By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A CASEY family violence legal group will be forced to close its Narre Warren office following major federal funding cuts that have left desperate women in despair.
Casey-Cardinia Community Legal Service (CCCLS) will lose $190,000 from its budget in the coming financial year.
Principal solicitor Vera Hardiman said the worst part of the cuts was having to turn away vulnerable, needy women looking for a way out of their violent relationships.
“It’s devastating. People are already ringing up and we are saying we can’t help you,” she said.
“They’re going ballistic. They are at the end of their tether – a lot of people are at the point of suicide.”
The free service, used by 14,000 clients battling domestic violence problems last financial year, said the office would close on 30 June, shutting out a wide range of women who access the convenient, safe location.
“The office here is good because it’s next to the bulk billing medical centre so for women who are going through family violence and are still with their husband, they often drive them, so they can say they’re going to the doctor’s and come here to get advice,” Ms Hardiman said.
Money, or a woman’s lack of financial control in a violent domestic relationship, is a major contributor to them staying.
Ms Hardiman said the biggest blow would be the loss of their in-demand financial counsellors who help free their predominantly female clientele (74 per cent) from violent relationships and teach them how to manage themselves independently.
“People going through family breakdown often have family troubles. If someone is paying off a mortgage and all of a sudden, one of the breadwinners is gone, then our financial councillors will negotiate with the banks to make sure they only pay interest for a while,” Ms Hardiman said.
The service’s three financial counsellors who were told they’d lost their job two days before Christmas.
“Sometimes clients come in and their houses are about to be sold from under them.
“The financial advisers, who work closely with solicitors, will come and make sure the banks hold off on that process and get some sort of payment plan.”
The valuable financial counselling service ended on Tuesday 10 February. The community legal group will also operate with one less solicitor under the cuts.
“They are threatening to cut more in the future and if that happens, the waiting periods will be ridiculous.
“We may not be able to help them in time, which makes things very difficult,” Ms Hardiman said.
She slammed the government for their irresponsible decision at a time when domestic violence was worsening, particularly with the increased use of ice in the City of Casey.
“The government seems to have a completely uncaring attitude. It seems to be if someone has a problem, they have to deal with it themselves,” Ms Hardiman said.
“But there is no easy answer to family violence. It’s a very complex issue and as people have more and more financial problems and access to drugs like ice, I can’t see the issue getting better in the near future. It’s horrifying.”
A spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) said the legal service received a total of $281,996 in 2014-’15 through the Community Legal Services Program for the 2014-’15 financial year.
“The government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our community, including by providing access to justice.
“That is why the government will continue to provide a very substantial amount of funding for legal assistance, prioritising the delivery of front-line services over advocacy activities across all legal assistance programs,” the spokesperson said.
Ms Hardiman said the significant funding loss for the forthcoming financial year would suggest otherwise. CCCLS’ initial funding cut of $100,000 was announced in May last year. The legal group rallied together 250 original signatures in a petition read in parliament at the end of the year.
The legal group, who spoke about the cuts at a community forum attended by Member for Isaccs Mark Dreyfus on Friday 6 February, will relocate to the Dandenong office and aims to secure a smaller, convenient space for Cardinia and Casey clients to meet with solicitors.
The AGD spokesperson said all future funding arrangements would be determined based on the Productivity Commission’s report into access to justice arrangements and the Review of the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services.
