Bail Reform is Urgently Needed in Victoria
Today VALS and more than three dozen human rights and law groups called on the Andrews Government to reform their draconian bail laws. Read the letter here. Find a petition of experts here. You can listen to ABC’s radio coverage here. You can read the ABC Online article here.
Andrews Government funding failure forces freeze on intake of new clients at VALS
Due to the funding decisions of the Andrews Government in the Victorian Budget 2021/22, VALS does not have the funding we need to recruit new lawyers and manage the increase in demand for our services. Our lawyers currently manage an average of 130 casefiles each, far more than the sector recommendation of 50. Without funding […]
Daniel Andrews and Jaclyn Symes have put the Governments legacy on Aboriginal justice at risk
MEDIA RELEASE 20 May 2021 Daniel Andrews and Jaclyn Symes gave VALS $1 million dollars per year for two years to pilot our Place-Based Delivery Model in the Victorian Budget 2021/22, but our model requires $26.5 million over four years. The Place-Based Delivery Model was to include 10 offices across Victoria, but this “pilot” funding […]
STATEMENT: Victoria must abandon proposal to put police in classrooms
Fifteen years after the last police-in-schools scheme in Victoria was scrapped, Victoria Police are pushing to put officers in classrooms to rebuild their relationship with the community. VALS is calling on the Victorian Government to block any plans for an expensive PR exercise that will be bad for children’s welfare and come at the cost […]
Statement from Patricia Lamont
Quotes Attributable to Patricia Lamont. “This process has already taken so long and I am continually forced to fight for the justice my daughter and I deserve.” “I only found out about my daughter’s death after Police messaged me on Facebook and then came around to my house.” “I didn’t know she had been in […]
STATEMENT: Victoria must raise the age of criminal responsibility immediately as the federal government process stalls
23 April 2021 At the Meeting of the Attorneys-General, on 31 March 2021, a decision was made to engage in discussions regarding raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility out-of-session. After almost 4 years deliberating on this issue, and hindering reform that is urgently needed, the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department has decided that raising the […]
Coronial Inquest into death of Veronica Marie Nelson to examine healthcare in Victorian prisons and bail laws
Today the Coroner postponed the date of the Inquest into the death of Veronica Marie Nelson. The Inquest will now commence on 26 April 2022. The Coroner also provided the parties a further opportunity to make submissions regarding expert evidence and outstanding requests for evidence. Veronica Marie Nelson was a strong Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, […]
It is time for a Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Friday 26th March 2021 Joint Media Release from Djirra and Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service: No Justice, No Peace – It is time for a Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner We call on the Victorian Government to immediately establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. The Commissioner must be […]
The Victorian Government Must End Its Harmful Obsession with Expanding Victoria’s Prison System
MEDIA RELEASE 19 March 2021 Today the Victorian Government made two announcements celebrating prison construction. It is their sixth media release regarding prison construction works in the last six months and highlights the alarming expansion of the carceral system in Victoria. This is nothing to celebrate. Today’s announcements come after National Close the Gap day […]
Another Aboriginal Death in Custody Highlights the Cost of Waiting
MEDIA RELEASE 11 March 2021 Another Aboriginal Death in Custody Highlights the Cost of Waiting VALS is deeply saddened by the news that an Aboriginal man died in Ravenhall Correctional Centre on 7 March 2021. Another Aboriginal family is left to deal with the consequences of a system that imprisons us at staggering rates. Devastatingly, […]