Please join us at our next Research Network event and hear from Tania McKenna, Northern Community Legal Centre, Dr Kate Hammond, Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights, and Dr Hugh McDonald, Victoria Law Foundation.
While technological advancements can deliver significant efficiencies across justice systems pathways and processes, this webinar will explore new research highlighting how systems reform also has the potential to marginalise and exclude, particularly those members of the community who are often most in need of access to justice.
In this webinar, Tania and Kate will provide an overview of findings from recent research projects, which explored the benefits and barriers experienced by victims/survivors of family violence in response to technological systems reform across Victorian courts.
The webinar aims to illuminate the voices of women, including migrant and refugee women, who have found justice systems inaccessible and/or obtained poorer legal outcomes due to technological reform. It highlights the importance of including community voices in the design of reforms and monitoring on-the-ground operation and impact.
Hugh will join us to discuss implications from the Public Understanding of Law Survey (PULS) and other research and why legal capability needs to be taken seriously in justice system design.
Presenters
Tania McKenna
Partnerships and Community Development Manager, Northern Community Legal Centre
Tania has worked in the legal assistance sector for over 25 years, primarily in the community legal and family violence sectors. Her work history has ranged from direct support and advocacy to designing, implementing, and evaluating complex community development projects and sector-wide reforms.
Dr Kate Hammond
Research Manager, Australian Muslim Women's Centre for Human Rights
Kate holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and researches across areas of gender, family violence, and barriers to Muslim women's equity in an Australian context. Kate also works in the University of Melbourne's Department of Social Work conducting family violence research.
Dr Hugh McDonald
Acting Research Director, Victoria Law Foundation
Hugh joined the Foundation in September 2019. He has worked across all aspects of VLF’s research program, including Public Understanding of Law Survey, Data Mapping Project, and Community Legal Centres Workforce Survey.
Throughout his career, he has worked closely with legal aid commissions, community legal centres, state and federal governments, giving him a deep understanding of legal institutions and access to justice issues throughout Australia.
