{"id":7264,"date":"2020-07-13T08:08:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T08:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=7264"},"modified":"2020-07-13T08:08:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T08:08:39","slug":"covid-19-15-6m-boost-to-legal-support-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/07\/13\/covid-19-15-6m-boost-to-legal-support-services\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19: $15.6M BOOST TO LEGAL SUPPORT SERVICES"},"content":{"rendered":"

Domestic violence victim-survivors, Aboriginal Australians and people who\u2019ve lost their jobs and homes as a result of COVID-19 will be among those to benefit from a Commonwealth funding boost of more than $15.6 million for NSW\u2019s legal assistance sector.
\nAttorney General and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Mark Speakman said $13.26 million of the funding would support frontline legal services helping disadvantaged people manage the \u2018new normal\u2019 of the coronavirus pandemic.
\n\u201cIn the face of an unprecedented health crisis, our State\u2019s frontline services have gone above and beyond the call of duty. This includes our tireless healthcare care workers, our police and emergency services and those who provide free legal assistance,\u201d Mr Speakman said.
\n\u201cAs people face job losses, tenancy issues, financial insecurity and, horrifically, the increasing risk of violence behind closed doors, there are more people than ever contacting Legal Aid, Community Legal Centres and the Aboriginal Legal Service in search of legal support.
\n\u201cThis investment will help meet this increase in need, and ensure vulnerable members of our community know their rights and get the advice they need to help overcome hardships.\u201d
\nThe NSW Government will direct more than 40 per cent of the Commonwealth investment towards frontline services helping people experiencing domestic and family violence.
\n\u201cWe have heard horrific stories from victims and advocates about domestic violence perpetrated while victims have been isolated alongside their abusers due to COVID-19,\u201d Mr Speakman said.
\n\u201cIn the last 10 weeks alone, seven people have been tragically killed in domestic and family violence incidents across NSW.
\n\u201cWe all have a part to play in tackling this epidemic. This funding will help victim-survivors get the advice they need to ensure perpetrators are held to account, support them in escaping violent households and ultimately help us save lives.\u201d
\nThe funding package will also enable the legal assistance sector to increase its ICT capabilities to deliver more services remotely and to reach more people across NSW. A total of $2.35 million\u00a0 has been allocated to help legal assistance services transition to greater virtual service delivery.
\nThe COVID-19 Project Agreement is part of the Commonwealth Government\u2019s $63.3 million commitment to support legal assistance services respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
\nToday\u2019s funding allocation to the NSW legal assistance sector supports frontline services and ICT capabilities as follows:
\nLegal Aid NSW \u2013 $5.24 million\u00a0<\/strong>to boost staff and respond to increases in demand for its civil and family law, domestic and family violence and child protection services, and more than\u00a0$1.26 million\u00a0<\/strong>to support ICT enhancements.
\nCommunity Legal Centres (CLCs) \u2013 $4.34 million<\/strong>\u00a0to increase frontline service delivery capacity across the CLC sector, and more than\u00a0$1.09 million\u00a0<\/strong>to support ICT enhancements in the CLC sector.
\nAboriginal Legal Service (ALS) \u2013 $3.68 million<\/strong>\u00a0to bolster the capacity of the ALS to deliver services including family and criminal law and child protection to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in NSW. ALS will also receive ICT funding directly from the Commonwealth Government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Domestic violence victim-survivors, Aboriginal Australians and people who\u2019ve lost their jobs and homes as a result of COVID-19 will be among those to benefit from a Commonwealth funding boost of more than $15.6 million for NSW\u2019s legal assistance sector. Attorney General and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Mark Speakman said $13.26 million of … Continue reading “COVID-19: $15.6M BOOST TO LEGAL SUPPORT SERVICES”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}