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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Andrew Brown

Canberra legal services goes virtual

Legal support services in the ACT will no longer be face-to-face to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Services such as Legal Aid ACT, the ACT Human Rights Commission and the Public Trustee and Guardian will move to providing audio-visual communication only until the foreseeable future.

ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said the services would remain open to those who needed legal advice during the time of coronavirus.

"As we manage this unprecedented event, the ACT government is working with ACT's legal support services to ensure we are still able to provide services while also minimising the health risk to all Canberrans," Mr Ramsay said.

"Anyone required to self-isolate or who is feeling unwell should not attend any of the ACT legal support services.

"This includes those on bail or subject to summonses, subpoenas or other compulsory processes."

The measures also apply to the Restorative Justice Unit, Canberra Community Law, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service, the Women's Legal Centre, Care Inc and the Consumer Law Centre along with the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT.

The list of contacts for affected legal services are below:

Legal Aid ACT

  • www.legalaid.org.au
  • 1300 65 314
  • Legalaid@legalaid.org.au

The ACT Human Rights Commission

  • www.hrc.act.gov.au
  • (02) 6205 2222

The Public Trustee and Guardian

  • www.ptg.act.gov.au
  • (02) 6207 9800

The Restorative Justice Unit

  • (02) 6207 3992
  • restorativejustice@act.gov.au

Canberra Community Law

  • www.canberracommunitylaw.org.au
  • 02 6218 7900

The Domestic Violence Crisis Service

  • www.dvcs.org.au
  • (02) 6280 0900

The Women's Legal Centre

  • www.womenslegalact.org.au
  • (02) 6257 4377

Care Inc and the Consumer Law Centre

  • Care - 1800 007 007
  • Consumer Law Centre (02) 6143 0044

The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT

  • www.alsnswact.org.au
  • (02) 9213 4100

Environmental Defenders Office ACT

  • www.edo.org.au
  • (02) 6243 3461

We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

Legal services in Canberra will move away from face-to-face appointments due to coronavirus. Picture: Karleen Minney
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