Actions one to nine will see Victoria Legal Aid's improving client access to family law services includes enhancing its engagement with the community sector, and making available tools and training that support appropriate legal referrals by community support agencies.
These resources will be complemented by outreach to increase networks across the sector, build relationships and embed referral practices.
The second limb of this approach includes delivering tools and training to family lawyers so that they can better identify other non-legal services required by their clients and provide appropriate referrals to relevant support services.
The approach aims to improve early identification of legal and non-legal issues for clients and provide for more streamlined referrals, so that clients get the help they need at the earliest possible opportunity.
This approach also aims to better link the legal and broader community sectors for the benefit of both sectors and clients.
The duty lawyer service at the Family Law Courts is a key aspect of access and intake into family law services. The duty lawyer service is often the first point of contact that family law clients have with the legal system.
Victoria Legal Aid intends to further investigate and scope an Early Intervention Unit along the lines of the model adopted by Legal Aid New South Wales to ascertain whether a similar model is a viable strategy for enhancing duty lawyer services in the Victorian context.
Better access to legal information and advice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients in Victoria is a priority. Victoria Legal Aid has recently developed a Reconciliation Action Plan, which includes considering the recruitment of Aboriginal field officers.
Read the full report
See the Family Law Legal Aid Services Review: final report (docx, 299.61 KB)(opens in a new window) for more information about these actions.
Or read a summary of other themes:
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