Understanding civil law needs of older people and building research capacity in community legal centres

About this event

This presentation from Barwon Community Legal Service (BCLS) and Deakin University’s Criminology program, will share findings from the Knowledge Building Project, a Victoria Law Foundation funded project, which developed a partnership model to explore the civil law needs of older people in the Barwon region.

This innovative collaboration embedded virtual student interns within the legal service to build BCLS’s research capacity and understand the local evidence-base relating to the civil law needs of older people and how elder abuse is understood as a civil law problem. This project will use this research to improve service delivery so older people are better able to access justice in the region.

Student research interns were from a variety of backgrounds, including criminology, psychology, forensic science and law. The collaboration provided rich insights into the challenges that are faced in meeting legal need, and provided students with opportunities to undertake real life research.

You will hear key findings from the research including how older people are seeking civil law assistance, the barriers that many older people face accessing services and the possible uses of our research to adapt our services to meet our local needs.

The presentation concludes with some preliminary recommendations from the data, and a summary of the experiences of both BCLS and the student interns who were engaged to conduct much of this research during a period of consistent COVID lockdowns.

Our Speakers

Alexandria Jones

Alex is Community Development Manager at BCLS and leads the CLE and community development practice, overseeing a range of projects aimed at improving access to justice for people living in the Barwon region.

Alex is a lawyer and community legal educator with significant experience working within the social justice sector both in Victoria and the Northern Territory and for the past three years has convened the Barwon Elder Abuse Primary Prevention Network.

Ian Warren

Ian is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Deakin University, Waurn Ponds. He has an extensive experience in designing and implementing criminology curricula that encourages students to apply their theoretical knowledge to real-world situations. He has worked on a number of research projects that question the operation of applied law in the fields of international and transnational crime, and public administrative law. His more recent work examines comparative approaches to understanding Freedom of Information law and the role of technology in legal decision-making.

Deakin University Student Research Panel

· Justin Boxall - 4th year Bachelor Criminology/Psychological Science with interest in a career in the government sector.

· Shannon Fenn - 4th year Bachelor Criminology/ Psychological Science with a passion for research and an interest in policy, social justice and crime statistics.

· Jordan Galbraith – 4th year Bachelor Criminology/Forensic Science with an interest in sentencing, corrections policy and delivery.

· Mathura Nadanakumar – 4th year Bachelor Laws/Arts with an interest in commercial or administration law