Staff from our West Kimberley regional office spent the last week strengthening their networks, clocking up the kilometres, and engaging different community groups on a week-long road trip.
Legal Aid WA facilitated a special outreach tour to Fitzroy Crossing with solicitors from Circle Green Community Legal Centre, Consumer Credit Legal Service WA, Welfare Rights and Advocacy Service, and Street Law WA.
After driving out to Fitzroy Crossing, the first activities were a legal clinic at Karrayili Resource Centre and a pop-up clinic in front of the local IGA. The legal expertise across all of the organisations at the clinic meant that the community could approach with questions about a range of legal problems and receive useful information and helpful advice. Some of the most common questions included problems with personal loans or a credit card issue, which were handled by the diverse expertise at the clinic.
The next community engagement was attending the two-day Deadly Jobs Expo at the Fitzroy Crossing Recreation Centre. This provided an opportunity for community members to access specialist legal advice and raise awareness of the diverse range of legal services that are available. It was also great fun for our staff to network with other community organisations there and catch up with friendly faces – including Angela who was there with the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety!
Our Legal Aid WA team is active in the Fitzroy Valley region, and by regularly turning up and engaging clients face-to-face, they work to break down barriers to equitable access to justice faced by regional communities.