A GROUP has begun offering free legal advice as people try to navigate the uncharted waters of the coronavirus pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Petersen Westbrook Cameron has begun offering free services twice a week and is being joined by a range of organisations including Altitude Accounting, Reign Legal, IPSUM Advisors and The Anna Centre.
Experts in real estate law, employment law, contract law and debt advice are booking appointments by phone or video chat, principal PWC lawyer Greg Westbrook said.
"Everyone of us is now faced with a task that we never saw coming and the impact is hitting every facet of people's lives," he said.
Related:
Businesses and workers need employment advice, divorced parents want to navigate custody of their children and everyone wants to know what they can expect if they need a loan from the bank, Mr Westbrook said.
"Right now, we have 32 new cases between landlords and tenants that we are working through, these are complex issues that are difficult to navigate" he said.
"We've also got people who are, to be honest, thinking about their own mortality. they want to make sure their wills and estates are in order.
"Because it's such an uncertain time, people's anxieties are heightened. People are worried about those 'what-ifs', so the free advice was about us asking what we could do to be a responsible member of our community."
Mr Westbrook was encouraged to see other groups get behind the push and said it was another sign people are rallying around each other during a difficult time.
He said it was difficult to tell what the big issues that people would face as the crisis wore on but did expect them to crop up.
"Governments has gone out and done all these things to help, but we'd encourage them to go back and about what has been missed," Mr Westbrook said.
"There are cohorts of people who aren't going to have access to support. That may not have been the intention, it's simply the consequence of rolling out something so large and so quickly."
Appointments through the Lend a Hand Bendigo clinic can be made by calling 5443 9499.
A website is also in the works and expected to be launched soon, Mr Westbrook said.
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 would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.