Legal eagles set to aid Cranbourne

A COMMUNITY legal centre is to be set up in Cranbourne.
Attorney General Rob Hulls made the longawaited announcement on Tuesday following calls from Cranbourne MP Jude Perera for the construction of a new branch office to service Cranbourne, with outreach facilities in Hampton Park, Beaconsfield and Pakenham.
Mr Perera said the centre – one of four set to receive funding throughout Victoria – would be at the forefront of service delivery, community education and law reform.
“A community legal centre will benefit every single resident in my electorate of Cranbourne and the surrounding areas,” he said.
“It will ensure that all residents have an opportunity to get early, accessible and effective legal advice so that legal matters are resolved quickly and face to face with a qualified legal representative.”
Mr Perera said he had been lobbying for a legal centre following concerns from residents about the lack of free, qualified, facetoface legal advice in the area.
“My electorate office receives numerous legal inquiries relating to matters such as family law and debt related problems, just to name a few,” he said.
“Cranbourne residents have been fortunate enough to have a qualified legal representative from the Peninsula Community Legal Centre come out to Cranbourne once a week to see them personally … but this is simply not enough.
“On many occasions this representative from the Peninsula Community Legal Centre is booked out weeks in advance,” Mr Perera said.
Mr Hulls said new centres were being established with funds of $8.9 million over four years.
They follow the opening of a new statefunded legal centre in Whittlesea last year.
Mr Hulls said the new centres would be based in areas that had large numbers of disadvantaged and vulnerable people, populations in excess of 200,000 and a significant need for more legal centres.
“Many people do not receive the support they need because of a lack of services, lack of awareness of their rights or because they can’t afford legal advice,” he said.
“Early intervention is the key to resolving problems before they escalate to the court system, and community legal centres are well placed to provide this advice.”