The Library is open on the King's Birthday public holiday, Monday 12 June 2023. View the public holiday opening hours.
Preparing for Law Week
Law Week is held every year in May
Coming soon: 2023 Law Week report
Now that Law Week is over, let me know about your event or activity. I will highlight your wonderful events in the 2023 Law Week report.
Law Week
Law Week is a nationwide initiative to promote community awareness and understanding of the law, the legal system and the legal profession.
Courts, legal agencies, solicitors, barristers, police and of course public libraries are all encouraged to get involved. It’s a wonderful opportunity for you to promote the Find Legal Answers resources and service to your community.
Anyone visiting your library may need legal information - they may be having a problem with their rental home, be going through a divorce, have a traffic fine they can't pay or are trying to negotiate a new fence with their neighbours. Libraries can provide information about many everyday legal issues. Whatever event you're planning - from hosting a legal webinar or guest speaker to having a display - Law Week is a great time to let your community know that the library is a source of legal information.
Law Week is being held from May 15-21 2023.
Register your event
Help people find your event, and let everyone know that libraries present a range of programs during Law Week. Register your event on the NSW Law Week website.
Social media
One of the simplest ways to let your community know about the law and where to get help is via social media. Check our legal information social media campaign to find sample posts and images to use across your channels.
Law Week webinar series
For the first time this year, Legal Aid NSW is presenting a week of legal education webinars for Law Week.
Join legal experts from Legal Aid and other community legal organisations every day of Law Week at 12-1pm for Lunch and the law and learn about a different topic every day.
Print out the information sheets for your participants to take home. They list sources of information and help.
Monday 15 May 12-1pm
Scams and the law
Hear from legal experts about how to protect yourself against scams and what you can do if you get scammed.
Register
Scams information sheet
Tuesday 16 May 12-1pm
Renting and the law
Hear from legal experts about your rights as a renter.
Register
Renting information sheet
Wednesday 17 May 12-1pm
Traffic fines, driving and the law
Hear from legal experts about driving laws and options for dealing with fines
Register
Traffic law information sheet
Thursday 18 May 12-1pm
Employment and the law
Hear from legal experts about your rights at work, including how to deal with discrimination and sexual harassment.
Register
Employment law information sheet
Friday 19 May 12-1pm
Debt and the law
Hear from legal experts and financial counsellors about your options for dealing with debt.
Register
Debt information sheet
The webinars will be interactive and have a panel of legal experts, and there will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions via the chat. Questions can also be asked in advance when registering.
We’re hoping that libraries will make an event of this series, eg by showing the webinars on a big screen and facilitating the interaction via the chat.
You can find promotional tiles and posters in the zip file below.
Top up your Find Legal Answers promotional material
There's still time to top up your Find Legal Answers promotional material in time for for Law Week using our online form.
Hosting an event with a speaker
In past years, Legal Aid NSW has had a program of face-face-talks in libraries. Legal Aid is unable to provide these talks this year and are focusing on the Law Week webinar series (see above).
Although there is not a program of planned legal talks this year, there may be opportunities to arrange in-person talks at your library in some circumstances. Please contact Catherine if you would like an in-person talk. Please note that this will depend on the availability of Legal Aid or a community legal centre staff member and on the size of the audience.
Many libraries have existing relationships with a local solicitor, their local community legal centre or a government agency and arrange talks on a variety of legal topics.
If you have arranged a community legal education talk, remember to let the speaker know about the that the Find Legal Answers service. Show them the Tool Kit and point out any relevant resources. Ask the speaker to refer to the Tool Kit in their talk if they can. Also show the speaker any pamphlets you have ordered. Often lawyers have no idea of the plain language resources available in libraries, and it's a great opportunity to promote them.
Make sure you have a Tool Kit available for the participants to see and use. If it's possible, have the Find Legal Answers website on display. The participants will be able to see the wealth of legal information available in books and online.
Please contact Catherine if you would like a copy of a short presentation you can use when hosting an event. The presentation briefly introduces the Tool Kit and the Find Legal Answers website.
Ordering free pamphlets and books
If you are planning an event on a particular legal topic, there may be a useful free pamphlet or booklet you can order and give away to your audience. Multiple copies of pamphlets on a variety of legal topics can be ordered directly from the supplier. You should also highlight the relevant titles from the Tool Kit and Law Books for Libraries collections.
Pamphlets
You can find relevant pamphlets at:
- Pamphlets page - this has some suggested pamphlets, as well as links to the publications pages of agencies including Legal Aid NSW.
- Legal Aid NSW 2023 publications catalogue - lists all the publications available to order or download from Legal Aid NSW including free legal information about common family law, criminal law and everyday legal problems such as debt and fines, disasters and your rights.
Many pamphlets can be ordered in community languages.
Neighbours and the law
If you're planning an event dealing with neighbours, you can order free copies of the book Neighbours and the law to give away (maximum of 20 copies per library).
The book is an easy to understand guide to the different areas of law that are involved in neighbourhood issues and disputes. It covers areas that commonly cause problems between neighbours including dividing fences, retaining walls, overhanging branches, animals and noise.
Find Legal Answers website
Law Week is a good opportunity to promote the the Find Legal Answers website. The help sheets below highlight some of the resources available on the website - you can give them to clients attending events, or include them as part of a display.
- court forms
- debt
- domestic violence
- family law
- neighbours
- older people
- renting
- traffic law
- wills
- young people
Tell us about your event
When the week is over, don't forget to report your event or activity.