It's pleasing to announce some good news, after a disrupted 2020. 

We are thrilled to have two new lawyers joining our service from this month onwards. Raissa Butkowski has been named the new NSW Outreach Lawyer. When outreach resumes, Raissa will visit Deniliquin, Corowa, Finley, the Hub in Albury and Lavington Library giving free legal advice. Harley Dannatt will take on the important role as Bushfire Lawyer to assist people recovering from the January 2020 bushfires. Both lawyers will also be helping people with legal issues arising as a result of COVID-19. We look forward to their contribution and continuing our work of linking the community to the law.  

Our offices remain closed to the public but our service continues. You can reach us on 1800 918 377 or contact us through the website. Our service may be limited, due to the current circumstances, so if we are unable to assist, we will refer you to other appropriate services. 

We are still encouraging referrals to help people in need, and our usual legal service intake criteria applies. Our lawyers can also provide secondary consults to service providers to give general advice on what may be the best course of action for your client.

Free legal advice is also available through Victoria Legal Aid on 1300 792 387 or online chat at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au, or LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529. The Albury Legal Aid Office can also be contacted on 02 6020 7200 for telephone advice.

Visit our COVID page to find useful infiormation and answers to COVID-related legal questions.

Like many, we have welcomed the news this week of border closure restrictions being eased. It feels as though we are a step closer to the border re-opening and we can go back to operating as one community in the not-too-distant future.

If you'd like to keep up with our latest updates, please 'Like' us on Facebook or Twitter. 

We help solve legal problems

As a generalist free community legal service, we provide assistance on a range of legal issues, including:

·       family law

·       family violence

·       separation and divorce

·       youth law

·       motor vehicle accidents

·       credit and debt issues

·       consumer complaints

·       fines

·       other everyday legal problems

Some legal problems, like bankruptcy, conveyancing, personal injury, and commercial matters, we are unable to assit with, but if you call us, we can refer you to someone who can help. We prioritise people experiencing family violence, children and youth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with a disability or mental illness, the elderly, low income earners, and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Giving young people access to justice is a priority for us. Young people face many hurdles to get legal assistance, which is why we started the Invisible Hurdles in late 2015. The project has been successful, and many positive outcomes have been achieved. 

We received this feedback recently and wanted to share it with you to show how students at Wodonga Flexible Learning Centre have benefited from the project, and the profound impact it's had for those connected to our service. 

"The Invisible Hurdles project is a unique initiative that the students and staff at the Wodonga Flexible Learning Centre are incredibly appreciative to be a part of. The addition of a community development /project worker, Becky Smith, to Invisible Hurdles has strengthened the relationships of all participants within the program. The relational trust that has developed between the students and Becky through thought-provoking conversations and active listening, has empowered our young people to find their voice and seek help when they need it. 

"Not only does Becky help students to understand the law, their rights and responsibilities, she also builds her sessions around what the students are sharing about what is important to them or what is affecting them. This enables students to feel as though they are in control of their learning, and that what is important to them matters. It builds a sense of self confidence and self-worth and more importantly the confidence to have a voice to say, ‘this is not ok, what can I do about it?’

"For students who have been passive in their educational journey, Becky’s enthusiasm and energy is a reason to connect."

Kristy Shaddock, Leading Teacher

Wodonga Flexible Learning Centre

Water & electricity bills - get clients connected with help!

Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW continues to help consumers who are experiencing difficulties with their electricity, gas and water providers. The office is open to help people who require assistance in managing a complaint in regard to their energy provider, or if they just have an enquiry. Contact 1800 246 545 or email complaints@ewon.com.au.

Albury saw a high rate of disconnections in 2019-20. If you have clients facing disconnection of energhy and water, please contact EWON for possible assistance. 

EWON is very concerned about rising energy bills. With more people now working from home and more people unemployed, they may be struggle to pay energy bills that have likley increased over winter. Consumers also have other concerns that they haven’t had previously, such as rental affordability and mental health, etc. EWON would like to let people know about the support currently available.

EWON offers informative articles to include in newsletters, including topics such as:

-          About EWON

-          Energy saving

-          Customer assistance programs

-          High energy bills

-          Difficulty paying bills

-          Coronavirus and managing your energy account.

Please contact Community Engagement Officer Julie Bye at julieb@ewon.com.au to organise this or for any questions regarding EWON.

From September to November 2020, the Ovens Murray-Family Violence Partnership (OM-FVP) has organised a series of place-based MARAM Collaborative Practice sessions focused on gathering workers together in each local government area (LGA).

Registrations are now being taken in the OM-FVP catchment - Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong, Wangaratta and Wodonga and border local government areas.

 This training is aimed at supporting all who work with people experiencing family violence and will help you to:

·     Increase your understanding of the Multi-Agency Risk and Assessment Management (MARAM) framework and your place within MARAM, and

·     Collaborate for ongoing risk management through respectful and sensitive engagement with victim survivors, information sharing, referral and secondary consultation

 We are keen to encourage collaborative practice across family violence prevention + early intervention + response + recovery work in every Ovens Murray area.

Registering for a session in the Local Government Area where you work will enable networking and discussions relevant to the service system as it relates to your community.

Registration for all sessions is through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/ovens-murray-family-violence-partnership-31028265039

This training does not replace the Tier 1–4 risk assessment and tools training, but forms an integral component of the MARAM suite of training for workers preventing and responding to family violence.

In preparation for the training, it is advised that all participants:

·      read the MARAM Foundation Knowledge Guide and

·      watch the 'Helping end family violence – the Information Sharing Schemes and MARAM’ video (3 minutes) 

The sessions are being co-facilitated by experienced family violence practitioners from the Ovens Murray area to further enhance collaboration between different parts of the family violence service system. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, all sessions will be provided on Zoom and are delivered in 2 x 3-hour time slots. To receive a certificate for MARAM Collaborative Practice training, participants are required to attend both sessions.

Please contact Principal Strategic Advisor Ovens Murray Integrated Family Violence Tricia Hazeleger for any additional information.

Ph: 02 6055 9564 Mob: 0427 659 721 Email: tricia.hazeleger@upperhumepcp.com.au