Legal Health Check
Use our Legal health check to identify legal issues . Find it here Legal Health Check
What do I do when…?
What do I do when…? is a resource for anyone who works with young people aged 12–25. It provides information about common legal issues and also worker legal duties.
Topics covered include:
- Duty of care
- Confidentiality and privacy
- Reporting abuse & the Fail to Disclose & Protect laws
- Parents and guardians
- Working with police
- Court procedures
- Professional boundaries
- Complaints about workers
- Employment checks
- Banning clients from services
- Discrimination
- Alcohol and cigarettes
- Young people and sex
Note: This booklet was updated in February 2017 & includes the Victorian Fail to Disclose and Protect laws ( see pages 32, 36-38 and page 49).
Please take a few minutes to complete our evaluation form. Your feedback will help us improve this resource in the future.
Street Law Education Kit
About the Street Law Education Kit
The Street Law Education Kit is designed to help youth workers, teachers, lawyers and other professionals educate young people about their rights when dealing with police and Protective Services Officers (PSOs) in Victoria with reference to the Street Law video series.
The Education Kit sets out Session Plans for each topic including a set of discussion points and activities appropriate for groups of young people age 12 and above. The discussion points and activities can be used in both formal educational settings (including secondary schools and VCAL) as well as less formal or smaller group settings.
Each Session Plan is designed to follow on from viewing a Street Law video relevant to each topic.
We have handed the kit over to Victoria Legal aid as they will now keep it updated and promote it. It is available for download on their website.
Beyond Appearances
Beyond Appearances is a short video by Youthlaw to educate authorities about effective communication strategies with homeless young people.
In Beyond Appearances, young people share their experiences of life on the streets and their interactions with police. Both homeless young people and police officers say these interactions are sometimes difficult and fraught with misunderstanding.
A homeless person, when they first see the uniform, the first thing they see is every experience they’ve ever had with a policeman prior – Peter, Victoria Police.
I start nice and all but as soon as they start being rude to me, I’m not going to take it… Exactly like my dad, just power and they love the power and they, what’s the word? They take advantage. – Brad, 16 years.
The film is a resource for police, Centrelink and other youth and social welfare workers interested in an understanding of young homeless people’s circumstances and the issues that arise for them in dealing with police and other authorities.
It’s actually made my police work more satisfying as a member of the community… – Peter, Victoria Police
Beyond Appearances is a collaboration between Youthlaw, Frontyard Youth Services and Victoria Police and was funded by the City of Melbourne.
© 2011
www.propellerpictures.com
Am I old enough?
Am I old enough? is a booklet to hand out to young people about what they can and can’t do at different ages. It can be found on the Victoria Legal Aid website.
Useful Links
- LawStuff, legal information for children and young people in Australia
- The Law Handbook, a practical online guide to law in Victoria, including fact sheets which provide an introduction to different areas of the law
- Victoria Legal Aid has a comprehensive online legal information service for a range of legal problems
- Everyday-Law, a website by the Victoria Law Foundation with easy-to-understand information about everyday legal problems in Victoria
- Federation of Community Legal Centres to find a local community legal service by postcode
- Ombudsman Victoria investigates complaints about state government departments, most statutory authorities and local government