From additional funds allocated to community legal assistance for Tasmanians through the state election campaign and the Women’s Budget Statement produced for the Federal Budget, Women’s Legal Service Tasmania hopes to secure additional funds from the 2021-2022 Tasmanian Budget to be able to assist Tasmanian women.

We plan to do this by:

• Employing two additional Solicitors in our Hobart office, to provide casework assistance to women who have nowhere else to turn for these services.
• Employing a Social Worker in each of our Hobart and Launceston offices to work alongside our legal team to provide an integrated multidisciplinary approach to supporting women through the legal system.
• Secure ongoing funding past this financial year for our Launceston Domestic Violence Unit (DVU), so that we can continue to provide the only specialist integrated legal support for women who are experiencing family violence from across northern Tasmania.
• Employing an additional Solicitor in our Launceston office and securing the continuing employment of our northern Principal Solicitor in order to meet the demand for casework and representation.
• Establishing a lived experience panel of women in the Tasmanian community, who can assist WLST with feedback, development and implementation of services and programs.