Macarthur Legal Centre celebrates 30 years of reaching out to care for community
The dedicated solicitors, case workers and staff at Macarthur Legal Centre has celebrated their milestone 30th anniversary of providing services to residents who may not otherwise be able to access them.
Macarthur
Don't miss out on the headlines from Macarthur. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Macarthur Legal Centre overjoyed at additional funding decision
- Pig, from Tim’s Garden Centre, shares his social commentary with the world in new book Dreaming About Mud by artist Andrew Christie
THE dedicated solicitors, case workers and staff at Macarthur Legal Centre has celebrated their milestone 30th anniversary of providing services to residents who may not otherwise be able to access them.
Located in Campbelltown, the non-profit organisation was established in 1987 to provide free legal advice, referrals and assistance to people living in the Macarthur area, with services extending as far as Goulburn.
Macarthur Legal Centre executive director Robert Pelletier, who also lectures in law at the University of Notre Dame Australia, said the organisation, including its six solicitors, and 22 caseworkers, believed services should be available to all members of the community, regardless of social, cultural or economic background.
“Australia is a rich country but there are a large number of people who cannot access the legal system,’’ he said.
“The government has serves like legal aid and they do fabulous work but they can’t do everything.
“As an NGO we are able to reach out to people and we have outreaches across 6000 square kilometres.’’
The centre runs 15 outreaches and is about to open a new outreach at Campbelltown Hospital.
“We bring justice to where people are,’’ he said.
As well as providing a legal practice, the centre also provides the Macarthur Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service and The South West Sydney Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service to deliver a holistic service to clients.
As reported in the Macarthur Chronicle, the centre faced an uncertain future after the Federal Government announced plans to cut funding by 30 per cent to community legal centres across Australia from July 1 this year before scrapping the plan and restoring funding.
Mr Pelletier said he was grateful about this decision to restore funding because there were large areas of disadvantage in the Macarthur area and he was keen to continue to reach out to people in need.
“The Campbelltown LGA has the second highest incidence of domestic violence across Sydney and the highest rate of reoffending,’’he said.
“Many people are living difficult lives and we can help them with legal aspects and the court process.’’
The centre hosted a 30th anniversary awards night recently to honour its achievements and success in helping the community
Special guests including local MPs, the NSW Supreme Court chief justice Thomas Bathurst and the legal centre’s founding members.