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Legal Aid News Issue 17 << Back to index A united front against domestic violence A theme emphasising unity and partnership brought together over 100 people–all committed to dealing with the issue of domestic violence in NSW. Held over two days in August, the Annual Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Program Conference, had as its theme this year Together for Change – Achievements and Challenges: An Integrated Response to Domestic Violence. The first day was an an invitation to all workers, key policy makers and lawyers working in the domestic violence field to come together and discuss key issues in relation to women’s domestic violence. Keynote speakers included Chief Magistrate, Patricia Staunton; Chair of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council, Winsome Matthews; Director General Department for Women, Robyn Henderson; The Honourable Dr Meredith Burgmann and Margaret Harrison, Senior Legal Adviser to the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia. Margaret Allison, in one of her last public appearances as Legal Aid's CEO, stressed the importance of building strong and effective partnerships in order to help as many women as possible who are dealing with domestic violence issues around NSW. The second day was reserved for the 60 specialist workers who are employed across the 33 court assistance schemes funded by the Program. Associate Professor Ruth Busch was the guest presenter and feedback from conference participants was extremely positive, with comments such as “a powerful speaker on legislation”, “inspirational”, and “energising”. Participants were unanimous that a key highlight was the range of dynamic speakers. Another was the positive value of bringing together such a diverse group of people to network and discuss innovative ways of approaching issues around women’s domestic violence. WDVCAP Advisory Committee members Jane Wangman and Danae Harvey check out a display of historical domestic violence posters. Keynote speakers L to R: Margaret Harrison, Ruth Busch, April Pham, Winsome Matthews, Lola Scott and Patricia Staunton. Colleagues bound by formal agreement The relationship between Legal Aid and Public Defenders has always been a very close one but on Thursday 13 September it was sealed with a formal agreement. The result of lengthy negotiations, the Agreement responds to a report into the Office of Public Defenders back in 1995, recommending the two organisations should enter into a yearly Service Level Agreement to increase accountability levels and establish clearly defined work priorities. There are several reasons why the Agreement is an important document. It acknowledges for the first time the Legal Aid Commission's priority of work and commits the Public Defenders to an additional 70 weeks of District Court Country sittings each year–expected to greatly improve access to legal services for indigenous people within New South Wales. Other provisions focus on the more efficient use of Public Defenders in Court of Criminal Appeal matters and a greater exchange of data and information between Legal Aid and Public Defenders in order to measure workload efficiency and cost. Director, Criminal Law, Doug Humphreys says the Agreement represents a significant step in ensuring the Public Defenders and Legal Aid work together in a transparent and efficient way to get the best use out of scarce joint resources. "The increase in availability of Defenders in country sittings will ensure indigenous people, either via the Commission or a relevant Aboriginal Legal Service, will be able to access expert criminal law representation," he says. "This represents further proof of the commitment of Legal Aid and the Public Defenders to address the over-representation of indigenous people within the justice system." Acting CEO, Bill Grant, signs on behalf of the Commission (Peter Zahra in the background). |
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