Victoria Legal Aid Publications

Infographic: The Role of Disadvantage in Solving Legal Issues The Department of Health and Social Services` proposals to rehabilitate aging social housing projects have been submitted to the Standing Advisory Committee on Social Housing Renewal for review. The Committee was invited to discuss the desirability of these proposals and to allow for community consultation on them. One of these properties – Abbotsford Street, North Melbourne – is located in IMCL`s catchment area. Based on our ongoing legal work with vulnerable tenants, we make the following observations: IMCL provides legal services to RMH patients through the HJP. In 2018, IMCL evaluated this service to determine if we are working best for hospital staff and patients. Our evaluation found that barriers for people seeking legal aid include accessibility and cost. Proximity allows patient access, coordination of care and optimal working relationships between lawyers and social workers. Independent Integrated Services: Prohibit housing providers from providing support services directly to tenants and from extending legal advice beyond tenancy. All but one of our print publications have been transferred to Victoria Legal Aid. These are: Responding to the warning signs allows health professionals to detect and respond to domestic violence and provides patients with important legal advice and information about domestic violence, complemented by legal, health and social support in the hospital. Working with a group of community law centres that support people with rental needs, we responded to Consultation Paper 1, which sought input on the terms and scope of the survey.

Our joint submission set out the key underlying principles that should inform the review. IMCL is an independent, non-profit legal service that provides free and accessible legal advice to disadvantaged people in our local community. We are proud to go into our community to reach our most vulnerable customers. Inner Melbourne Community Legal`s Acting on the Warning Signs project, supported by the Victorian Legal Services Board, provides community advocates who, through partnerships with inner-city hospitals, provide legal services to women fleeing or surviving domestic violence. We will continue to publish and disseminate Victoria`s legal system. In our view, we emphasize the importance of integrated legal services for our clients, who often face a number of overlapping legal issues stemming from mental health issues and significant barriers to accessing services. In addition to increasing funding for current and future integrated service models, IMCL makes a number of recommendations to address the overrepresentation of people with mental illness in the justice system: Subscribe to the Community Legal Education Update to learn more about our new resources and how our publications are affected by the legislative changes. Our publications can now be ordered or downloaded from the Victoria Legal Aid website and can be viewed here.

We still own Victoria`s Legal System, the easy-to-follow guide that explains how the legal system works in Victoria. You can order copies on our website. Our 2017/18 Annual Report is now available. The report shows our work in support of the community and the legal sector. In a submission to the Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation, IMCL recommended improving access to legal aid by creating a database of services and information available in Victoria. supported the development of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms; Appointment of additional members of the VCAT Arbitration Tribunal and amendment of legislation on the applicability of VCACT decisions. In addition, the bill highlights the problem of increasing demand for legal aid, combined with a lack of stability in the funding of the mutual legal aid sector. Download or order our free fact sheets, brochures and educational resources to help people solve their legal problems.

IMCL assists vulnerable members of our local community with a range of legal issues, including fines. The Advisory Council for Fine Reform sought comments on the fines regime due to reforms introduced by the 2014 Fines Reform Act, which came into force in early 2018. In response, IMCL makes a number of recommendations, including: The submission also drew attention to the lack of notification to tower residents and the lack of simple information in English and translated throughout the lockdown. Not knowing or understanding what was going on in their home increased residents` fear and confusion. Communication outages also meant that many residents were unaware of or unable to exercise their protected rights to access fresh air, exercise, medical care, medical care and holidays on humanitarian grounds. The lack of clear processes and chains of command has made it nearly impossible for residents to request access to these rights, and extremely difficult for other organizations such as IMCL to advocate on behalf of residents. In 2019, a new grant structure will be introduced to support data collection and analysis to reduce barriers to justice services. Fair allocation of housing: ensure that allocations for residential buildings are not considered long-term housing and commit to ensuring that all social housing providers are required to publicly report on allocation data.

Partners In Care: The Benefits of Community Lawyers Working In A Hospital Setting is a report detailing the findings and methodology of IMCL Health Justice`s partnerships with Royal Women`s, Royal Melbourne and The Children`s Hospital. The evaluation identified five critical requirements for CLCs to have effective HJPs in large urban hospitals. It describes the benefits of collaboration between community advocates and health professionals in coordinating care for at-risk patients. All content on the Everyday Law website will also be transferred to Victoria Legal Aid in the near future. The GMREB`s concerns have now been recognized in the Ombudsman`s report, which identifies financial management and communication between government trustees and clients as key areas of concern. To learn more about IMCL`s response to the Victorian Ombudsman`s report, click here. We look forward to the release of the Victoria Ombudsman`s findings and will support the implementation of the legislative and policy changes needed to prevent a recurrence of the events of July and ensure the long-term support and sustainability of our social housing communities. Our last general grants were awarded recently and we look forward to the projects coming to fruition. These communication failures were compounded by residents` failure to engage with them and provide them with opportunities to participate constructively in health risk management.

Instead, a forced top-down approach rejected residents` initial efforts to address safety concerns early in the pandemic and failed to recognize the subsequent organization of relief efforts by community volunteers in the absence of effective government administration. In particular, we have expressed concern that the government is relying on a large contingent of Victoria police officers to enforce their strict lockdown, rather than taking a health response. It is clear that no other group in Victoria has been as intensively monitored during COVID-19 as residents of social housing, a community already facing excessive and marginalized police surveillance. The presence of police at their doorstep and actions such as the construction of a fenced exercise yard made residents feel unsafe in their homes and were deprived of their dignity. For many refugee residents, the experience was also traumatic. The discriminatory nature of this intervention was exacerbated by the continued police presence at 33 Alfred Street after the detention warrants were lifted. Your official police register is a document created by the police when you request it. If you`ve never had problems with the police, you should get a clear record. If you have had problems with the font, this may be displayed in your police registry.

In Moving Beyond Your Past, we explain exactly what can and cannot appear in a font register. Community housing providers` policies must provide equitable support and protection and be publicly available. IMCL believes that one of the main objectives of Victoria`s residential property regulatory and policy framework should be to ensure that rental properties are safe, structurally sound and habitable. In this context, IMCL made five recommendations in this submission: that the law be amended to introduce mandatory minimum standards; The Act is amended to require a condition report and attach photos for all residential tenancies; The Act is amended to allow VCAT to issue orders allowing tenants to make changes if landlords unreasonably withhold consent; the Act is amended so that the VCAT can issue orders directing the Housing Department to make changes to disabilities; and that the 120-day notice period be lifted without cause.