GRANT District Council is calling for feedback on the delivery of community legal services amid a major shake-up in the regional sector earlier this year.
This follows an Adelaide-based provider taking over after the closure of the South East Legal Service, which delivered services in the community for around 20 years.
The service was forced to shut its doors after losing funding from the State Government.
The forced closure sparked a backlash across the community with fears emerging the change would result in service cuts.
Legal services are now provided by Southern Community Justice Centre, which has set up an office on Commercial Street West in Mount Gambier.
Standing outside its office yesterday, Mr Sage said the council wanted to hear from people about their experience with the new service.
“We want to know the good or the bad and if the system is working,” Mr Sage said.
He said the government forced the closure of the long running regional service after implementing a public tender process.
Mr Sage said Deputy Premier John Rau had asked for community feedback following a meeting with Grant council delegates.
“Mr Rau has asked that we bring to the table any examples of positive or negative implications of the change to community legal service,” the district mayor said.
Mr Sage said the minister foreshadowed there was a possibility of making changes to the current system if problems emerged.
“We will be attending a further meeting with the deputy premier on November 10 to discuss the performance of the alternative community legal services and how such services could be improved in our region,” he said.
As part of the meeting in Adelaide, Mr Sage said he would tour the legal service’s call centre to see how it operated.
“At the moment, we have no idea how well the service is operating,” he said.
The Berri-Barmera Council – which was also serviced by the new operator – had also been in discussions with Mr Rau.
He said this service was critical given it helped disadvantaged people who generally could not access mainstream legal services.
Mr Sage said he also trying to confirm whether legal services were still being provided at the Mount Gambier Prison.
Comments can be sent via email to info@dcgrant.sa.gov.au or by posting to PO Box 724, Mount Gambier, SA.
Submissions close on Friday, November 3.
