An update on VLF research

It’s almost springtime and we're delighted to provide an update on VLF research.

Workforce survey

We have just completed the Victorian Community Legal Sector Workforce Survey, led by Dr Jozica Kutin, which profiles the workforce and their experiences working in the sector. First and foremost, we are incredibly grateful to all of those working in CLCs who took time to take part. We know that your work is incredibly challenging and your time precious at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic. Thank you to you and to the Federation for funding the work!

The project will inform innovative and strategic approaches to community legal sector planning, as well as ensuring that staff wellbeing and professional training needs are understood and supported. We will publish several papers on topics and issues covered in the survey, which will be available on our website soon.

Research Network

Our next research network event is coming very soon at 9.30am on Tuesday 17th of August, and you can register for it now. We are delighted to be welcoming Marie Segrave, Associate Professor in Criminology and the Head of School for the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, to talk about her recent landmark Migrant and Refugee Women Safety and Security Study. It is an important and ambitious piece of research, both practically and methodologically, and an event not to be missed.  

Migrant and Refugee Women in Australia: The Safety and Security Study

This event will focus on the landmark Migrant and Refugee Women Safety and Security Study – a national study undertaken by Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change (a national women's alliance) and Monash University.

The report captures survey responses from around 1400 migrant and refugee women across Australia. It examines controlling behaviours related to visa and migration status, as well as migrant and refugee women's experience of domestic and family violence and crime, trust and attitudes towards institutions including police, and broader financial security.

The seminar will explore the survey design and implementation, the impetus for the survey, the challenges and benefits and how ongoing research, and research partnerships in this area, are important.

About the presenter

Marie Segrave is an Associate Professor in Criminology and the Head of School for the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. Marie is a lead researcher across two research centres: Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre. Her research has focused largely on the connection between border control, migration and exploitation and abuse: with a long-standing focus on the design and implementation of counter-trafficking/modern slavery efforts. She has led three major research projects that have explored the intersection of domestic and family violence with migration systems and policies in Australia, with a focus on temporary migration.

Register now

The PULS

This month we paused the start of fieldwork for the Public Understanding of Law Survey (the PULS) due to public health restrictions across Victoria. We will look to move things forward as restrictions lift and it is safe to do so.

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Once we can, we will speak to 6,000 Victoria to explore how they see, understand and engage with the law. Meanwhile, we thought it a good opportunity to recap the kinds of problems the PULS will cover.  

What kinds of problems does PULS cover?

The PULS covers a broad range of problems that people encounter in their everyday lives.

These include problems related to goods and services; housing and neighbours; family injury or illness; work; government payments; fines government services money or debt and business. Such problems may be the stuff of everyday life but are far from trivial. They can contribute to some of the most difficult periods of people’s lives and can have a profound impact. They can stem from and result in physical and mental ill-health; damaged relationships; harassment, threats and assault; housing loss; and financial insecurity. Consequences can be far-reaching.

Does the PULS look at problems faced by small business?

Small businesses, including those in the hospitality sector have had a particularly difficult time as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health restrictions continue. We were keen to understand and learn from their experience as part of the PULS and have included a series of questions for business owners. Find out more about this part of the survey.

Learn more about PULS