Petition launched for Robina Community Legal Centre funding

29 Jan 2016 1:32 PMMichael Hart

 

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

                                           

Petition launched for Robina Community Legal Centre funding

 

The Labor Government has again been called on to fund the Robina Community Legal Centre, with a Parliamentary petition now being launched to urge the Government to assist.

 

Member for Mudgeeraba and domestic violence victim, Ros Bates MP, who will sponsor the petition, said the Robina CLC remained unfunded despite providing critical legal services to the southern Gold Coast.

 

“It is not good enough that the Robina Community Legal Centre, on which so many local residents rely for legal support with issues like domestic violence, is forced to conduct sausage sizzles and raffles just to keep its doors open,” said Ms Bates.

 

“The Labor Government says domestic violence is a priority, so they should put their money where their mouth is.

 

“Today, we are launching a Parliamentary petition which calls on the Labor Government to deliver funding certainty for the Robina CLC, despite Labor’s repeated attempts to deny the southern Gold Coast access to free legal advice.

 

“I hope that the Attorney-General sees how important this is to our community and guarantees future funding for the Robina CLC.”

 

Member for Burleigh, Michael Hart MP, who sponsored a local sausage sizzle for the Robina CLC, said the group provides a crucial service to Mudgeeraba, Burleigh and the wider Gold Coast community.

 

“With an increase in victims coming forward and reaching out for support, it is not acceptable to be turning these people away because of a lack of Government funding,” said Mr Hart.

 

“I am committed to supporting this group in ensuring that our communities’ needs are serviced adequately when it comes to addressing domestic violence.”

 

Robina Community Legal Centre president Ross Lee said without funding certainty, services offered by the Robina CLC were in doubt.

 

“The southern Gold Coast needs access to free legal advice, especially with issues like domestic violence, and we hope to gather as much support for our petition as possible,” said Mr Lee.

 

“Funding certainty would mean that we could expand our caseload and the support we offer to local residents.

 

“We are very lucky to have local representatives like Ros Bates, who has championed this issue in the Parliament for months, and Michael Hart, who kindly donated to support this morning’s sausage sizzle.”

 

[ENDS] 30 January 2016