 
Press Release
Legal forum a voice for young rural Australian
Legal agencies from across Australia have joined forces in support of a national forum to determine whether young rural people are getting a fair deal under the country's justice system.
The Rural Young People and the Law online forum will be hosted by the National Children's and Youth Law Centre and Rural Law Online from March 30.
The forum, funded by the Federal Government, provides an opportunity for Australia's rural youth to share their experiences, ask questions and raise issues about the law and how it impacts on them in regards to a range of topics from police powers to sexual harassment and access to legal services.
Lawyers from across the country will be online to answer legal queries and the website also includes a free information package on areas of the law affecting young people.
A report will be compiled at the end of the forum to highlight to government and policy makers the experiences and concerns young rural people have when it comes to accessing the law and judicial system compared to their metropolitan counterparts.
James McDougall, Director of the National Children's and Youth Law Centre, said the internet forum was an exciting initiative to help address the difficulties faced by young people outside capital cities to access legal information.
He said several studies by the Human Rights Commission had identified the disadvantages faced by rural Australians.
He said young people often lacked information about their rights in relationships (employment, personal and even sexual) and legal resources were invaluable for their protection.
Mr McDougall said many young people for example, were also confused about the limits of the powers of police officers. "That is important so that you know when you can answer back and when you need to be toeing the line," he said.
He said children could effectively support their families if they had knowledge about the legal system."Children are much more likely to come up with imaginative solutions to problems that adults have given up on," he said. "Bullying is a good example. Give a child some options for dealing with bullies and you can address a problem that has adults tearing their hair out."
Rural Law Online web manager, Richard Coverdale, said the forum provided a voice for young rural Australians.
"The centralized allocation of resources and drafting of laws by capital city-based governments creates a danger that the voice of rural communities is overlooked," he said.
"The forum has been established to find out from young people living in rural Australia whether they think they are getting a fair deal under the Australian justice system."
The Forum invites young rural Australians to post comments or questions on any topic of law which affects them. The 'Resource Package' included as part of the Forum will also provide information on:
- Law and School - Family Law
- Police Powers - Driving and Traffic Offences
- Making complaints - Alcohol, drugs and smoking
- Assault/sexual harassment - Age of consent (sex, marriage)
- Employment law - Access to legal services in rural Australia
The Rural Law Online website is an initiative of the Victoria Law Foundation. It aims to breakdown the complexity of the law by offering free and independent legal information on more than 200 topics and provides links to hundreds of other resources relevant to rural communities.
The site was developed in response to a lack of legal information and resources available to people in rural areas and is now the number one site for topics relating to 'rural law' on the world-wide Google search engine.
Access to the Rural Young People and the Law forum will be available at www.rurallaw.org.au . The forum will be officially launched by The Hon Warren Truss, Minister for Transport and Regional Services, at Parliament House on March 30. The online forum will run for a minimum of four weeks.
For more information please contact Richard Coverdale, Rural Law Online web manager, on 0414 067 570 or James McDougall, National Children's and Youth Law Centre, 0419 243 179.
click here to Visit the Forum
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