BEATTIE GOVERNMENT GRANTS HELP VULNERABLE QUEENSLAND GROUPS

Community groups assisting some of society’s most vulnerable citizens – people with disabilities, victims of crime, adults with impaired decision-making ability and refugees – will share in almost $1.5 million in Beattie Government grants.

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Linda Lavarch, said the grants would be shared among the 44 projects being administered by 34 organisations.

The grants, ranging from $1,400 to $155,000, are funded though the interest generated by solicitors’ trust fund accounts under the Legal Practitioner Interest on Trust Accounts Fund (LPITAF).

“This year’s grants assist some of the most vulnerable people in our community,” Mrs Lavarch said.

“They ensure vulnerable people have the same level of legal services as the general community, regardless of their location or situation.

“Recipients include groups from Cloncurry, Cairns, the Burdekin shire, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast, as well as Brisbane-based organisations with statewide coverage.”

Mrs Lavarch said the grants included $144,000 to provide support services to the families of adults with impaired decision-making abilities.

She said another $38,200 would go to Queensland Advocacy to provide training to lawyers so that they could better represent clients with a disability.

“And $17,400 has been set aside for the Welfare Rights Centre to provide legal services for people with disabilities who face workplace discrimination, a situation likely to increase as a result of the Federal Government’s changes to benefits for people with disabilities.”

Mrs Lavarch said a grant of $127,000 would also go to Bond University to establish and critique a self-supporting legal service to carers of people with impaired competence. This project is an extension of the Sydney Disability and Estate Planning Project and will be reviewed by Carers Queensland.

The Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House will be given $184,200 for two projects: to coordinate pro bono (fee-free) legal services throughout Queensland, and to provide training to lawyers.

Queensland Aged and Disability Advocacy will get $38,000 to help adults with impaired capacity who are involved in matters before the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal.

More than $57,000 has been allocated to the Domestic and Family Violence Telephone Service (DV Connect) to provide counselling for men on domestic violence-related matters.

And the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence will receive $17,600 to provide therapy, counselling and support for rape victims and their families.

Media inquiries: Paul Holmes, Linda Lavarch’s office, 3239 6400 or 0407 378 796

* Full list of recipients and projects attached.

Legal Practitioner Interest on Trust Accounts Fund (LPITAF) grant recipients 2006-07

·Anglicare Central Queensland (Banana Shire) – Banana community legal service establishment, ($29,000);

·Bond University – Queensland impaired competence planning pilot project ($127,000), Conflict dissolution towards a cross-culturally enlightened society ($10,500);

·Burdekin Community Association – Burdekin Shire direct legal access ($32,500);

·Cairns Community Legal Centre – Disability discrimination talks in Mackay area ($6,700), Translation of brochures into other languages ($25,800);

·Carers Queensland – GAAT family support worker program ($144,000);

·Caxton Legal Centre – 30 years of Caxton Legal Centre publication ($10,000);

·Centacare (Catholic Prison Ministry) – Court support volunteer training ($78,000);

·Cloncurry Justice Association – Committee governance training ($3,000);

·DV Connect – DV Connect Mensline ($57,400);

·Gladstone City Council – Gladstone community legal program ($25,000);

·Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence – Female rape victims support pilot ($17,600);

·Highway Legal Service – Gold Coast Family Law Clinic ($24,000);

·Lawyers’ Reform Association – Elder and consumer credit law stakeholder training ($38,900);

·Logan Legal Advice Centre – Legal topics website ($14,000);

·North Queensland Women’s Legal Service – Elder and multicultural outreach and legal education ($43,000);

·Peninsula Community Legal Service – Migration advice and information service ($15,000);

·Pine Rivers Neighbourhood Centre – Policies and procedures compliance update ($19,300);

·Prisoners’ Legal Service – Prisoners’ handbook ($36,800);

·Queensland Advocacy – Legal profession disability training sessions ($38,200);

·Queensland Aged and Disability Advocacy – GAAT process advocacy support ($38,800), Community statewide “Voice” newsletter ($20,000);

·Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House – Statewide pro bono legal services coordination ($155,000), Training, professional development and community legal education coordination ($29,200);

·Queensland University of Technology – Online mediation kit for neighbourhood disputes ($23,300), Self-represented litigants research ($18,300);

·Refugee and Immigration Legal Service – Refugee family reunion legal support ($14,700), Regional migrant and refugee immigration legal support ($40,800), Migrant domestic violence victims support ($9,000);

·South West Brisbane Community Legal Centre – Child protection advice, casework and community legal education ($32,600);

·Taylor Street Community Legal Service – Regional outreach brochures ($1,400);

·Tenants’ Union of Queensland – Tenancy law reform; a view from tenants ($25,000);

·Toowoomba Community Legal Centre – Disability legal service ($128,000);

·University of Melbourne – Lawyer discipline database update ($2,800);

·University of Queensland – Determining a need for legal awareness training for Queensland’s imam ($7,400), Magistrates Court minor debt and simplified procedures jurisdiction ($5,900);

·Welfare Rights Centre – Legal support for people with a disability facing workplace discrimination ($17,400), Welfare to work regional training tour ($25,400);

·West Moreton Migrant Resource – Community legal information and education ($27,700);

·Women's Legal Services – Community Legal Education Worker ($36,500);

·Youth Advocacy Centre – Young People’s Access to Education (General Provision) Bill 2006 ($17,200), Young person’s story telling ($2,200)

·Youth and Family Service (Logan) – Young peoples’ education package ($16,400).

Total: 34 organisations and 44 projects funded $1,490,700