Services such as a Vietnamese-speaking lawyer in St Albans and a domestic violence duty lawyer at Bacchus Marsh will be delivered thanks to a $150,000 boost to the Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre.
The rapidly growing Vietnamese community in the west and issues around domestic violence prompted the centre to find better ways to serve its community.
Almost $100,000 of the state government grant will be used to fund a Vietnamese-speaking lawyer at the centre’s St Albans office for two years, while the remaining money will be invested in an “advice clinic” for domestic violence victims at the Bacchus Marsh Maternal and Child Health Services.
Rachna Muddagouni, chief executive of the centre’s parent body, Community West, said her organisation was pleased the government had acknowledged through its extra funding the unmet legal needs of the west.
“Research shows that language is a barrier,” she said. “Although we often try to use interpreting services, which are positive, a bilingual lawyer can break cultural barriers and ensure clients are far more comfortable.”
Currently, a legal centre lawyer visits the Bacchus Marsh courts every couple of weeks to represent domestic violence victims and give legal advice.
But the new advice clinic will ensure lawyers reach victims before they get embroiled in the legal system and offer them advice.
Ms Muddagouni said it was imperative that domestic violence victims be reassured of their worth and understand their rights.
“If you look at when people come into the child and maternal health services, women are in that extreme period when they’re feeling isolated after a new baby,” she said.
“People don’t know how to access the legal system because they’re not familiar with their rights. Being able to run our services from the maternal health service will be an added benefit to what we offer because anyone can safely go to a child and maternal nurse.”
The centre’s legal practice program manager, Stephanie Tonkin, said it was hoped the lawyer at the maternal and child health service would reach victims of domestic violence earlier in the process.
“At the moment, we’re only offering at-court representation for those who are already in the legal system,” she said. “There isn’t that ability for us to provide that support for victims who don’t know how to get to the legal system or that they can even access it.”
