Essendon Community Legal Centre

Community Legal Education

"Our focus is on educating people about the law, to hopefully prevent legal problems happening and then if they do, to give people information and skills on how they can actively participate in solving them."

The Essendon Community Legal Centre is committed to the principle that information is a right. Information allows the community to make informed decisions about their legal rights and responsibilities.
Community legal education is essential to meeting the legal needs of our community and takes our work into the community. It is also more cost effective than on-on-one service delivery because it introduces people to the legal system and empowers them to pursue their rights.
Our casework service informs our community legal education. Who walks in the door, and who doesn't, guides the Centre's community legal education priorities. Accordingly, community legal education is a means of providing information to those members of the community who do not regularly use the Centre.
For example, the Centre sees very few young people, so the Centre produced a legal rights card for young people (the "Get Smart Card") and organised a "Youth Rights Day". Workers from the Centre regularly speak at workshops organised by agencies who work with young people to inform about legal issues and options relevant to young people. The ECLC is happy to discuss and plan running a workshop with your community group. Areas of interest often include powers of attorney, wills, neighbour disputes and family law matters.

Please contact the CLE & Law Reform Officer Tim Bloxsome on (03) 9376 7929 or email on Email: timbloxsome@essclc.org.au