July 23, 2019 | Rosanna Di Grazia
The Victorian Government has committed $1.8 million in additional funding for Community Legal Centres and Aboriginal Legal Services to deliver integrated services within their communities.
The funding provides the opportunity to continue, enhance or extend integrated services, or build capacity to establish and deliver integrated services, with grants of up to $200,000.
Integrated services involve Community Legal Centres and Aboriginal Legal Services working with other services to support people in the community experiencing overlapping challenges in their life. Victorians experiencing hardship and crises in their lives, such as health issues or family breakdown, also face clusters of legal problems that profoundly impact them. This may include debt problems, insecure tenancies, family violence issues or consumer scams. Evidence demonstrates that integrated and collaborative forms of service delivery better support marginalised groups and those experiencing disadvantage.
“Integrated services see lawyers working collaboratively with social workers, health providers or financial counsellors to provide holistic support to people when they need it most. Funding provided by the Victorian Government will help the community legal sector reach the growing demand for services so people can recover and thrive,” said Serina McDuff, CEO of the Federation of Community Legal Centres.
The objective of the Integrated Services Fund is to provide Community Legal Services and Aboriginal Legal Services that are members of the Federation with the opportunity to:
- continue, extend or enhance an integrated service;
- build capacity to establish an integrated service (exploring the possibility of a new partnership and starting to build relationships); or
- establish an integrated service (formalise and begin a new integrated service with a chosen partner).
The Federation will be administering the funding and appointing an external evaluation panel ensuring an independent, fair process for all.
Applications are now open, and will close at 11am on Monday 5 August 2019. Further information about the application process, including eligibility, can be found at https://clcgrants.smartygrants.com.au/.
