NEWS DESK
‘Funding lifeline’ for legal centres Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au A reversal of “devastating cuts” to funding for community legal centres has been welcomed by federal Isaacs Labor MP Mark Dreyfus. Planned federal government funding cuts that had been planned to take effect on 1 July but federal Liberal AttorneyGeneral George Brandis announced last week the government will provide an extra $55.7 million over the next three years to the legal services sector as part of the 2017-18 budget. About $39 million of that money will go to community legal centres and $16.7 million to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services. The National Association of Community Legal Centres also welcomed the decision to abandon plans to cut funding to legal centres by about 30 per cent. Mr Dreyfus said any cuts to Peninsula Community Legal Centre funding would “hit the local community incredibly hard”. “It would have resulted in the loss of free legal advice for some of Frankston and Kingston’s most vulnerable residents,” he said. National Association of Community Legal Centres CEO Nassim Arrage said the announcement is “excellent news for all those people who rely on the help of CLCs every day”. “This funding is a lifeline for a sec-
tor that was facing significant cuts,” Mr Arrage said. “The reversal will mean people across Australia will get access to the legal help they were going to be denied from 1 July if the funding cuts went ahead.” Mr Brandis said the grant was the largest ever single commitment on an annualised basis by the federal government to the legal assistance sector. He said it was not a one off, ad-hoc payment. “These arrangements will give the sector the resources … and certainty they have been asking for.” Mr Brandis said the government was adding $39 million to women’s and domestic and family violence services. “Since we announced the women’s safety package in 2015, public awareness of family violence has escalated dramatically,” he said. “The Women’s Legal Service has been at the forefront of that advocacy. But I also want to, of course, acknowledge and single out Rosie Batty for her leadership in public advocacy of the issue. He said the $39 million over the next three years would go to family law and family violence services to provide “targeted, trauma-informed legal assistance to thousands of women who may otherwise not have received the help they need”. “The government has always recognised the essential role of the legal assistance sector in providing access to justice for the most vulnerable Australians,” Mr Brandis said.
Director’s cut: Cast and crew of the comedy film Welfare trod the boards at Rosebud Secondary College last week, from left, Laura Jane Emes, Steve Bastoni, Peter Helliar and Jackson Tozer. Picture: Yanni
Peninsula film hub looks to Welfare A COMEDY being filmed at Rosebud Secondary College makes fun of the country’s welfare system. Rosebud actor Steve Bastoni is producing the film, called Welfare, whose cast includes funny man Peter Helliar, Laura Jane Emes, Damian WalsheHowling and Pia Miranda. The web series takes a satirical look at the bureaucracy surrounding our welfare system.
It is hoped the series will be picked up by a television network. “We’ve all dealt with government systems and processes at some point and I think most people will relate to the humour,” Bastoni said. Co-producer Emes, who also stars in the comedy, came up with the concept before teaming up with Bastoni to bring it to life. “These days we rely so heavily
on machines and manuals to tell us what’s right from wrong,” she said. “Whatever happened to good, old common sense?” Those interested can find out more via the Welfare Facebook page. Bastoni said the film employed peninsula residents as cast and crew, and would help to “further establish the peninsula as a film hub”. Stephen Taylor
6th MAY 2017 2ND Southern Peninsula News 2 May 2017
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