More than 65,700 Victorians call on the Andrews government to raise the age
16 August 2022 Today a coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal, human rights and youth justice organizations will reiterate calls for the Victorian government to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 with the backing of 65,799 Victorian residents who have signed the petition to raise the age. […]
Victorian Government playing catch up on prison monitoring
5 August 2022 This week, the Andrews Government introduced the Monitoring of Places of Detention by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (OPCAT) Bill 2022 into the Victorian Parliament. The draft laws are an important measure to facilitate the upcoming visit by the United Nations’ Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) to Australia […]
The Government must put community safety ahead of making life easier for police officers
2 August 2022 VALS is extremely concerned that the Victorian Government continues to push through legislation expanding the powers of police. The Government’s Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill would let police order someone to leave the vicinity of a police station if they are ‘antagonistic’, even if they are not breaking any […]
Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill fails to prohibit torture
2 August 2022 The Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill was supposed to enable a revolution in mental health care, but will still allow abusive practices. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people will pay the highest price if the Victorian Parliament passes such a disappointing Bill, without making the necessary amendments first. VALS wants to see […]
Statements regarding Coronial Inquest into the passing of Baby L
Statement by Baby L’s mother “It’s been almost 4 years since my beautiful daughter passed. I miss her so much and still feel the pain of losing her. I miss her smile and her hugs. I remember when she would grab the microphone at home and sing songs to me. She loved music and one […]
The Government must stop prioritising criminal responses and invest in much-needed reforms
24 June 2022 VALS opposes the creation of the new indictable offence of “grossly offensive public conduct” as the need for the proposed offence has not been sufficiently demonstrated. The Government should not be prioritising the creation of more criminal offences, when it continues to ignore much needed reforms that will have far greater impacts. […]
New client freeze at VALS due to lack of funding and increasing demand
23 June 2022 VALS has made the difficult decision to implement a new client freeze in our Criminal Law practice. This will mean that we will not be taking on new clients in the Criminal Law practice at this time. We will refer community members looking for criminal legal advice and representation to other services. […]
Submissions on behalf of Uncle Percy Lovett for the Coronial Inquest into the passing of Veronica Nelson
VALS have filed submissions on behalf of Uncle Percy Lovett. Oral submissions will take place on Thursday 14 July 2022. “Percy is hopeful that any findings and recommendations the Coroner makes will bring about real change. Too many Aboriginal people have died and continue to die in custody. These repeated deaths are preventable. They must […]
Barwon Office Opening
This NAIDOC Week, help us celebrate our new office. Date: Thursday 7 July, 2022Time: 11am to middayLocation: 173 Lava Street, Warrnambool, VIC 3280 Morning tea will be provided. Click here to download the event poster to share with community. RSVP’s have closed .
Joint letter on dangerous changes to forest protest laws
VALS were one of a dozen organisations to write a letter to the Victorian Government asking them to withdraw the Sustainable Forests Timber Amendment (Timber Harvesting Safety Zones) Bill 2022. The freedom to protest must be protected. Click here to read the open letter.