Perkins, Julie --- "Many Rivers Aboriginal Legal Service Family Violence Project" [1999] IndigLawB 56; (1999) 4(22) Indigenous Law Bulletin 15

• Many Rivers Aboriginal Legal Service Family Violence Project

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Many Rivers Aboriginal Legal Service Family Violence Project

by Julie Perkins

Many Rivers Violence Prevention Unit (MRVPU),^[1] located in Kempsey, is ATSIC’s first pilot program in its strategy to prevent family violence in Aboriginal communities. ATSIC has continued the pilot for an extended period until June 2000 to further assess the effectiveness of the program.

Since commencing operation in September 1998 MRVPU has seen 179 clients and has been offering a number of services including legal advice, family law applications, counselling, community legal education and family mediations. The figures indicate that the unit is catering to an un-met need in Kempsey.

However successful MRVPU may be, it only covers one Aboriginal community in the whole country. More programs need to be developed to address family violence in Aboriginal communities throughout the country. To this end, Many Rivers Aboriginal Legal Service (MRALS) is designing and attempting to implement programs preventing family violence and providing services to victims of family violence on a regional basis.^[2]

MRALSs’ program development is supported by ALS practice standards, which specifically provide for legal advice to, and representation of, victims of domestic violence and for the provision of community education programs. ATSIC, as the core funding body for Aboriginal Legal Services (ALSs) in the country, has identified domestic violence as a priority area for ALSs to address. In light of this, it would be correct to say that ALSs are becoming a more pro-active and preventative service in addressing family violence in Aboriginal communities. The standards also refer to the use of family mediation as a way of resolving family law disputes.

MRALS is committed to addressing family violence in Aboriginal communities and would like to develop programs to prevent Aboriginal people from having to come into contact with the criminal justice system. Therefore, MRALS is applying for funding from the Law Foundation to design and implement a culturally appropriate dispute resolution and community education program for the prevention of family violence in this region. If this grant application is successful, MRALS is confident that we can provide an holistic and pro-active service that effectively addresses family violence in the Many Rivers region.

Julie Perkins is the Manager of Many Rivers Aboriginal Legal Service.

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^[1] See (1999) 4(18) ILB 2.

^[2] The Many Rivers Region covers the area from Tweed Heads to the Hawkesbury River in NSW.