Up to one hundred women seeking support in escaping family violence are being turned away from Western Australia's community legal centres each week. Under resourcing and a surge in demand has seen the sector reach a crisis point with funding from a Commonwealth and State partnership set to run out next year.
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00:00 WA's community legal services are flooded with calls from desperate women every day.
00:07 Hi, this is Women's Legal Service, how can I help you today?
00:10 But many are left unanswered.
00:12 They are overwhelmed and drowning in demand. Often they can't even answer the phones.
00:16 Women's Legal Service supported 945 clients in WA last year but had to turn away thousands more.
00:24 We will bend over backwards to make sure that we can find some way to support them.
00:28 It is really distressing for staff working here to know that women are returning to homes that are unsafe for them.
00:35 The issue is nationwide with concerns for those falling through the cracks.
00:39 We know that these women could be some of the women who have since been tragically murdered.
00:44 At the Aboriginal Family Legal Service, the demand for help has recently surged by more than 40%.
00:51 I was really overwhelmed to go into a busy family violence restraining order day and seeing the lack of lawyers there full stop.
01:02 Ms Dodd says self-representing in court put further stress on the victims and the system.
01:08 They've been through enough without that.
01:10 It's a drain on court resources, there's long waiting times in the court.
01:15 Both the state and federal budget have failed to properly address the issue according to the sector's peak body,
01:21 which estimated WA's 23 centres will receive just $40,000 each from the Commonwealth.
01:28 It seems to be a waiting game to see which government is going to step up and provide that increased funding.
01:34 And with assistance left out of the forward estimates, community legal centres fear they're left with just months of funding security.
01:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]