Effective provision of service is integral

Simone, an adolescent was at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on summons by police for an application for a Family Violence Intervention Order (“FVIO”) against her, where the protected person was Simone’s mother Gail. Gail and her partner Pat were known to Victoria Police and Child Protection due to many interventions where Gail and Pat had inappropriately disciplined Simone as well as having committed family violence against Simone. Unfortunately, Simone could not live with her biological father as he had abused Simone as a child, and it was deemed unsafe by Child Protection. The FVIO application against Simone resulted from an incident in the family home where Simone and her mother Gail were arguing then Pat became involved at attempted to burn Simone with a cigarette. This type of violence was common for Simone. In an attempt to avoid being burned, Simone ducked out of the way, pushing past Gail doing so. This led to Gail reporting to police that Simone had shoved her. Simone, at Frankston Magistrates’ Court, sought advice and assistance from a PCLC duty lawyer. Simone was also assisted by a support worker at Court who was regularly engaged with Simone to assist her in her family situation. The lawyer took instructions from Simone and after much effort, successfully argued to the Court that Victoria Police had wrongly taken out the application and as such, the Magistrate struck out the application.