A JEPARIT woman wants to set up a community legal centre in the town.
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Elizabeth Chivell, who is midway through a law degree, believes the vacant Hopetoun House Hotel would be the perfect location for a new centre.
Ms Chivell, a former Hindmarsh Shire Councillor, said there was no such centre between Mildura and Ballarat.
She said the centre would provide legal aid and counselling services to the Wimmera community.
“The community of the Wimmera need and deserve to have a community legal centre,” she said.
Ms Chivell has set up a Go Fund Me page online to raise money for the project.
She aims to raise $100,000 to either buy the vacant hotel or secure a commercial lease on the property.
“Community legal centres are typically run by volunteers under a principal solicitor,” she said.
“The volunteers are typically law students seeking experience.”
Ms Chivell said the hotel was the perfect location for the centre because it included rooms where visiting law students and volunteers could be accommodated.
She said the longer term plans for the centre could involve indigenous legal support and rural and remote engagement services.
“I’d also like to run a life experiences program from the centre that teaches youth how to use a washing machine, cook meals and how to clean a home,” she said.
“The long-term aim is to run a regional rural remote law learning centre for future law students and lawyers.”
Ms Chivell said a committee to help establish and run the centre was in the pipeline. She hopes to also secure financial support from the government.
“Eventually I’d like to see something like a farmers market established,” she said.
“It could run once every three or six months to generate money for the centre so it’s not wholly reliant on government funding.”
Ms Chivell hopes the Wimmera community will support the project. “We are all entitled to have help for justice, safety, support, equality and respect,” she said.
“I know it’s a big dream, but I think if it’s broken into little steps it is achievable.”
Ms Chivell said people could visit www.gofundme.com/265hhr44 to find out more or to donate.