WHAT’S NEW

Discrimination Toolkit

The Discrimination Toolkit: Your Guide to Making a Discrimination Complaint was launched during Law Week 2007 at Legal Aid in Sydney by the Hon Elizabeth Evatt AC.

Funded and produced in partnership by Elizabeth Evatt Community Legal Centre, Kingsford Legal Centre, Legal Aid NSW and the Australian Institute of Administrative Law, the Toolkit is a comprehensive and practical guide to discrimination law. It outlines all the steps involved in making and running a complaint and includes a comprehensive glossary and resource guide.

Although easy to understand, the Toolkit tackles tricky areas such as choosing between Federal and state jurisdictions. “It steers a course through all this complexity to help people decide how to proceed in individual cases,” said Elizabeth Evatt in her launch speech. “It will help those who work directly in the anti-discrimination field, community services which may be asked about the issues, and those who have the courage to take action on their own behalf.”

Over 2000 free copies of the Toolkit have already been distributed throughout NSW. You can pick up a copy at the Legal Centre or order one from the Publications Unit at Legal Aid on (02) 9219 5028. The Toolkit is also available FREE online at www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au. 

Victims of Crime

With funding from the NSW Department of Corrective Services and in partnership with Women’s Legal Services NSW, the Centre is undertaking a project to promote awareness of the NSW victims’ compensation scheme. A resource guide for community workers and lawyers explaining the operation of the scheme as well as recent changes will be launched in mid 2008. To place an advance order for the resource guide, please call the Centre on (02) 4782 4155. 

Greenpower

Following a spate of enquiries about aggressive “green” marketing campaigns by various electricity retailers, the Centre is now working with Blue Mountains City Council on a project to inform consumers about Greenpower. We have produced a Fact Sheet that explains what Greenpower is and how consumers can choose green energy products wisely. It also includes simple tips on how to reduce your greenhouse gas pollution and save money on power bills at the same time.

Mental health

Over the past year the Centre has concentrated more resources on research and submission writing, supervision of students and relationship building with workers and interagencies. In particular, we are endeavouring to implement an innovative and effective mental health service delivery model within our Centre. This model will draw on a range of frameworks and will include promotion, prevention and early intervention; collaborative casework; and holistic care. 

• Doing Law Differently: Maximising social justice outcomes for people with mental health issues, a funding submission for the development of a collaborative mental health project
• Collaborating to achieve better results for clients with mental health issues: a guide for community legal centres, a funding submission for development of a guide to collaborative practice
• To coerce or collaborate? Why human rights lawyers need to pay greater attention to relationships with other professions, a paper advocating collaborative practice.
• EECLC Mental Health Research Digest, a portfolio of existing research, innovative practice frameworks and human rights resources for community workers