Charlotte presented to one of our family lawyers on duty as a FASS lawyer on a Friday. She was a kinship carer for a three-year-old child and had cared for the child since he was a few months’ old due to the parents’ inability to provide appropriate care. During the parents’ relationship, and when they had care of the child, Child Protection was involved due to severe family violence and neglect of the child.
Cecilia was warmly referred to PCLC by a member of her community in Melbourne as part of the Centre’s Strengthening Legal Pathways for CALD Women. Cecilia was emotionally and physically abused by her ex-husband, including during her pregnancy. Cecilia separated from her ex-husband while pregnant and was the sole parent of her young son.
Michael, a 23-year-old heavy cannabis user, spiralled into depression and unemployment during the COVID lockdowns. One night, fuelled by frustration, he sent a threatening message to a politician’s public Facebook account, including a picture to support the threat. Understandably, the Federal Police took the threat seriously.
Alex, a 32-year-old client lived with his disabled mother and brother with serious illness. Alex cared for them both. Unexpectedly, Alex faced seven criminal charges, including burglary and theft, accused of theft from petrol stations.
Sarah, a single mother, faced a daunting debt problem. She struggled with severe depression, anxiety, and health issues, including a heart condition. Two of her children had disabilities, and she relied on Centrelink benefits, renting her home without any assets.
Victoria was a single rooming house resident renting in Melbourne’s Southeast, reliant on government benefits as her sole income. Victoria had been living at the premises for the past six years, she was often subjected to notices to vacate, when she tried to exercise her rights to address the conditions of the rooming house. These proceedings were all unsuccessful with VCAT dismissing the applications.
The Rooming House Outreach Program (RHOP) team received a call from Elizabeth, a resident the program had visited 6 months prior. Elizabeth was quite distressed. She had received a text from the rooming house proprietor advising her she must move out immediately. RHOP workers visited Elizabeth the next day, finding that the proprietor had disconnected the electricity in a attempt to get the residents to leave.
When Shanti first came to PCLC she had over $13,000 in outstanding fines debt. These fines were actually incurred by her abusive ex-partner, Travis, who would drive the vehicle which had registered in Shanti’s name.
Libby sought PCLC’s assistance when John, a friend of Libby’s abusive ex-partner, borrowed her vehicle and refused to return it. Libby only agreed to loan the vehicle to John out of fear of what her ex-partner might do to her if she refused.
Lucas is 34 years of age and continues to have limited options for housing other than living in rooming houses, registered and unregistered. Lucas had been living in an unregistered rooming house in for a period of 4 months and previously resided in an unregistered rooming house in another local government area.
