Health Justice Australia welcomes the Government’s announcement of an initial investment of $63.3 million to the legal assistance sector to support people effected by the indirect legal impacts of Covid19 in Australia.
Health Justice Australia is the national centre of excellence for health justice partnership, supporting collaborations between health and legal services that use legal help to achieve better health and justice outcomes for vulnerable communities.
The Covid19 Legal Assistance Working Group
Health Justice Australia has been convening the Covid19 Legal Assistance Working Group, a coalition of national peak bodies and services providing publicly-funded legal assistance, which has identified the areas of acute legal need most likely to emerge during the current pandemic. The Group is also exploring ways to best meet those needs.
The Covid19 Legal Assistance Working Group identified the following populations who are likely to be at particular risk from unmet legal need or will experience barriers accessing services remotely during this time:
- People who experience, or are at risk of domestic, intimate or family violence; or elder abuse
- People involved with the child protection system
- People experiencing English as a barrier to access
- People who live with certain mental health issues
- Some young people
- People who are homeless
- People living with disability and who are reliant on personal care
- First nations communities are likely to be particularly affected by these issues, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities and those at risk of or experiencing poverty.
Health Justice Australia CEO, Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine responded to the funding announcement:
‘During this global pandemic, people who are vulnerable to unmet legal need and its impact on their health are likely to be hit first and worst by both the direct impacts of the virus itself, and also by its indirect impacts on their legal and social wellbeing.
‘People often don’t think of legal help as a solution to everyday problems, but legal assistance services are available to help people with issues like poor quality housing, credit and debt issues, employment, family breakdown or family violence.
‘During Covid19, legal problems that can have a dire impact on people’s health include: an increased risk to personal safety while trapped at home in abusive relationships; or problems in public or rental housing – such as mould that drives respiratory problems, or overcrowding which may increase the spread of infection. Any of these concerns could become fatal in the context of Covid19.
‘Increasingly people can also access legal support in their trusted healthcare settings, through the work of over 70 health justice partnerships across Australia. The lockdown prompted by Covid19 has seen health justice partnerships providing legal help remotely, through telephone and online appointments via their healthcare service, on a wide range of legal issues effecting people’s health. Legal practitioners can also provide backup or secondary consultation to healthcare workers, who are often the frontline in identifying in their patients a range of legal or social concerns, which go beyond medical matters.
‘We are pleased the Government has responded to the concerns identified by the Covid19 Legal Assistance Working Group with this initial boost of funding to legal assistance services. The funding includes $20 million to assist those dealing with domestic violence matters. Another $29.8 million will help fund other Covid19 issues, such as tenancy disputes, insurance, credit and debt related problems, and employment related claims.
‘We look forward to continuing our work with legal assistance and health services to support collaborative approaches that reach those most likely to be at risk of acute legal need and its impact on health during this pandemic.’
About the Covid19 Legal Assistance Working Group
The members of the Covid19 Legal Assistance Working Group are: Community Legal Centres Australia, Health Justice Australia, Legal Aid NSW, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum and Victoria Legal Aid.
The Legal Assistance Working Group has been advocating to the Commonwealth Government, including the Attorney-General’s Department and the Prime Minister’s Covid19 Coordinating Commission; as well as contributing to national advocacy efforts.
About health justice partnership
In Australia many people experience three or more legal problems a year. While people don’t think of the law as a tool to help them, there are legal solutions to many problems. By placing legal help within more health and human service settings around the country – and increasing access to these services when and where they are needed most – health justice partnerships can create an environment where the intersecting problems that affect health can be resolved. Health Justice Australia supports the effectiveness and expansion of this collaborative service model, working with over 70 examples of legal help in healthcare settings across Australia.
Contact us
To find out more about Health Justice Australia visit our website, or for further comment call 02 8316 0516 (monitored all hours) or email: healthjustice@healthjustice.org.au
