This year, 23 community organisations will share in $11,875,997 of funding from the Victorian Legal Services Board (VLSB) Grants Program, with the goal of supporting access to justice throughout Victoria now and into the future. 

VLSB CEO, Fiona McLeay, said this latest funding round has been one of the biggest and broadest yet. 

“I am delighted that VLSB can continue to play its role as one of Victoria’s most substantial funders and enablers of access to justice. By providing funding from the Public Purpose Fund for individual projects that aim to address issues or gaps limiting people’s access to justice, our Change Grants offer an effective way for not-for-profit organisations to test new ideas and advocate for wide reaching systemic change. 

“This year is one of our most diverse grants rounds yet and the opportunity for positive impact is profound. We’ve been able to extend on previous work funded by the Public Purpose Fund, and support innovative approaches that will benefit Victorians in new ways.

“I am particularly pleased to be able to support organisations that work every day to help some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorians with their legal needs.” 

Among the many Victorians who will benefit from projects being funded in the 2024 Change Grants round, this funding will help:

• older people across the state who are experiencing or at risk of elder abuse
• victim survivors of sexual violence who are engaged in civil claims in Victoria
• vulnerable and disadvantaged community members statewide who need support to navigate social security legal issues
• First Nations communities using self-determining justice models to help divert members away from the criminal justice system, promote cultural healing and strengthen community connections
• young people who have disengaged from school and who are at risk of justice system involvement
• people affected by cancer who are facing the rapidly mounting legal and financial burden that diagnosis can bring. 

Extremely vulnerable people living in supported residential services face complex barriers to accessing legal help for issues that include domestic abuse and coercive control. Using $1,000,000 in funding over three years, the Mental Health Legal Centre will build on its previous work by leveraging extensive sector-wide relationships in order to provide advocacy, deliver education and contribute to systemic reform.   

Recognising that many people experiencing poor mental health also have legal difficulties, Mind Australia has received $1,184,818 over two years to set up health justice partnerships at Mind-run Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services in Bendigo-Echuca, Dandenong and Melton. By partnering with community legal centres, this project will provide a holistic, person-centred model of care, so that legal and mental health issues can be addressed concurrently at each service.  

There are also projects that will address emerging needs in the digital-legal space, including:

• a digital platform that will provide resources to help people navigate complex complaint systems for individual redress
• Victoria’s most trusted practical guide to the law, The Law Handbook, will be transformed into a highly accessible digital legal product to further empower the community and lawyers to find reliable, up-to-date legal information.  

About our Change Grants 

Change Grants are a key element of VLSB’s broader grants program, which has awarded 324 grants totaling $78 million since 2007. 

Change Grants provide funding for individual projects by not-for-profit organisations that aim to address issues or gaps limiting people’s access to justice, enabling them to test new ideas and advocate for systemic change. By providing organisations with the funding they need to do their vital work, VLSB promotes innovation in service delivery, policy and law reform, helping to reduce disadvantage in Victoria when it comes to access to justice. 

The full list of the 2024 Change Grants grantees and details on their projects can be accessed here.