Victorian Law Foundation Funds New Projects
22 June 2009 at 5:26 pm
Victoria Law Foundation has announced the funding recipients of six new legal projects.
Joh Kirby, Executive Director of the Victoria Law Foundation says six grants valued at over $160,000 have been
awarded to diverse legal and community sector organisations to undertake a broad range of legal-oriented projects.
Each year the Foundation awards more than $500,000 in grants for legal based projects, develops publications which assist the community to better understand the law, and presents community legal education programs, such as Law Week.
Joh Kirby says that in the current economic climate, community groups and Not for Profit organisations are
finding it increasingly difficult to cover the costs of initiating new projects to respond to community need.
Grant recipient, Michael Brett Young, CEO of the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV), says the LIV’s project seeks to establish the need for a fund to cover the cost of interpreters in civil law matters.
The lack of accessible interpreting services in civil matters acts as a major barrier to access to justice for people with a spoken language other than English as well as people who use sign language to communicate, and requires urgent redress.
He says the Foundation’s grant will allow the LIV to make recommendations to Government about how an Interpreting Fund should be structured and resourced to meet these unmet needs.
Foundation grant recipient, John Ryan, CEO of Anex, a Not for Profit organisation which works towards a society free from drug related harm says their project will undertake a review of the existing laws in Victoria which preclude the installation of Syringe Vending Machines in Victoria.
2008-09 Grant Recipients are:
Deakin University
Rural disadvantage and the law– $36,470.00
Law Institute of Victoria
Interpreter fund scoping project– $24,711.00
Peninsula Community Legal Centre
Valuing volunteers kit project – Stage 3– $39,031.50
Anex
Reforming the law for injecting equipment – Syringe Vending Machines in Victoria –
$20,950.00
Youthlaw
RRR legal needs and issues project – $13,000.00
PILCH Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic
Innovative online learning and education tool – $30,000.00
If you would like to apply for a grant or find out more about this year’s grant recipients,
contact Tabitha Lovett, Grants and Awards Manager at the Foundation on
(03) 9604 8115 or tlovett@victorialawfoundation.org.au
