Poverty Law and Social Change: The Story of Fitzroy Legal Service.

• Jurisdiction: Australia
• Author: Markman, Ariella
• Date: 01 January 1997

John Chesterman, Poverty Law and Social Change: The Story of Fitzroy Legal Service, (Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1996)

John Chesterman asks how broad social change [could] be brought about by pursuing the legal entitlements of individuals. The evolution of Fitzroy Legal Service has seen the progression of a radical social critic and an organisation designed to provide free legal assistance to those most in need. Poverty Law and Social Change: The Story of Fitzroy Legal Service traces the history of a community organisation with a myriad of goals, both legal and social. To achieve greater accessibility to the law, the legal service has sought to promote the rights of individuals through community education, thus empowering the underprivileged. The book is a perceptive and compelling account of the conception of a community legal service.

Since its inception, the Fitzroy Legal Service (FLS) has challenged, questioned and confronted the traditional legal system. Through its provision of free legal assistance, promotion of individual rights and development of radical legal reforms, it has become a defender of the underprivileged and a powerful agent of social and legal change. It has attempted to weigh sensitive interests: the creation of a free legal service and the production...