By JESSE GRAHAM
HEALESVILLE’S Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) was given a life-saving birthday present last week, with cut federal funds re-instated to stave off closure.
At the CLC office’s first birthday celebration in Healesville on Thursday 12 March, Casey MP Tony Smith announced that the centre would have its two-year $400,000 funding grant reinstated.
The announcement came near crunch-time for the centre, with ECLC CEO Michael Smith telling the Mail earlier this year that, due to a lack of funding, it was possible the Healesville office might close.
Healesville’s CLC has provided over 300 people living with family violence or homelessness with free legal advice in the year since it opened its doors.
The funding was originally cut from ECLC’s budget in June 2014, despite being promised when the centre was established, leaving uncertainty about whether the office could continue running.
Mr Smith, who has been vocal against the funding cuts, welcomed the announcement and said the “voices of the community” had been heard by the government.
“We are overjoyed by the decision and this funding will ensure the Yarra Ranges CLC has a firm foundation for the future,” he said.
Before the Healesville office opened, residents were only able to utilise ECLC’s free legal advice through outreach programs, which ran around once a month, or by visiting the organisation’s Boronia office, 40 kilometres away.
Mr Smith said that, though the centre had only been running for a year, it had been widely embraced by the community, and thanked Mr Smith for campaigning for the centre in parliament.
“Tony Smith has really understood the vital work of the Community Legal Centre, particularly for women and children escaping family violence and families a long way from urban services,” Mr Smith said.
“He has clearly been advocating strongly in Canberra, and we really thank him for this great achievement for our community.”
MP Tony Smith said he had been in regular contact with Michael Smith and had been regularly highlighting the importance of the Healesville ECLC office to Attorney-General George Brandis.
He said the returned money would help ECLC to develop and pilot new programs to help victims of domestic violence, educate the community and engage with other service providers helping vulnerable people in the community.
“Outcomes and learnings from the pilot programs at Healesville will be a valuable input to other services across Australia in the future,” Tony Smith said.
