October 26, 2021
Urgent Bail Reform Needed to Prevent More Victorian Women Ending Up Behind Bars
Smart Justice for Women, a coalition of leading legal, academic and community services calls for urgent bail reform and investment in wraparound services to reduce the unacceptable number of women behind bars.
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October 26, 2021
Community Legal Sector Calls for a Smarter Approach to Justice
The Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria (the Federation) has joined the chorus of legal centres, social services and human rights organisations making a united call for a ”smarter criminal justice system” - one that identifies the social determinates of crime and reinvests in community-led solutions.
Speaking at the Inquiry into Victoria’s Criminal Justice System, Federation CEO Louisa Gibbs called for a “radical rethink” of the way Victoria approaches criminal justice.
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May 31, 2021
CLCs on the frontline: Domestic and Family Violence Recent Initiatives
Victoria continues to face a crisis of domestic and family violence across the state.
In 2017, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that one in six Australian women and one in sixteen Australian men experienced physical or sexual violence from a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15.
In Victoria, these numbers escalated significantly over the course of 2020, in close correlation with the conditions of lockdown and isolation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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May 20, 2021
State Budget 2021
The Federation of Community Legal Centres strongly commends the Victorian government’s $3.8 billion commitment rebuilding Victoria’s mental health system in today’s State Budget.
We applaud the government’s decision to commit funding to victims of crime. Legal assistance is vital to ensuring that victim-survivors can navigate the new financial assistance scheme.
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March 24, 2021
CLCs on the frontline: Fitzroy Legal Service
Over the past two years a community legal centre in Melbourne's north has expanded access to lawyers specialising in alcohol and other drug use to the Darebin municipality. The Fitzroy Legal Service (a merger of Darebin Community Legal Centre & Fitzroy Legal Service), is delivering this new service in partnership with Uniting ReGen and YSAS.
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