A guide to representing children facing criminal charges for duty lawyers.This paper is intended to cover the fundamental ways in which appearing for defendants in the Children’s Court differs from appearing in the Local Court, and offer a guide for practitioners in how to approach matters in the Children’s Court. It is not designed to cover each topic practitioners need to know, but rather as a roadmap, to give practitioners a sense of what issues are useful to keep in mind, and some practical advice.

C Akthar and R Carty, “What do I need to know about representing children?”, 2nd ed, Legal Aid NSW, 2022.