Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service

The Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service is a program of Djirra. Our legal team helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with both legal and non-legal support. We are client led and have a positive, professional and non-judgmental approach to our work.

 

How we can assist you

Djirra’s Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service works with Aboriginal people who are experiencing or have experienced family violence. We also assist non-Aboriginal people experiencing family violence who are parents of Aboriginal children.

We help by providing one-off legal advice as well as opening ongoing cases. A one-off legal advice allows people to think about options before doing anything further. Ongoing legal representation means that we open a file and work with people over a longer period, including representation in court. We work in the following areas of law:

  • Intervention Orders
  • Family Law
  • Child Protection
  • Victims of Crime Compensation.

We do not provide support to perpetrators of family violence or sexual assault. We can refer perpetrators to support services to assist them.

For more information about the areas of law we can assist with, check our factsheets.

 

Working with our team

When you contact us, you will speak to a paralegal support worker who will ask some personal information and check our system to ensure our lawyers are able to assist you.

To make sure we can provide you with the best legal support, it helps us if you are able to:

  • Where comfortable, provide all the information our paralegal support worker asks you for. If you are not comfortable, our paralegal support workers can talk to you about who you may be able to speak to or ways in which me may be able to support you feeling more comfortable providing the information
  • let us know if another lawyer has been helping you
  • make sure we have your updated contact details
  • contact us if you can’t keep an appointment or if you no longer need our assistance
  • let us know if you have concerns or are unhappy with our service.

 

What is a conflict of interest?

Sometimes we will not be able to assist you in giving legal advice or opening an ongoing matter because of something called ‘conflict of interest’.

Our legal team is required by law to avoid actual and perceived conflicts of interest between people seeking our assistance and former clients, Djirra staff, volunteers or Board members.

This rule applies to all lawyers and legal services in Australia and the Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service must comply with it. If an actual or perceived conflict of interest arises, the Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service may not be able to provide you with legal assistance.

If our legal team is unable to assist you, we will refer you to another service that can. We can also connect you with our community engagement team to find out other non-legal supports we can offer you.

 

Your privacy and confidentiality

Djirra recognises the importance of, and is committed to protecting and upholding, the privacy and rights of individuals Djirra deals with, in relation to their personal information. Read our Privacy Policy on how Djirra collects, uses, discloses and otherwise handles personal information.

 

Your rights

You have a right to a culturally safe and accessible service and information that is clear and timely.

You have the right to a legal service that is honest, ethical and professional at all times and to be treated with respect and understanding.

You have the right to make a complaint about the service and to have this complaint dealt with appropriately.

Djirra recognises the importance of, and is committed to protecting and upholding, the privacy and rights of individuals Djirra deals with in relation to their personal information.

If you want more information about services, your rights and how to make a complaint, read our brochure “My Rights”.

 

Support Services

Djirra’s Individual Support Service (ISS) offers personalised emotional, cultural and practical support to Aboriginal women and their children who are dealing with family violence, or have experienced it in the past and are still not safe. The service aims to empower Aboriginal women and their children to build strong, safe independent and positive lives free from family violence.

We can help you to heal from family violence

  • by listening and yarning about your experiences
  • by providing information about how to get safe and help your children be safe, including referrals to other services
  • by providing support with housing, health, finances and employment issues that will help keep you and your family safe in future
  • through specialised supports such as
    • counselling and
    • assistance with drug and alcohol issues
  • by understanding of your family and community ties and how these are essential to your healing and wellbeing

We warmly welcome Aboriginal women who are experiencing family violence or are not safe due to their past experiences, to call us to find out how we can offer support.
Read our brochure if you want to know more about our support services and your rights at Djirra.