About Us
Law4Community is a new website produced by the Fitzroy Legal Service to provide legal information relevant to the community sector. Law4Community was created to meet the growing need for legal information specific to community workers who are the first contact for clients seeking legal assistance. Law4Community has:
- a legal services directory, which can locate legal services based on a client’s legal matter;
- practical legal checklists to use when interviewing clients; and
- articles on the latest reform in the community sector.
Law4Community is part of a trilogy of websites within The Law Handbook Online project. This project aims to produce legal information in an accessible and dynamic format for the community sector, individuals and students. The project includes the flagship website: The Law Handbook Online; the legal services directory: Law4Community; and an educational website for students (to be released in 2010).
The Law Handbook was first published in 1977 by the Fitzroy Legal Service and is a practical guide to the law in Victoria. The internet has provided a unique opportunity for access to legal information and The Law Handbook has met this challenge by adapting its content for the internet. The entire publication is now available at www.lawhandbook.org.au and is free to the public. The Law Handbook Online was launched in June 2009 by the Attorney-General Rob Hulls with the patron of the site, Peter Cundall — activist and former ABC Gardening Australia host.
The Law4Community and The Law Handbook Online are funded by a major grant from the Legal Services Board. We are grateful for its support in making the law accessible to everyone.
About Fitzroy Legal Service
Fitzroy Legal Service is a community legal service dedicated to serving community members with limited financial resources or other vulnerability in the legal system. We operate a free legal advice service five nights per week, a busy criminal law practice, and advocacy comprising community legal education, policy and law reform work and community development activities. Fitzroy Legal Service has a longstanding commitment to community access to the law, community legal education and representing the vulnerable in the legal system.
