Category Archives: Funding

Legal funding leaves services out of reach for many women facing family violence

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Funding to provide free legal help for women facing family violence announced today by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will come as some relief to victims and the community legal centres who help them. However, it falls short of restoring Federal Government cuts and does not address growing need for family violence and broader legal help, according to the Federation of Community Legal Centres.

‘Additional investment for vital services is always welcome, however the announcement today of $5m for community legal centres is not enough to help women escaping violence get the assistance they need to obtain an intervention order or remain safe in their home,’ McDuff said.

Community legal centres provide vital free legal help for women not only with intervention orders to stop family violence through the courts, but with related legal issues including family law, tenancy, and debt. Family violence orders comprised the top legal problem type for community legal centres in Victoria in 2015–16, with a 19% spike in legal advice, and a 12% increase in cases opened.

‘In the face of high and growing need for free legal help with family violence, community legal centres nationally face a 30 per cent cut in Federal funding next July, when they already turn away 160,000 vulnerable people a year. We are concerned about how this will impact our services to people experiencing family violence.

‘In 2014 the Productivity Commission recommended an immediate injection of $200 million into legal assistance services to begin to meet this crushing demand and the recent Victorian Access to Justice Review also recommended increasing investment.

‘The Government has made clear statements today about their concern for family violence and provided a small boost for some services. We hope to see additional commitments to address the significant demand pressures on legal services and ensure all people experiencing family violence can access the support they need,’ McDuff concluded.

Download this media release (PDF)

For media interview and information

Serina McDuff
Executive Officer
Federation of Community Legal Centres
0451 411 479

Darren Lewin-Hill
Communications Manager
Federation of Community Legal Centres
0488 773 535

What’s the future of free legal help in Victoria?

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Thursday 13 October 2016 – embargoed until 12.00am Friday 14 October 2016

The future of free legal help in Victoria will be the focus of a symposium at Melbourne Town Hall tomorrow (Friday 14 October). Achieving Justice will bring together community legal centres, Victoria Legal Aid, the Victorian Council of Social Service, Domestic Violence Victoria and key not-for-profit organisations working for social justice.

‘With the release of the Victorian Government’s Access to Justice Review amid extraordinary pressures on community legal centres facing imminent Federal Government cuts, this symposium is a vital opportunity to look at the serious challenges to accessible free legal help, but also the opportunities to strengthen how we assist vulnerable people,’ said Serina McDuff, executive officer of the Federation of Community Legal Centres, today.

The review acknowledged under-funding across legal help services, calling for increased State and Federal investment, echoing the 2014 Productivity Commission, which recommended an immediate boost to community legal centres, legal aid commissions and Aboriginal legal services of at least $200 million a year.

‘The advocates brought together at this symposium will show that meeting the legal and broader needs of the most vulnerable people is a collaborative effort that needs to be sustainably funded.

‘The review also acknowledged the value and importance of integrated service delivery, which is how community legal centres have been working for decades to ensure vulnerable Victorians facing complex social, financial and legal issues receive the help they need.

‘The symposium will also show how advocates are working to drive positive change and innovate through technology to address serious problems like family violence,’ McDuff said.

Domestic Violence Victoria CEO Fiona McCormack will address the Federation’s annual general meeting (12.30–1.30pm), and the symposium will conclude with a family violence panel of leading community legal centres.

In 2015–16, Victorian community legal centres saw a 19 per cent spike in demand for free legal advice for family violence, and there was a 12 per cent increase in the number of family violence cases opened. Family violence intervention orders are the top legal problem type for Victorian community legal centres.

Achieving Justice will be held at Melbourne Town Hall from 9.00am on Friday 14 October 2016. The event is open to media.

The Federation of Community Legal Centres is the peak body for 49 community legal centres in Victoria.

Download this media release (PDF)

Download Federation 2015–16 annual report

For media interview and information

Serina McDuff
Executive Officer
Federation of Community Legal Centres
0451 411 479

Darren Lewin-Hill
Communications Manager
Federation of Community Legal Centres
0488 773 535

Diary ruling a step towards greater scrutiny of damaging legal help cuts, community lawyers say

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Today’s Federal Court ruling requiring the reconsideration of a refusal to release the work diary of Attorney-General George Brandis under freedom of information laws has been welcomed by the Federation of Community Legal Centres.

‘This ruling is a step towards greater scrutiny of damaging Federal Government cuts to free community legal help for vulnerable people – cuts which cannot be justified and directly contradict the recommendation of the Productivity Commission for a significant boost to free legal assistance services,’ said Serina McDuff, executive officer of the Federation, today.

Release of the diaries was sought by Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to determine the extent of the Attorney-General’s consultations with stakeholders before announcing the cuts, which will reduce community legal centre funding nationally by 30 per cent in July 2017.

‘We expect greater transparency regarding the decision will support the fact there is no legitimate basis for the cuts in the face of spiralling legal need,’ McDuff said.

Already badly underfunded, community legal centres nationally help more than 216,000 people a year but are forced to turn away around 160,000 people who cannot afford a private lawyer or access legal aid.

‘Free legal help from a community legal centre can be the difference between getting a family violence intervention order or not, between keeping a roof over your head or being evicted into homelessness, between getting help for a financial scam or being left to suffer the consequences,’ McDuff said.

She said modest Federal funding announcements for family violence legal help through the Women’s Safety Package and following May’s Federal Budget would be dwarfed by the 2017 cuts, and failed to consider the need for broader free legal help beyond family violence.

‘The Federal Government has chosen to make savings that are small in budget terms, but represent massive cuts to poorly funded community legal services that will have a very significant impact on vulnerable people,’ McDuff concluded.

Legal proceedings to prevent the release of the diaries are publicly funded. The Federal Government spends more than $700 million annually on its own legal advice and representation (AGD figures) – more than twice its expenditure on frontline legal services through community legal centres, legal aid and Aboriginal legal services.

Download this media release (PDF)

For media interview and information

Serina McDuff
Executive Officer
Federation of Community Legal Centres
0451 411 479

Darren Lewin-Hill
Communications Manager
Federation of Community Legal Centres
0488 773 535

Dreyfus-Brandis debate a vital chance to focus on legal help funding crisis, community lawyers say

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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 →

Fact-checking Attorney-General Brandis on community legal centre funding

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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 →

Money for mobile blackspots in Geelong as legal help blackspots worsen under Federal cuts

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As prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announces money for mobile blackspots in Corangamite, he is neglecting existing blackspots in free legal help and making them worse with more than $34 million in cuts left in place in the Federal Budget amid a broader Federal funding shortfall of $100m over four years.

‘The cuts mean that coverage of legal help for serious legal problems including family violence will grow worse – particularly in rural areas and even in major regional centres like Geelong,’ said Katie Fraser, acting executive officer of the Federation of Community Legal Centres, today. Continue reading →

Community lawyers join call for urgently needed boost to all legal assistance services

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Community legal centres are set to join tomorrow’s rally in support of increased funding for legal aid, and for broader legal assistance services including community legal centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services (FVPLS). Continue reading →