Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about the Wyndham Legal Service. Like other community legal centres across Australia, it is facing cuts to its funding from the federal government.

Wyndham Legal Service had a three-year agreement of $120,000 per year. They received one year of that funding and, of course, they have now lost the remainder of it. This is a legal service that services a community of 200,000 people, and their very important funding line from the federal government has been cut. This is a group of young lawyers who work tirelessly with and for my community. They engage on a daily basis with other community organisations within Wyndham to support people on their worst days.

Half of this money was used for victims of family violence to support them through processes. A third of the money was used for our young people—and of course we are a young electorate with an extraordinary number of people aged between 15 and 24 who are accessing this service. The rest was used for newly arrived people in our community, those coming from across the seas to join our multicultural community—people arriving in Australia for the first time; people who are incredibly vulnerable when it comes to the tenancy act; people who pay far too much when asked for a bond for the home they are going to rent; people who need the support of lawyers. My community needs the Wyndham Legal Centre. I ask for that money to be reinstated as it has been in Healesville. (Time expired)

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