This podcast was recorded on the country of the Wangal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. As we gather for Law Week may we recognise the law, education and storytelling that has been practised on these lands for 10s of 1000s of years, always was, always will be.
This is spotlight, a mini series where we shine a light on some of the best events and activities happening in Law Week 2022. My name is Yasmine and I'm a content creator with Legal Aid New South Wales, one of the partners of Law Week. New South Wales Law Week is an annual festival that is all about creating greater access to justice. This year's Law Week takes place between the 16th and 22nd of May. There are heaps of events happening across the state, online and in person to help you understand your rights, the law, the legal system and the legal profession. You can find out what's on via the events schedule at Law Week nsw.org.au. Today in the spotlight, we have Randwick city library, I chat to Nicola about Randwick City Library Services and the events that they're having for Law Week. 2022. Hi Nicola, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. Could you please introduce yourself and your role?
Hi, my name is Nicola and I work at Randwick city library service. I am the Information Services library assistant. And myself and John, we work together to try and keep our community informed with the online resources as well as the resources in the library. But one of our areas of responsibility has to do with matters of the law. So in Law Week, we just try and reach out to our community and keep people up to date with legal matters. And keep that front of mind and remind them that they can come to their library if there are seeking answers to any legal questions.
Great. And in particular, what specific activities do you have plans this year for Law Week?
So this year for Law Week, we're running the Navigating the System session. So we've got a Legal Aid lawyer coming out to speak to our community about legal issues around if you want to make a complaint or you're having a problem with government agencies and services, just how to go about it. Any disputes, stuff like that, if you're struggling to resolve an issue, then there'll be some advice for you. So that should be really good, because this is something that's affecting more and more people. And it's sometimes hard to find the right answers for these tricky questions.
And is that something that's open to everyone?
Everyone's welcome to attend, or all adults are welcome to attend. And especially, we would recommend people who access services like Centrelink or other health services, just through any government agency where they, you know, they may have a dispute. And it's even worth coming, if you haven't had a dispute. But just so that you've got that information at your fingertips, and you know what to do if ever something happened, and you did need to act, sometimes when you're part of a big system and trying to access services. It can it can be difficult if something's not going, right. And it's kind of like the situation where computer says no, you're just struggling to get your voice heard. So this session should be good for people just to know how to go about having your voice heard if you need to, if you've got a an issue that needs resolved, or you've got a dispute.
So a big takeaway from that is even if you don't have a problem now, it's worth attending. So you know what to do if there is an issue?
Yeah, I think so it's really important to be informed. I mean, in our communities, too, you may have a friend or a family member who's not equipped to deal with these kinds of situations or who's overwhelmed and it's sometimes just, it's just good to know the right processes. And yeah, so I think there's a lot to be gained from just being informed.
Yeah, absolutely. Being that person that is a trusted person. And you know, people may be intimidated to actually seek out that that legal help straightaway. But if you know you're a friend or a family member, or a support worker, someone that may have a relationship already, you can definitely be trusted. So that's a really, really good point. And is this event happening in person?
it is happening, it's a face to face event. So it's happening at Lionel Bowen library in Maroubra on the 18th of May between2 and 3pm. So it's a ticketed event, but it's absolutely free. We just ask that people book in you can either book in online or give us a call and we'll book you in just so that we can keep an eye on numbers and whatnot. because it's navigating the system, we do have a lot of people, people who visit libraries. Obviously, they're from a range of backgrounds, but people who may be accessing government services, they may not have access to this information easily. And so the library is really important for them. But it is face to face and so that people can come, they can hear the presentation. And if they have any specific questions or queries, they should be time to ask at the end. It's easy to feel powerless sometimes in these situations. So it's good to come and hear that there's other people in the same boat. And there are steps that you can take.
Really important note to end on with that event. And we will put all the details of how to register in the show notes for this episode. Nicola, you are also running some other activities for Law Week, would you be able to tell us a bit about what you're also doing? Not public events, but other activities that you're supporting in law week?
No problem. Yes, in Law Week, we've got some local high schools bringing along their legal studies students for a legal aid workshop, which should be good. That one obviously isn't on the website, because it's by invitation only. But it's just a good way for us to keep in touch with young people in the area, and to promote the law and how it's relevant to everybody, really, but they'll be attending this youth workshop with a legal aid solicitor, it's going to be fun, it's going to be interesting. It's about police powers, in public spaces. So something again, it may be something that you never have to deal with in your life. But it's also just good to know. If anything like that did happen. It's really important to know what your rights and responsibilities are. And, yeah, so that's another event that we have taken place. And those works, that workshop will be running during Law Week. And we'll have another one running with another local high school. But that's happening outside of Law Week.
Yeah, fantastic. So just showing the importance of reaching specific targeted groups during the week and outside of law week, like you said before about, you know, having that power to be aware, and when issues arise and what you what you can do, and it's something that I think a lot of people don't realise that they need to know until they need to know it. In general, why do you think people should get involved in Law Week?
I think it's easy to make assumptions when it comes to the law. And we think we know what rules are, what the law is, because we think we know what right and wrong is. But that's not really what law is. So I think people should get involved in Law Week because knowledge is power. Like you just said, in your life. You know, it doesn't seem important till it's really important. So, yeah, it's, it's a great time to remind ourselves that there's a big world out there, and that legal issues matter to everybody at every age at different times in our lives at different social strata. And, you know, it affects everybody. So I think it makes sense to be as informed as possible. Because, yeah, that knowledge is power. So it can only be a good thing, right?
Totally. I love that. And if you could describe Law Week in just one word, what would that one word be?
Um, I think it would be confidence. Because being informed means you can make informed decisions. And that can give you confidence in life. Rather than going through wondering, is this right or wrong? Can I do this? Can I do this or if you're in a tricky situation, just not knowing how to react or what to do? I think Law Week is great, because it can bring that confidence so that you can be more aware of what your rights are, what your responsibilities are. And yeah, again, allows you to make informed decisions.
I've already learned so much about Randwick city library just from chatting to you. But what's something that people may not know about the services that you provide,
We provide a lot of services for a really diverse community. But we do have a couple of tricks up our sleeve, we've got a tabletop game collection. So if people like board games, and kind of roleplay kind of intense games like that we have a whole collection that you can borrow. We also have a toy library, which is really good for families, maybe who don't have much space, or, or maybe are just mindful of the environment and don't want to be churning through a lot of waste or who might not want to be spending a lot of money on toys that they're going to only own for a short period of time. So yeah, we have a toy library. And it's not just about having toys. It's all about the importance of learning through play. So we also have play events. And yeah, so maybe that's thing that most people might not know about us. We do have a toy library, and really encourage inquiry and learning through play and fun, and we have a tabletop game collection. So definitely worth checking out. We also have loads of great events, obviously, with Law Week being part of our events schedule, but we've always got events happening within the community. So yeah, maybe I've kind of stretched it from one thing to a few things. But yeah, that's what I would say.
Oh, that's really cool. Sounds like there's a lot and a lot of things to discover. How can someone find out more about Randwick City Library and your services?
Well, if they've got access to the internet, they can Google Randwick city library service and visit our website. That's probably the first great place to start. Or they could just pop into one of our our libraries. We've got library and Maroubra in Randwick and down in Malabar as well.
Brilliant, and I'll put all those details in the show notes again for this episode. Thank you so so much for taking the time to chat with me today. Nicola, and I hope you have a great Law Week and all the best with your events.
Thanks. It's been a pleasure. Happy Law Week.
That's all for spotlight today. Thank you again to Randwick City Library and Nicola for taking the time to chat to me today. I'd also like to thank Marrickville Legal Centre, the State Library of New South Wales' Find Legal Answers and Tenants Union of New South Wales for supporting this podcast and Law Week New South Wales. Have a great Law week.
