Introduction

Rural Law Online (RLO) provides rural and regional Victorians with access to comprehensive, plain language legal information on over 200 subjects. The website has proven popular with rural communities since its inception in January 2005, with approximately 100,000 unique visits, 500,000 page views and 1.6 million ‘hits’. The website also contains a number of other features including, a directory of over 1,500 law, advice and support services, and interactive Feature Issues discussion forums. The first national Feature Issues Forum delivered via Rural Law Online was on Farm Succession Planning. 

The major package elements included:

• Overview – A five page overview which presented a summary of the major points that need to be considered when planning for succession.

• Resource Package – A detailed document outlining issues and suggested processes for dealing with succession planning. This document could be viewed online or accessed in PDF format (25 page document) and included links to other information pages on the website and external sites.

• Interviews – A selection of audio and video interviews on succession planning

• Discussion Forum – Rural Law Online visitors could ask the 16 Forum facilitators drawn from around Australia, question about succession planning or share their ideas and experiences with others.