Legal services
in rural communities: Issues for clients and lawyers
by Jeff Giddings, Barbara Hook, Jennifer Nielsen
The purpose of this article is to highlight issues which members of rural communities face when they seek to access legal and related services. It considers these issues from the perspectives of both clients and lawyers. The use of information technology to deliver legal services is also considered.
One size
does not fit all: the legal needs of women in regional, rural and remote Australia
by Kaz Eaton
When 155 people, mostly women, came from all over Australia and gathered in Albury Wodonga in June 2000, it was the first such concentration of attention on the legal needs of women in regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australia. In fact it was the first conference of any kind to look at legal needs in RRR Australia. This article is about how we got together, what we learned and what we believe needs to happen next.
The regions
in ferment? The politics of regional and rural disenchantment
by Nick Economou
Great interest exists in the political attitudes and behaviour of regional and rural Australia. Recent state election results in which rural voters contributed to the defeat of incumbent Liberal-National governments and the rise of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party have been the outward signs of regional and rural voter disenchantment with mainstream politics. This paper seeks to interpret the rise of One Nation as an expression of regional and rural disenchantment particularly with the nature and direction of economic policy. The rise of economic rationalism has had a particularly deleterious effect on the material well-being of the regions, and regional and rural political behaviour has altered accordingly..
The tyranny
of distance: Disadvantage in Queensland's regional prisons
by Cathy Pereira
This article highlights some of the problems encountered by prisoners in regional and remote prisons and their families. The article's primary focus is on prisoners serving custodial sentences. Non-custodial offenders, those on non or post-custodial orders managed by Community Corrections (such as home detention and parole), are only briefly mentioned. Problems stem not only from the remoteness of prison services, both custodial and community corrections, but also the under-resourcing of those services.
'There are different
kinds of isolation'
by Merran Lawler
Residents in mobile home parks face increasing problems caused by their geographic and social isolation. Having chosen a rural or semi-rural lifestyle without appreciating all the consequences, those residents find that they are often the victims of a double loss - the loss and decline of facilities and services within their park, and the loss and decline of facilities and services in local communities.
Law by
telecommunications: the magic solution for rural Australians?
by Margot Rawsthorne
This article explores the appropriateness of information technologies in the provision of legal services to rural Australia currently being championed by the Commonwealth Attorney-General in the Law by Telecommunications Proposal, and outlines the position of the National Network of Women's Legal Services in response to this initiative. Information technologies and telecommunications are not the 'major solution' to the legal problems facing residents of rural Australia. In an election year there is concern that the Attorney-General's Department will 'fast track' these ill-conceived initiatives in an effort to be seen to be 'doing something'. Residents of rural Australia can rightly ask: why have these initiatives taken so long? How will they help me access a solicitor? Why is the government investing funds into more referral services when what is needed is services on the ground?
Hindmarsh
Island: The Ngarrindjeri People petition UN
by Tom Trevorrow
In March 2001, the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia lodged a communication with Ms Erica-Irene Daes, Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples and Their Relationship to Land, of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Their communication requests immediate intervention by the UN to temporarily halt use of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge pending further negotiations.
Community
Legal Centres: Bringing legal services to the bush
by Jennifer Nielsen
The following briefs were
compiled from a range of people involved in servicing rural communities.
Activism in local communities
by Angela Pollard
An outline of some strategies employed to work with local Goori communities in Northern NSW.The Women's Justice Network
by Louise Whitaker
An outline of some networking initiatives in rural communities in Queensland.Bringing the Women's Legal Resources Centre to the bush
by Margot Rawsthorne
An outline of strategies being run by the Women's Legal Resources Centre for assisting women in rural areas to access legal services.The NSW rural and regional debt hotline
by Denise Iosifidis
A discussion of the work of the Consumer Credit Legal Centre in Sydney and, in particular, their hotline for rural residents.Support for artists in rural, regional and remote communities
by Alison Davis
A description of the work and services offered by the Arts Law Centre.Reaching out to the community from the Mornington Peninsula
by Victoria Mullings
Peninsula Community Legal Centre (PCLC) provides legal services to an area covering the whole of the Mornington Peninsula Shire and the cities of Casey, Frankston, Kingston and Glen Eira. It is an enormous area with a potential client base of around 750,000 people. It is one of the few legal centres in Victoria to provide an extensive outreach program.A right to protest?
by Steve Bolt
The District Court at Lismore upheld an appeal against conviction by an environmental activist, effectively acknowledging that an environmental protester has a legal right to protest by blocking access to a development site in some circumstances (Atkins, unreported, District Court of New South Wales, Ducker J, Lismore, 27 November 2000).
Consumer
Credit: Pay day lenders targeted by protest
by Glenn Osboldstone
Pay day lending is proliferating around the country with new shopfronts opening up in all States (save Tasmania where the Payday Lenders Moratorium Act was passed recently). Financial counsellors and others working on the ground are starting to hear the horror stories about people struggling under loans that have been rolled over a number of times and are at the point where the fees and charges to be repaid exceed the principal. Some people are being forced to forego paying rent and buying food, clothes and other necessities as the pay day lenders enjoy first dibs at their bank accounts through direct debits.
| Comments or suggestions on the pages to Liz.Boulton@law.monash.edu.au |  |