Pacific Island Law Campaign Launched

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SUVA: Pacific Island people are in dire need of information about the legal system and how to access it. That's the view of New Zealand's Grey Lynn Neighbourhood Law Office which has launched a Pacific Island Law Campaign in Auckland called PL2K (Pacific Law 2000).

The nine-month campaign is the first comprehensive project in New Zealand aimed at raising Pacific Island peoples' awareness of legal issues.

PL2K will be a community driven initiative. The services of nearly 80 people including Pacific Island lawyers, translators, community and church people, broadcasters and artists have been enlisted to get the message out. Funding has been obtained from the Legal Services Board for this project.

Head solicitor of the Grey Lynn Neighbourhood Law Office, Karen Ferris, says nine topics have been identified as being of critical importance to Pacific Island people. These range from immigration, family law and domestic violence, to debt, tenancy and criminal law.

"The object of the project is to be as wide reaching as possible, to show the law is common to everyone, and that everyone is entitled to know the law and be protected by it," says Karen. "Our project focus is to meet the needs that have been identified within the Pacific Island community and to produce educational resources in a useful format for ongoing use. At this stage the project will focus on reaching Pacific Island people in the Auckland Region where sixty five percent of all Pacific Island people in New Zealand live."

The media campaign will include talkback sessions on Radio 531 PI in English and Pacific Island languages as well as monthly segments on TV ONE's Tagata Pasifika and articles in various Pacific Island newspapers.

The PL2K campaign will also work in with other community law centers in Auckland so a higher number of the Pacific Island population can be reached.

For more information contact media team:

Iulia Leilua Mob: 021 217 2457 Email: ileilua@ihug.co.nz

Sandra Kailahi 021 441 443 Email: glnlo@xtra.co.nz

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