Bendigo Health Justice Partnership

Overview

Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre (LCCLC) established a health justice partnership (HJP) with Bendigo Community Health Service (BCHS) in 2013. This is our longest running HJP, and one of the first of its kind to be established in Victoria.

A lawyer from LCCLC works from the BCHS site at Kangaroo Flat three days a week to provide legal advice and support to clients with interrelated legal and health needs. Our lawyer also provides legal education, professional development training and secondary consultations to health and social service staff at BCHS to increase their capacity to identify legal issues, make appropriate and timely referrals for legal assistance, and support their clients through the legal process.

Impact

Since 2013, we have provided 667 legal assistance services to 352 individual clients through our partnership with BCHS.

This has included legal advice and representation in a range of legal areas, from family violence, child protection and family law matters, to minor criminal matters, consumer complaints, complaints against government services (including Centrelink), credit and debt issues, tenancy, employment law, immigration law and disability discrimination.

Working collaboratively with clients and their health and social workers helps to build trust and confidence in the lawyer.

“I was heading to a very dark place … without that help I may have been dead by now … I’ve been in services for a long time and this one is remarkable … Stress has been reduced 100%. My life was out of control … Now I feel more in control … I feel as if I have hope … I feel as though I have been empowered.” – Bendigo Health Justice Partnership Client

“… the HJP Lawyer, in using their legal lens, builds upon the BCHS worker’s practice, which results in a more wholesome practice.” – Bendigo Community Health Services Professional