The dedication of staff in this service to women and children experiencing extreme circumstances is extraordinary.
All WDVCAS services are currently up for tender across the state. The current Sydney Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service has experienced a massive increase in the demand for its services over the past few years as awareness is raised.
Over the last six months, 1,569 women have been supported by Redfern Legal Centre’s Sydney Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service. This is an extraordinary number of women in our area who are living with domestic violence. This increase is acknowledged by the NSW Government and has informed the restructure of the program, its services, and the model now included in the new tender documents.
With consideration of the significant changes made to the new service model and the significant increase in demand for the service, the Board has decided not to tender for the new Women’ s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service.
Redfern Legal Centre believes that the provision of court support, counselling, and other vital services are essential to supporting victims of domestic violence, and the new model needs the expertise of a dedicated service provider who can meet the new model’s requirements.
Redfern Legal Centre is a specialist in the provision of legal services for women and children in domestic violence situations, and will continue to provide this critical service, in particular for women experiencing financial abuse.
The Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service will be run by South West Sydney Legal Service from 1 November 2018.
