Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Ministers statements: Victorian Law Week

Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (11:50): We had another fantastic law week last week, with over 190 events across a range of topics that brought important legal information to all members of the community. I congratulate the Victoria Law Foundation for their impressive efforts in bringing this together and thank all the partner organisations and presenters for their contributions. Victorian Law Week is a festival that makes learning about the law easy. The extensive program included free legal advice and information, panel discussions, interviews with prominent people, legal workshops and much more. There were in-person events as well as webinars, on-demand videos and phone consultations. These events were open to everybody and were almost entirely free. They helped people learn about how the law affects their life, find answers to legal questions and meet the people who resolve disputes and enforce our laws.

On Friday I visited the Whittlesea Community House as part of law week’s seniors squad. It was a fantastic event, and it was there to teach the local community about legal issues that are important to our older community members, such as powers of attorney, family violence and elder abuse. We heard from a panel of dedicated experts from the Whittlesea community legal service, La Trobe Law School, My Aged Care and Uniting financial counselling. The Whittlesea Community House provides critical services in partnership with the Whittlesea community legal service and the law school and has set up a legal clinic to assist locals with their legal concerns.

I loved meeting the students. They were so passionate and excited about the role that they are playing there. It is inspiring to see these people so early in their careers getting out there and helping grassroots people with their legal issues and really giving back to the communities that they are part of. The Whittlesea community legal service do showcase just how vital their work is in supporting vulnerable community members, and I know that this is replicated across much of our community legal sector, who are just a fantastic sector and provide such a great service for Victorians. Of course the law should be accessible to everyone no matter their pay cheque or postcode, and I am proud of organisations and individuals that work tirelessly to achieve this aim.