CeCC recognised for work with Bushfire Legal Help

17 August 2010

Bushfire Legal Help, a unique collaboration of the Victorian legal profession’s peak bodies, was established within two days of the 7 February 2009 Victoria bushfire disaster to provide free legal assistance to bushfire victims and their communities.

Partners included Victoria Legal Aid, Federation of Community Legal Centres, Public Interest Law Clearing House, Law Institute of Victoria, Victorian Bar and the Victoria Law Foundation.

CeCC assisted Bushfire Legal Help by setting up a website for the provision of legal fact sheets, links to events, media releases, and partner agency links. There have been around 7,000 visits to the website since its launch in March 2009, and the website continues to be refined and developed.

In recognition of our work with the legal community, CeCC received a Law Institute Victoria Legal Award 2009 “in recognition of outstanding contribution made towards Bushfire Legal Help”.

With the recent release of the Bushfire Legal Help review document in March 2010 (http://www.bushfirelegalhelp.org.au/cb_pages/images/BLH_project_report_final.pdf) CeCC has again been recognised for our contribution to the development of information and resources. “The website went live within weeks of the bushfires, thanks to the support of the Centre for eCommerce and Communications at the University of Ballarat, the commitment of partner organisations, and the generous contribution of many legal professionals”, the report states.

Joh Kirby, Executive Director, Victoria Law Foundation, said in his statement “The Bushfire Legal Help partnership is a great example of what can be achieved when all the key organisations within a sector work together. Although Victoria Law Foundation does not provide legal advice, we were able to draw on the information and experience of those at the frontline to ensure that the information on the Bushfire Legal Help website was current, clear and addressed the immediate and ongoing legal needs of those affected.”

See the Bushfire Legal Help website at www.bushfirelegalhelp.org.au.