What is a community legal centre? Watch here

Six-month “designated area” across Melbourne CBD will intensify racial profiling, criminalisation and trauma — community legal centres warn of serious harms to people already facing crisis

Community legal centres are concerned that the Victoria Police declaration of a vast “designated area” covering much of Melbourne’s CBD, Southbank, Docklands, major shopping centres and key transport hubs is a dangerous escalation of police powers that will disproportionately harm communities already over-policed and under-protected.

READ MORE

The Victorian Government’s law and order agenda won’t make communities safer – time is running out to block this disastrous bill

Today, the Victorian Government introduced the Justice Legislation Amendment (Community Safety) Bill 2025 to the Legislative Assembly of Victoria. The bill includes a range of reforms that will cause direct harm to children who are already experiencing violence, trauma and abuse while failing to achieve community safety.

The Victorian community legal sector is united in rejecting this legislation. Through our work with children at risk of entering or in the criminal legal system as well as victims of crime, we know that locking children up exacerbates the drivers of crime and represents a significant failure of multiple systems that are supposed to keep children and communities safe.

READ MORE

Community legal centres share their impact and policy recommendations with Victorian Attorney-General at a roundtable event

On Wednesday, representatives from Victorian community legal centres joined a roundtable event with the Victorian Attorney-General, the Hon Sonya Kilkenny in Melbourne Town Hall.

The roundtable event focussed on the community legal centre’s policy platform, Action for Justice: A Roadmap for Change.

READ MORE