HI
all,
Late
last year the Victorian Government Access to Justice Report and Recommendations were published. My submission is here
It
was great to read so many organisations highlighted the needs of the many
vulnerable people in the community who have lots of difficulty in accessing
legal information, or even knowing what are their Rights. This was replicated
in the report and recommendations.
There
are 3 separate recommendations where Easy English was included:-
(1) Recommendation
2.1 (p.144)
Make
Victoria Legal Aid the primary information entry point
In
part recommends:
“....ensure
that legal information materials meet best practice and accessibility
standards,
including
the provision of materials in plain-language, Easy English,
and languages
other
than English;...”
(2)
Recommendation 2.4 (p.147)
“Making
information about courts and tribunals more accessible
In
part recommends:
“..Victorian
courts and tribunals are encouraged to consider ways to make their websites and
legal
information materials more accessible. .... include the provision of information
in languages other than English, in plain-language, and in Easy English
format.....”
and
(3)
Recommendation 8.2 (p 4.99)
“
Improving access to interpreters
In
part recommends:
“
...Legal information should be published in plain-language, languages other
than English and Easy
English....”
It
was also clear there were no submissions about interactive communication in the
submissions to this review. It was not discussed in the body of the report.
There were no specific recommendations about this important part of
communication for people who have contact with the Justice Sector. Speech
Pathologists and researchers are working in this space. A couple of areas of
note are:
-
Language and social communication skills of youths in the Justice Sector
-
Undiagnosed language/literacy and other disabilities in the Youth Justice
Sector;
-
school adherence;
-
knowledge of Rights, Responsibilities and the law;
-
experiences of people with Complex Communication Needs when they have
interaction with any aspect of the Justice Sector, from police to court staff,
solicitors and judges.
I
have since followed up with the Victorian Government, and hope to have some
good news about next steps to get some of these Easy English recommendations further
advanced. I also have raised the issue of the lack of information about the
language and communication skills of people who have contact with the Justice
Sector.
It
was great to be able to further the conversation about Legal information at the
Legal Literacy conference, Clarity in New Zealand last year. I presented a
paper on Access to Written Information: A social
equity, social justice issue. It generated lots of conversation about the
various definitions of Legal Literacy, and what happens for the 44% of the
adult population with non functional literacy.
I am here to help you develop those legalese documents, and
make them accessible for people with non functional literacy.
Cathy
Basterfield
Access
Easy English
0466
579 855
Facebook: /accesseasyenglish
Twitter:
@accesseasyengl@accessseasyengli
