Legal eagles are eager to serve

By Kath Gannaway
SOLICITOR Kirsten Armstrong sees the provision of a free legal service in Yarra Junction in simple terms.
“It’s providing access to justice to a disadvantaged group who have not had that access in the past,” she said.
Ms Armstrong is a solicitor with the Boronia-based Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC), which last week opened a one-day-a-month outreach service at Yarra Junction.
For clients in places such as Warburton, Millgrove and beyond, Ms Armstrong said even travelling to the ECLC’s Lilydale or Boronia outreach services could be a barrier.
“It’s daunting enough for people to face their legal problems when they emerge, but to have to travel on public transport for six hours just adds to the enormity of it all,” she said.
The centre’s coordinator, Deborah Handley, said the centre had been doing research for about two years which showed a need for a service not only in the Upper Yarra area but across the shire.
“The research highlighted the fact that the further away people live from the suburbs of the east, the less services you get and the more disadvantaged you become,” she said.
“Down the track, we hope to outreach to Healesville so that across the shire we can offer as many appointments in as many destinations as possible.”
Ms Handley said while there was no evidence of problems which were specific to the Upper Yarra area, the demographics of the population also strongly supported the need for a free legal service.
“When you look at things like the high unemployment rate and the number of elderly people, single parents and people on disability pensions, we have some quite disadvantaged groups,” she said.
“It also has one of the highest child protection reporting rates, so when you put all those factors together, you see a real need for people to access a service which is low-cost or no-cost.”
Ms Handley said the service could offer advice on a range of legal issues from neighbourhood disputes and parking fines to intervention orders and the family court.
“People can come in and get advice from a solicitor face to face,” she said. “That advice could be that they have a case, or that they don’t.”
The ECLC operates from the Eastern Access Community Health building, at 2468 Warburton Highway, Yarra Junction, on the first Tuesday of each month.
Phone 1300 797 088.