Citizens Advice Bureau

Yesterday I paid a visit to the Wellington Central Citizens Advice Bureau. Citizens Advice is an independent community organisation which provides New Zealanders with free advice and advocacy services across a wide range of issues such as budgeting, legal disputes and consumer rights.

There are 90 bureaux Nationwide. When I visited the office based at the Wellington Library today I met with the co-ordinator of the six Wellington CAB, the Central office and five others in Wellington Suburbs. These offices are predominantly staffed by volunteers and in the Wellington area alone they have responded to over 27,000 enquiries over the past year. To support the efforts of Citizens Advice and in recognition of the great advice they provide individuals on consumer rights, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs provides annual training to bureau volunteers on consumer rights, supplies consumer complaints handling manuals, donates free pamphlets on consumer issues and assists with administrative costs relating to the handling of consumer enquiries through a small grant.

Today I saw first-hand how a bureau works on a daily basis and met with Area and Bureau managers as well as the volunteers on duty. The staff do a fantastic job, keeping up to date with consumer law and other legislation so that they can provide the best advice possible.

I was impressed by the work being done through Citizens Advice and also by their forward-thinking approach. The organisation is currently extending their services out of the office and engaging with communities most in need of help and advice through initiatives such as their ‘suitcase service’ for migrants. The Wellington Central bureau also takes part in the Wellington JP clinic service. This is a drop-in service for people who urgently need to see a JP in the central and greater Wellington area. To learn more about this service visit the JP Wellington website http://www.jpwellington.org.nz/.