Annual Law Week has arrived this week with the State’s legal profession marking the occasion with an educational look at Queensland’s justice system and offering specific advice to the public.
According to Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Shannon Fentiman the spotlight on the week is aimed at scams, placing an emphasis on how Queenslanders can protect themselves against sophisticated scams and fraud and learn about the most common cons doing the rounds.
“It’s not only consumers being targeted,” Ms Fentiman said, “with scammers preying on the goodwill of communities trying to provide disaster recovery assistance and funds to charities after our recent flooding events.”
She said no-one is immune from the scammers: “it’s easy to fall for a scam, no matter your age, background or location, which is why it’s important to highlight the warning signs and the services available to report and deal with these issues.”
Ms Fentiman said Law Week is also a week to provide the opportunity to raise awareness of Queensland’s legal system and for members of the community to learn about the range of legal services available to provide assistance when in need.
She said that in 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Queenslanders to have the highest average reported loss to scams.
“Consumers and members of the public are encouraged to seek advice and make an official complaint to the Office of Fair Trading if they’ve been personally affected by a scam,” Ms Fentiman said.
“Scams don’t always come from within Australia, and that can make stopping them harder, which is why we are emphasising how Queenslanders can protect themselves from falling victim.”
She said it was important that members of the public be aware of their rights in the justice system, including their consumer rights.
“Importantly the Queensland justice and legal sectors provide so much more to the community than just Court services, something we always hope to showcase,” she said.
“Law Week gives the public, and students looking at a career in the legal profession, a look at how the law and courts operate and I encourage everyone to check out the services and advice available from the legal sector.
Further information about Queensland Law Week and protecting from scams can be accessed on the Law Week website at this PS News link.
