense of what donations and volunteer effort fund:

  • 14,061 requests for legal help responded to
  • 1,424+ people received face-to-face legal advice or information
  • 346+ refugees in Australia helped to reunite with separated family

RACS describes legal support as "the one form of help that can give refugees and people seeking asylum lasting safety," and it also advocates for fairer and more humane asylum policies. That means support can serve two purposes: direct legal help for individuals, and broader policy advocacy.

What Supporters and Volunteers Enable

Client voices on the page show the kind of difference the work makes. One client, Hiva (a pseudonym), described being given "a second chance at life" through RACS and its supporters. Another, Maryam, said RACS "didn't care where I am from. They just want to help." A third, Darren, highlighted staff empathy, and Mohsen described the moment he was granted a permanent protection visa as feeling "so happy and free."

For a volunteer or pro bono lawyer, these accounts clarify the working environment: trauma-informed, empathetic legal support for people navigating a complex protection process. For a donor, they illustrate the outcome the organisation is aiming at.

A Practical Way to Decide

  1. Clarify what you can offer — money, time, or professional legal skills.
  2. Open the matching section — Support us for giving, Volunteering and Pro Bono for involvement.
  3. Check current requirements there — the homepage does not list donation tiers, payment platforms, or volunteer criteria, so confirm specifics in those sections.
  4. Use Contact us if anything is unclear before you commit.

If you are unsure between giving and volunteering, note that RACS presents both as ways to help people who "can't do it alone" — the choice depends on whether you can contribute funds or hours and expertise.