In honour of Cultural Diversity Week 2026, some of our team shared their thoughts on cultural diversity and a bit about their cultural identity in this highlights video featured on our social media. You can view the original post on our LinkedIn here. You can also view this on our Facebook here
Today, Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) welcomed the launch of the Victims Legal Service (VLS) Impact Report, marking three years of specialist, trauma-informed legal support for victim-survivors across Victoria. The report highlights the service’s impact at a critical juncture, as current funding is set to conclude in just over 100 days.
Since commencing in March 2023, the VLS, Victoria’s first dedicated statewide legal service for victims of crime has delivered 12,097 services to victim-survivors, including responding to 10,513 enquiries through its specialist Helpline and providing ongoing legal casework to more than 2,000 individuals.
The report reveals the critical impact of the service including:
Yet despite this success, 727 victim-survivors eligible for intensive assistance were turned away due to capacity constraints. With current funding due to expire in June 2026, the future of this vital service remains uncertain.
Michael Smith, CEO of Eastern Community Legal Centre, said:
“At ECLC, we see every day how specialist legal support can be the turning point in a victim-survivor’s journey towards safety and healing. This report validates what our staff team and clients already know: when you combine trauma-informed practice with deep local knowledge, you get real justice outcomes. But we cannot ignore the warning in these pages.
“With demand doubling and hundreds of people unable to access help due to capacity limits, now is not the time to step back. We call on the Victorian Government to secure long-term funding for the VLS because no victim in our community should be left without support simply because services are at capacity,” added Michael.
ECLC is proud to be one of seven local Community Legal Centre partners in the VLS network, delivering place-based, intensive legal assistance to victim-survivors in Melbourne’s East, including Boroondara, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Monash, Whitehorse and the Yarra Ranges.
If you have experienced violent crime and need legal support, you can contact ECLC directly on 1300 32 52 00, or the VLS Helpline on 1800 531 566 or visit victimsofcrime.vic.gov.au.
Read the Joint Media Statement here.
Read the VLS Impact Report here.
Matthew Sims & Jacob Wallace
November 20, 2025
A local not-for-profit legal support centre has joined an industry-wide call for the State Government to abandon proposed reforms that would see children as young as 14 face sentences designed for adult offenders.
What happened: Last week, Victorian premier Jacinta Allan announced changes to the way the state will prosecute violent crimes committed by children aged over 14.
Under the proposed reforms, children 14 and older who are charged with the following crimes will face trial in the adult County Court instead of the Children’s Court:
Longer and harsher: The maximum jail sentence that can be imposed in the Children’s Court for any offence is three years.
Local reaction: First established in 1974, the Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) is a community-based not-for-profit legal support centre with offices in Box Hill, Boronia and Healesville.
Chief executive Michael Smith said he and his team were “disappointed” by the proposed changes, arguing they will “fail to address the root causes of offending and perpetuate cycles of harm”, including unstable family situations, serious family violence and poverty.
Early help: Smith said he hoped the government would consider providing more investment towards community-based support, including within local schools, community groups and sporting clubs.
Pressure already critical: Smith said the community legal sector is under “huge stress and pressure” to cope with demand and many services like ECLC have no capacity to expand.
Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice Studies at RMIT University, Dr Marietta Martinovic (left) and Assistant Associate Dean of Social Science Research and Policy Studies at RMIT University, Dr Kathryn Daley (right).
A downward spiral: Assistant Associate Dean of Social Science Research and Policy Studies at RMIT University, Dr Kathryn Daley, told the Gippsland Monitor the changes will present “a slippery slope” towards the erosion of the rights of children in Victoria.
Adding to the workload: The Federation of Community Legal Centres has also criticised the announcement, saying in a statement the reforms “will fall disproportionately on Aboriginal children, children in out-of-home care, and children with disability – groups already overrepresented in the justice system due to systemic discrimination, disadvantage and unmet support needs”.
You can read the original article here:
In a historic moment for Australia, the Statewide Treaty Bill was introduced to the Victorian Parliament on 9 September 2025. If it passes both Houses of Parliament, it will give effect to the first treaty in Australia between First Peoples and a state or territory government.
On 14 October 2025, the second anniversary of the Voice Referendum, a moving Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony was provided by Traditional Owners ahead of the address to the Lower House by First Peoples’ Assembly Co-Chairs Ngarra Murray and Rueben Berg.
The introduction of the Bill marks a defining moment in Victoria’s history, culminating generations of resistance, advocacy, and leadership by First Peoples, and nearly a decade of dedicated work since the Aboriginal Treaty Working Group was formed in 2016.
After decades of resilience and activism, Australia’s first Treaty between the Victorian Government and First Peoples is now on the cusp of becoming law.
As a proud and unwavering ally, Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) wholeheartedly supports this historic Statewide Treaty Bill. The Centre believes that this legislation represents far more than policy, it is a profound step toward resetting the relationship between the Victorian state and First Peoples, grounded in fairness, respect, and truth.
At the heart of the Treaty is a formal apology from the Victorian Government to the First Peoples of Victoria, alongside binding commitments to embed truth-telling and Aboriginal history into every public school curriculum. Critically, it empowers Aboriginal communities to design, develop, and deliver the solutions that will shape their futures because when First Peoples lead, their communities thrive.
The Treaty also establishes permanent structures for representation and accountability, including the First Peoples’ Assembly as a permanent democratic body and the new Nginma Ngainga Wara Outcomes and Justice Commission. These mechanisms ensure that government promises translate into real, measurable outcomes in health, education, housing, and justice.
ECLC stands firmly behind the principle that self-determination is not just a right, it is essential.
ECLC CEO Michael Smith said, “This monumental Treaty is more than just legislation, it’s a long-overdue act of justice. At ECLC, we stand firmly with First Peoples in Victoria as they lead the way toward self-determination, truth-telling and real change.”
“Supporting this bill isn’t just the right thing to do, it is essential to building a fairer, more inclusive future for generations to come,” he added.
Victoria’s leadership in becoming the first Australian state to legislate a Treaty with First Peoples sets a powerful example for the rest of the nation.
It strengthens our democracy, deepens our collective understanding of history, and paves the way for a more inclusive, equitable, and reconciled future, for all Victorians, and for generations to come.
Read ECLC’s full Treaty pledge: eclc.org.au/treatypledge
Watch our Treaty Pledge video: vimeo.com/1125054107
Learn more about Treaty here: firstpeoplesvic.org/treaty
You can read the original Star Mail article here
By Callum Ludwig
20/06/2025
With family and domestic violence continuing to be a major issue throughout Australia, it’s important to shine a light on different avenues to protection that are available to victims.
One potential option is a family violence intervention order (FVIO), a civil order which can be granted by the Magistrates’ Court to help protect a person, their children and/or their property from a family member, partner or ex-partner.
An FVIO granted to a daughter by the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court was recently upheld in the County Court of Victoria despite an attempt to appeal it by her mother.
The judge who considered the appeal ultimately decided in favour of the respondent and Victoria Police’s submission that the two-year duration of the FVIO was appropriate, rather than the appellant’s proposal that it should be withdrawn.
The FVIO, which was granted in June 2024, will now continue to be in place until it expires next year preventing the appellant from committing a broad range of actions that could be considered family violence.
Director of legal services and principal lawyer at Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) Belinda Lo said intervention orders can protect people if the people who are the subject of that order respect the law.
“They are orders that the court makes either with the agreement of somebody or without that person’s agreement to stop that person from behaving in a certain way towards another person or their family,” she said.
“If you do have an intervention order made against you, so if you’re the one that has been ordered by the court to not commit family violence, if you break that order then the police are empowered to investigate and bring charges against you.
“But it’s not an immediate charge by the police, there’s a step in between and essentially family violence intervention orders are to protect people from being subjected to psychological, physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse by a family member or somebody who is like a family member to them, so that can include carers or very close people in your life that you would consider your family.”
Under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, family violence can also include being economically abusive, threatening, coercive or trying to dominate or control a family member in a way that causes them to fear for their safety or wellbeing. It can also include when a child hears or witnesses these behaviours, the threat or act of intentionally damaging property, attempting to locate or follow the family member or publishing information about the protected person on the internet.
Ms Lo said everyone has a right to appeal what they believe is unfair, but in order to do so, they have to prove that the reasons for the order being made in the first place are not necessary.
“Sometimes people who have intervention orders made against them think it’s a punishment, it shouldn’t be perceived as a punishment in the sense that the intervention order is really just to stop behaviour that’s against the law in any event,” she said.
“You’re not getting a fine, you’re not going to have some sort of criminal sanction at all if you have an intervention order against you but what you have got is a court order telling you to stop behaviour that you can control.
“For survivors who are really concerned about their intervention orders or those potentially attempting to appeal intervention orders that are made against them, they will have to convince the court of a few things.”
The standard for a successful appeal is very high, with the appellant having to either prove an error of law (an error regarding the application of a law), fact (an error regarding the evidence of a trial) or discretion (an error regarding the judge’s actions in preciding over the trial).
Ms Lo said for anyone experiencing family violence, the first thing they suggest is to contact police, who have specialised family violence liaison officers trained to support survivors and who can make an application for an intervention on their behalf.
“You can also talk through what has happened to consider whether or not criminal charges may need to be laid as well, they are two separate situations, but they often go hand in hand, as you can imagine, because family violence as we know can have some really horrific situations that occur,” she said.
“You will often see that somebody who might have criminal charges laid against them also have an intervention order, at least a short-term one, until the criminal charges are heard and applied against them as well to stop them from continuing to behave in the violent way towards the family violence survivor and the family members if there are children.
“I would also really always recommend that people seek the support of family specialist services, we have them all across the region and they’re all extremely skilled, they are extremely compassionate and non-judgmental to be able to also help you if you want, if you’re worried about going to the police station by yourself or you don’t know where to go first and, of course, you can always contact your free community legal centre as well.”
Read the original article here.
Watching adult children push their elderly parents to sign new wills didn’t sit well with lawyer Paul Were.
He now devotes his time to an organisation that offers free services to help older Australians escape elder abuse, often caused by those they love.
“[People say] they feel ashamed or embarrassed about what’s happened,” he told The Senior.
“Sometimes they’ve never told anyone else about the abuse they’re experiencing.”
He wants to push back against the stigma of elder abuse “because the reality is, it’s extremely common”.
Read more in The Senior
Almost a fifth (18 per cent) of any form of abuse towards an older person was caused by a son or daughter, while 11.6 per cent was by a friend and 10.4 per cent by a spouse, according to the National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study July 2021.
Adult children were the most common (33 per cent) type of relationship to commit financial abuse, while sexual abuse was most commonly perpetrated by a friend (41.5 per cent).
The findings were based on a survey sample of 7000 people aged 65 and over.
Mr Were noticed instances of family members pressuring elderly parents to sign a new will, plus other forms of abuse, when he previously worked on wills and estates in a private practice.
“I could see the damage it could cause,” he said.
With support from his employer, he worked to help clients the best he could to avoid the abuse, something he was “really proud of standing up against”.
Today, Mr Were is Managing Lawyer – Elder Abuse at Eastern Community Legal Centre in Melbourne, which offers free legal help.
Clients often come in experiencing financial abuse and may need help with powers of attorney, substitute decision making, getting control back over their bank accounts, and support with property issues and entitlements to different assets.
They may also help people with intervention orders and reporting crimes.
He said it was common for clients to experience abuse after an adult child has moved back in with them and has their own issues, for example, financial, marital or substance.
But often clients want help for the child with a sense of obligation, which was “tricky” as the centre works for the person experiencing the abuse.
“Often our clients don’t want to take legal action or perhaps any action against adult children of theirs; they might feel a sense of obligation to them or they feel that they want to protect them in some way,” he said.
Mr Were encouraged people to seek out services that offered legal, mental and financial support, plus others, to help them escape the abuse, and said there were free options available.
“If we can push past that shame or embarrassment that people feel about [elder abuse], I think people are going to be more likely to talk about it, more likely to seek help and more likely to address the problems,” he said.
ECLC’s Managing Lawyer – Elder Abuse, Paul Were was interviewed by Robert Arthur on Radio Eastern FM (tag) this week in acknowledgement of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. (WEEAD)
It was incredibly powerful to have elder abuse victim survivor, Ray Baird (an ECLC client) share his story of deception and abuse perpetrated by his own son. Over seven years, Ray lost more than $200,000 after his son exploited his trust, diverted his pension, and left him in significant debt.
Missed the interview?
⇒ Listen to the recorded interview here.
On 10 June 2025, ECLC had the opportunity to join Nigel Loveday on Radio Eastern FM and shine a spotlight on #BoroniaVoices and the launch of our new community recipe book, ‘Flavours of Boronia’.
During the lively conversation, Capella Henderson, ECLC’s Community Engagement Lead, revealed how Boronia Voices was created to unite locals through their passion for food. By inviting community members to share their favourite recipes and the personal stories behind them, the project has woven together a vibrant tapestry of Boronia’s rich cultural diversity.
The result? ‘Flavours of Boronia’—a stunning collection of over 50 unique recipes and heartfelt stories, each one celebrating the spirit and diversity of our community.
Missed the interview?
⇒ Listen here to hear more about the inspiration, process, and impact of this special project!
The fraud began when Ray Baird, then 65, asked his son Peter for help dealing with the bank. In the years that followed, Peter gained access to his dad’s bank accounts, diverted Ray’s aged pension to his own bank account and ran up debts in his father’s name that led to two caveats being put on Ray’s home.
By the time the fraud was uncovered and Ray, then 74, began to untangle the lies his son had spun, Peter had taken more than $230,000 from him, including seven years of pension totalling $152,423.33.
The scam was elaborate, involving a fake letter sent by Peter to his father purporting to be from the then premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, as well as fake phone calls in which Peter impersonated Victorian MPs and financial ombudsman officials to reassure Ray about his missing funds, his unpaid pension and his frozen bank accounts.
The fraud may be more intricate and sustained than in most cases but Ray’s story, which he is telling publicly for the first time at the age of 78, is common; with older Australians the victims of increasing rates of financial abuse, most commonly perpetrated by their adult children – facilitated by a gap in technological ability.
In light of his story, advocates are calling for a redesign of financial services to protect older people.
Experts want to see protections against elder fraud built into Centrelink, which sent Ray’s pension to a bank account in Peter’s name for years, without Ray knowing that Peter had changed the account details through his access to Ray’s MyGov.
“[Ray’s] story is tragic in every way but it is very common,” says Robert Fitzgerald, the age discrimination commissioner. “We know for certain that financial abuse is growing … and, tragically, the vast majority of that abuse is within the family.”
The crimes
In about 2011, on a trip to Thailand, Ray had his credit card stolen. He enlisted Peter, then 40, to help. Peter notified Ray’s bank and told Ray the card had been cancelled and his bank account frozen.
Ray, newly retired from a 45-year career as a French polisher with a business making coffins, had just started receiving the aged pension but is not good with technology, so Peter had set up his MyGov account. Ray says he didn’t once use MyGov or know how to log on.
“My age group, we’re very naive about, you know, technical communication and all that sort of stuff,” he says. “It’s not what we grew up on.”
Ray didn’t realise it but, after getting access to his Centrelink account, Peter almost immediately began stealing his father’s money.
Peter would eventually be convicted of three counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception, for defrauding his father of more than $230,000 – $152,000 of his pension and $78,000 in loans taken out in his father’s name. These loans, as well as other debts that Ray says Peter ran up in his name, but on which criminal charges were not filed, led to caveats being taken out against Ray’s home in Rowville, Melbourne.
“When he came in, I was so shocked by his story,” says Julie Del Pra, a financial counsellor at Each who helped Ray untangle his financial affairs.
While she has seen many cases of elder financial abuse, Del Pra says: “I have not seen the length that the son went to in this to defraud their own father, in the full knowledge of the poverty that he was leaving his dad in.”
The fraud included fake phone calls from Peter pretending to be various politicians and officials, who assured Ray that they were looking into his situation and it would be fixed soon. The calls came at least weekly for more than five years.
Many times during this period, Ray says he was on the cusp of marching into a bank or Centrelink branch to ask about it all but Peter would reprimand him, telling him he was sorting it and that getting involved would just mess things up.
“I would question him about it. And he would say, ‘Leave it to me. I’ll find out.’ And then within a couple of days, I would get a phone call from who I thought was the local Victorian ombudsman for finance, my local member of parliament, all these prominent people, saying: ‘Yes, Mr Baird, your bank accounts have been closed, but we’re working on it, your pension’s still being paid in.’
“Now, I find out later that it was him all the time on the phone.
“Many a time I said, ‘Come clean, is there something going on with the bank account, just tell me so we can sort it.’ He would turn around and say, ‘On mum’s grave there’s nothing going on.’ It was going on and on but I didn’t really know what to do, honestly.”
Peter’s fraud came to light after he was convicted and jailed in 2020 on 18 fraud offences relating to other victims. In the judgment, which was reported in the newspaper, Ray was mentioned.
Ray called his local MP’s office – an MP he believed he had been speaking to for years – only to be told that the real Kim Wells MP had never heard of him or his case. Ray, with help from his daughter, began investigating and the whole story unravelled.
Ray went to the police, who laid charges against Peter. “I must say, and I’ve been asked this many times, he was never violent to me at all,” Ray says. “And let’s face it, why would you be violent to your bank account?”
In May 2023, after pleading guilty to the charges against him, Peter Michael Baird was sentenced to four years in prison for his offending against Ray, though much of that was served concurrently with his sentence on the other fraud charges.
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In sentencing, Justice Frank Gucciardo noted that Peter had an “unremarkable upbringing” with a good education and that there was “neither gambling, drug or alcohol issues in the family, nor any form of violence”.
The judge noted Peter’s did not have a gambling or drug addiction, and that his “offending was motivated by the need to present as a man with money”. He described his conduct as “reprehensible”, saying what he did “defies decency”.
Peter has since been released from jail and Ray has an intervention order preventing his son from contacting him.
The cost
Ray went for about eight years without access to his bank account or his pension. To survive, his wife – “she was fantastic over the whole thing,” he says – worked seven days a week.
Summer was easier, he says, in part because he would work as a cricket umpire in exchange for a small amount of money, and because he didn’t have the funds to heat his home – which made the Melbourne winters difficult.
He collected furniture people were throwing away on the street and used his skills to repair the items and sell them on Facebook marketplace. “I’m very embarrassed about this even now,” he says.
In a cruel twist, Ray says Peter would occasionally lend him small sums to tide him over or to enable him to go on the occasional trip away with his cricket team. Ray was unaware the loans were coming from his own stolen funds.
The emotional toll was enormous – affecting Ray’s health, sleep and marriage, leading to anxiety and depression and to isolation, because he couldn’t afford to go out and didn’t want to admit to his friends what was occurring.
It caused “enormous rifts” within his family, he says, particularly in his relationship with his daughter, who suspected Peter of wrongdoing. Ray has reconciled with his daughter, who he says has “worked her backside off” to try to sort out the financial mess Peter left Ray in.
Ray is stoic and plainspoken but several times in the course of telling his story he has to stop to cry.
“I know I get emotional talking but it does me good to talk about it,” he says, wiping his eyes. “Later on, I’ll go home and think I’ve got that off my chest. You know, you can’t bottle that up.”
He knows that elder abuse, particularly when the perpetrators are one’s children, carries with it some shame, which is part of the reason why he is speaking to media for the first time.
“You don’t expect your own children to do this,” he says. “It’s bad enough when you hear of other people doing this, but when it’s your own children that is just the lowest thing that can happen.”
The system failure
Peter was able to take more than $150,000 of his father’s pension because he was the one who set up Ray’s MyGov account and so had access to his login details, Ray says.
The court found that for years Ray’s pension payments were sent to a bank account that wasn’t even in Ray’s name.
“We see this a lot in elder abuse,” says Del Pra, who adds that she sees “a handful” of cases each year in which Centrelink benefits have been diverted to an abuser.
“We know there is a reliance [by] elderly parents on their children or their grandchildren to help set these things up for them because they don’t have the knowledge,” she says. “Ray doesn’t even have a computer.”
After he became aware of the fraud, Ray applied for compensation from Centrelink on the grounds of “defective administration”, arguing that it had failed in its duty by not verifying that the new bank account was in his name or that the details had been changed with his consent.
After an investigation, Centrelink rejected Ray’s claim, saying that when people were interacting with the service online, it authenticated their identity through their username and password. “When an authenticated person provides new account details, the agency has no requirement or process to verify the bank account,” the investigator wrote in the decision letter about the claim.
Ray says: “The story [from Centrelink is], ‘We’ve done nothing wrong. You gave him the password.’ That’s what they see.”
Services Australia’s general manager, Hank Jongen, said: “It’s a deeply unfortunate reality that some people prey on vulnerable relatives. Support is always available and there are a number of ways people can help us keep them safe.”
Jongen urged pensioners to contact Centrelink immediately if a payment did not arrive on time. He also said Centrelink staff could offer support and correct records, adding extra security measures to prevent unauthorised access and updating or removing nominee access, if needed.
Centrelink was constantly improving its systems to make them more secure, he said, including introducing passkeys, a digital ID and two-factor authentication via SMS.
“Our customers don’t need to be computer savvy to set this up,” he said. “We have digital coaches who can set up options that work best for them. Customers can book a phone or face to face digital coaching appointment by calling their regular payment line, visiting a service centre or booking online.
“We also have a range of personal supports available to ensure everyone gets the help they need. This includes Aged Care Specialist Officers and Financial Information Service Officers.”
Ray lodged an appeal with the commonwealth ombudsman’s office, which upheld Centrelink’s rejection, saying that while it was “unfortunate” Ray was a victim of fraud, the agency was “not directly responsible for the loss he has suffered … That responsibility lies with Mr Peter Baird.”
The decision notice added that Centrelink “does have safeguards and requirements designed to limit fraud” and the fact that they were not sufficient in this instance “does not mean that they, as a whole, were flawed”.
Paul Were, a lawyer specialising in cases of elder abuse at Eastern Community Legal Centre, which represented Ray in his compensation application against Centrelink, called it an “absolute no-brainer” that an institution should have to check with its client before arranging for the client’s funds to be paid into someone else’s account.
“But in this situation, there were no checks that happened. So when those details were changed they didn’t go back to Ray and say, ‘Do you actually want this money paid into your son’s account?’ We think there’s got to be safeguards put in place for that.”
Services Australia told Guardian Australia that its policy required people updating bank details to declare that the account was in the name of the Centrelink customer – but Centrelink did not have access to the beneficiary bank’s data to verify that the account name matched its records.
The age discrimination commissioner says financial services need to take into account how elder abuse commonly starts.
“Most financial abuse starts off by a member of the family saying, ‘I’m going to help you with your finances, your internet banking, your financial transactions’… We don’t want a situation where every relationship involving adult children and older parents around money is seen as suspect,” he says.
“But the truth of the matter is, we now know the risk factors exist, and we can identify what they might be.”
A national elder abuse prevalence study, conducted by the federal government in 2021, found that one in six people over 65 living in the community reported experiencing elder abuse in the previous 12 months.
Children made up the majority of perpetrators in every category of elder abuse except sexual abuse.
“Our government systems are not set up to protect vulnerable people,” Del Pra says. “Therefore they’re exploited to cause harm. It’s quite simple.
“The government knows their systems are causing harm, they know what that harm looks like, of people being forced into bankruptcy, living in poverty, losing their homes. Now, the onus is on the government to act.”
You can read the original article here
You can also watch the Channel 10 coverage of this story here.
26/10/2024
By Callum Ludwig
Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) and Disaster Legal Help Victoria are bringing a free webinar and event to Warburton with the aim of helping residents ensure they are adequately insured in the face of disaster.
Convening with the Warburton Emergency Planning Group to bring the event to town, the Insurance Legal Health Check will be held in the Redwood Community Centre on Thursday 14 November.
ECLC chief executive officer Michael Smith said as the upcoming fire season approaches, it is important that local residents have access to information about how to protect their home and assets.
“One way of doing this is to make sure that families and properties are not underinsured and know the kinds of things that insurance companies will need if they are impacted by a disaster,” he said.
“Eastern Community Legal Centre and Disaster Legal Help Victoria will be coming out to present to locals on this timely issue, sharing information about ways to prevent disputes and options for seeking advice and help.”
The workshop will aim to help residents understand:
Mr Smith said the most common issue ECLC has identified is when community members are underinsured.
“It is so important for community members to know what their insurance covers and the common pitfalls before a disaster occurs, rather than finding out after an actual event has occurred,” he said.
“When people do make a claim, it is also essential that they then seek advice around the insurance process and any potential offer, some insurance companies will seek to minimise payments so it is vital that the full costs are considered,”
“Many people don’t realise they have a problem until well after a severe weather event has occurred, ECLC hopes to prevent these problems from happening by working with key services and groups to equip and support community members so that they are not caught out.”
A webinar version open to anyone across the east will also be held on Thursday 7 November from 3.30pm to 5pm.
Mr Smith said extreme weather can lead to legal challenges and emotional distress including problems around property damage and insurance.
“Residents around the Warburton area are in a high fire risk area and many people are unaware of what their home insurance actually covers until it is too late and the damage is done,” he said.
“ECLC’s Climate Justice program works to build community resilience to minimise risks before a disaster occurs, the community cannot prevent extreme weather events, but people can learn to be equipped, and one important way to do this is to ensure that homes are properly insured,”
“Insurance policies vary widely so it is important for community members to check their policies and ensure they are adequately insured before a disaster occurs.”
The in-person event will be held from 5pm to 6.30pm with tea, coffee and snacks provided.
Member of the Warburton Emergency Planning Group Kevin Bargar said as they move down the path of trying to provide a resilience plan for Warburton, this is definitely information that could make a community more resilient.
“Every time we get a new insurance bill coming in the mail, we are all really worried about opening it up and figuring out what the new prices are going to be, so we thought it was a good opportunity to help the community understand a bit more about their insurance,” he said.
“In the recently-completed survey we did, the number one concern of people was future disaster impacts, over three-quarters of the people that responded were worried about exposure to natural hazards like bushfire, storms and floods,”
“Obviously with the Yarra, there are areas of Warburton that could be subject to floods, and lately there’s been more storm damage, power outages and property damage as a result of the storms and somewhere in the future there’s going to be a bushfire because there hasn’t been one in Warburton for a while.”
The online and in-person events will go for about an hour and a half and residents are asked to have their insurance policy handy.
Mr Smith said their ECLC Disaster Recovery Legal Help Check is another tool that can help people with problems after a disaster.
“This Checklist asks residents to consider a range of important issues including safety, housing, insurance, employment and children,” he said.
“Going through the checklist can help identify new issues or existing problems that may have been exacerbated by the impact of an extreme weather event,”
“For example, many people may not realise that legal advice could help with lodging insurance claims or managing employment issues”
The Disaster Recovery Legal Help Check checklist that can be found at:
eclc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Disaster-Recovery-Legal-Help.pdf.
Mr Smith said another concern is that family violence can also increase in the aftermath of a disaster.
“This has been observed consistently after major bushfires and through the pandemic lockdown periods, if you are concerned for your wellbeing or the wellbeing of someone you know, help is available,” he said.
“The Orange Door is the access point for local family violence services, and ECLC can provide a range of family violence legal assistance including support with intervention orders.”
In the case of an immediate safety risk, please call Triple Zero (000). If you require legal assistance, you can call ECLC at 1300 32 52 00, email eclc@eclc.org.au or use their online appointment request form: eclc.org.au/help.
Read the original article here
