The Federation of Community Legal Centres has strongly rejected comments by Federal Attorney-General George Brandis at this week’s legal affairs election debate, and has called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to respond urgently to an open letter on the crisis in community legal centre funding. Continue reading
A debate this afternoon between Attorney-General George Brandis and Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus offers a vital chance to focus on the national crisis in community legal centre funding in the lead-up to the Federal election, according to the peak body for fifty community legal centres in Victoria. Continue reading
Dr Chris Atmore, Senior Policy Adviser, Federation of Community Legal Centres (Victoria) Inc.
This article was first published in Parity magazine, a publication of the Council to Homeless Persons.
Community legal centres (CLCs) play an essential part in the Victorian response to family violence. Most obviously, 20 CLCs provide duty lawyers for family violence intervention order matters in 29 Magistrates’ Courts around the State. These CLCs mainly assist victims – the majority being women and their children – so that they can be effectively protected from the perpetrator’s violence. The fact that CLCs specialise in this way helps victims, because those CLCs are aware of the appropriate support pathways, have close relationships with other family violence service providers, and are trained to work with traumatised clients. Continue reading
Update, Friday 29 July: Federal Government responds to our open letter to prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the legal assistance funding crisis.
An open letter to Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia
14 June 2016
Dear Prime Minister,
As the peak body for fifty community legal centres in Victoria, we write to call on the Federal Government to act urgently on the compelling evidence of a crisis in the funding of free legal help for vulnerable people through community legal centres in this State and, indeed, across Australia.
Despite the May Federal Budget, community legal centres nationally still face a 30 per cent cut from July 2017, with the Budget retaining more than $34 million in cuts amid a broader Federal funding shortfall of $100 million over the next four years. Continue reading
Federal Attorney-General George Brandis has been repeating a tired and misleading defence to media reporting of a 30 per cent cut threatening community legal centres nationally from July next year.
Sadly for these providers of free legal help for people who can’t afford a private lawyer or get legal aid, the May Federal Budget left in place more than $34 million in cuts amid a broader Federal shortfall of $100 million over four years. Continue reading
