By Casey Neill
A program keeping Dandenong youths out of jail appears to have been given a lifeline.
The Journal reported on 21 April that Federal Government funding for not-for-profit Youthlaw would drop by $72,000 from 1 July – the cost of its outreach program.
But on Monday 24 April, Attorney-General George Brandis announced an extra $39 million over the next three years for Community Legal Centres as part of the 2017-’18 budget.
The funding allocation will be finalised with the states and territories under the National Partnership Agreement.
Youthlaw CEO Ariel Couchman welcomed the announcement.
“We still need to wait for the fine details, but the release does give us confidence that it does include the funding that we were to have cut,” she said.
“It’s awful thinking about having to cut back a service that was at a stage where it was really having a lot of impact, and it will only increase.”
Youthlaw outreach lawyer Karen Chibert told the Journal that the program had helped about 760 vulnerable young people during its two years, including about 50 in Dandenong and surrounds.
Youthlaw is based in the Melbourne CBD.
Ms Chibert travels to nine headspace and community centres across the state to connect with young people “who arguably wouldn’t otherwise receive assistance elsewhere”.
She said the service was specifically for vulnerable young people who were dealing with issues of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and homelessness.
Ms Chibert said young people who’d been assisted through the outreach program told Youthlaw they would have ended up in jail without it or would have racked up huge debt to fund a lawyer.
“What we do a lot is try to get young people on a diversionary program,” she said.
“It unclogs the court system.”
The Brandis announcement also marked a backflip on plans for a 30 per cent cut to Springvale Monash Legal Service next financial year.
Isaacs MP Mark Dreyfus said “some of our most vulnerable local residents” would have missed out on free legal advice as a result.
“Finally, after three years of campaigning, the Turnbull Government has admitted its mistake and reversed this funding cut to community legal centres,” he said.
