Inaccessible, expensive, unresponsive, traumatic, discriminatory are the words many women seeking assistance to address family violence would use to characterise their access to legal advisory services and justice institutions in many locations across Tasmania.
Most women facing family violence do not characterise their situation as legal in nature. Tasmania is experiencing a housing crisis with the worst rental affordability in the nation. 8 out of 10 women and children facing homelessness who approached the Hobart Women’s Shelter in the last three years have been turned away. This is now 9 out of 10 women turned away from emergency housing services in Tasmania. In FY23, 78% of these women presented to the service for domestic and family violence (an 18% increase from FY22). Safety, recovery and ‘a normal life’ of school, social playdates, catching up with friends appear elusive when there is nowhere for women and children to go when fleeing violence.
Seeking to change that dynamic in Tasmania and build a sustainable collaborative funding model for Tasmania's first Health, Justice, Housing Partnership inspired me to apply for this Churchill Fellowship.
In January 2022, three family violence specialist lawyers commenced working at 15 sites across Tasmania in partner Child and Family Learning Centres, Child Health and Parenting locations and at the Hobart Women’s Shelter. During 2022 and 2023, this service has addressed over 5000 legal problems through almost 3000 legal consultations with women clients or the service partners across Tasmania who see them on a regular basis.
Women’s Legal Services Tasmania and Tasmania Legal Aid co-managed the legal service delivery and governance arrangements for the service.
The Just Healthy Families two-year pilot service has been supported by a combination of philanthropic and Commonwealth government funding as well as in-kind support from a range of institutions. The 2-year pilot has cost approximately $1.5million with the philanthropic funding from the Tasmania Community Fund comprising 33% of the 2-year pilot cost, the Commonwealth Government funding comprising 33%, cash and in-kind contributions from Women’s Legal Services Tasmania and Tasmania Legal Aid comprising 20% and in-kind contributions for evaluation and impact reporting by the University of Tasmania Schools of Nursing and Medicine as well as Law & Development Partners comprising 14%.
Please download my Fellowship Report via the button above to read what I learned on my Fellowship travels and my recommendations for Tasmania and Australia at large.
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