Fitzroy Legal Service welcomes the Commonwealth Government’s parliamentary inquiry into family violence orders and is pleased to contribute to these deliberations through its submission. FLS has supported our communities to navigate family law and family violence legal systems for decades, with a substantive practice now including five family law and family violence Health Justice Partnerships, monthly divorce clinics, and duty lawyer services at the Neighbourhood Justice Centre in Collingwood and the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court’s Specialist Family Violence Court.
Drawing on this extensive experience, our submission provides key recommendations as to how the family law system can be enhanced to support those affected by family violence. We are grateful to our clients for trusting us with their stories and we acknowledge the victim-survivors of gender-based violence we work closely with, whose voices and experiences inform our advocacy for justice.
