Safe justice – launching our health justice partnership 

Thanks to a grant from the Jack Brockhoff Foundation, we’ve commenced a Health Justice Partnership (HJP) with the Maternal Child and Health service at the City of Port Phillip.

Research indicates that women who are pregnant and new mothers face a significantly increased risk of family violence. Studies also show that if a woman is experiencing family violence, she is more likely to disclose to a health practitioner than any other type of professional.

This highlights the critical role of health services as an access point to support women with legal needs after childbirth, and especially for those at risk of or experiencing family violence.

This is not Southside Justice’s first HJP, and we’ll use our experience and the knowledge of others in the community legal sector, to deliver early and holistic legal support under this integrated legal and health service model.

The Victorian Government recognise the benefits of this early and integrated approach and we are optimistic they will provide funding in the May budget, under the Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF), to enable us to extend the HJP across our three local government areas.

Watch this space!