For HopgoodGanim Lawyers partner and head of pro bono Leanne Collingburn, it is comforting to use the law towards providing a better outcome for those in domestic and family violence cases.
Through their pro bono legal work, HopgoodGanim Lawyers seek to reduce the impact of domestic and family violence on both individuals and the broader community.
Ms Collingburn said HopgoodGanim Lawyers has been a long-term legal partner of The Allison Baden-Clay Foundation (Foundation) and supporter of Allison’s family since 2012.
“From 2012 until the end of the long path of litigation in March 2017, HopgoodGanim has provided significant pro bono assistance to Allison’s family, to help secure the future of Allison’s three girls and ensure that they would benefit from her estate,” she said.
“After the litigation, HopgoodGanim has continued to work pro bono with Allison’s family as well as helping to set up and obtain DGR status for the Allison Baden-Clay Foundation.
“HopgoodGanim partner Lisa Lahey is a current Board member of the Foundation with responsibility for the strategic direction of the Foundation.
“Former HopgoodGanim partner, Freda Wigan was also a beloved Foundation Board member before her passing in November 2021.”
Ms Collingburn said reducing the impact of domestic and family violence was helped by representing individual victim-survivors, on a pro bono basis, through family court proceedings and the DFV civil protection regime.
“By providing free legal assistance, our clients can access the justice system and obtain better, safer and fairer legal outcomes.
“Without our assistance these clients would remain unrepresented and, in many instances, unheard.
“We know that legal proceedings can re-traumatise victim-survivors and so we focus on delivering trauma-informed legal support.
“Rather than being re-traumatised, many of our clients are empowered to take further action to enforce their legal rights.
“This has an impact on other aspects of their lives and, as legal practitioners, this is incredibly rewarding to be a part of.
“We also help those in DFV situations by partnering with leading DFV organisations like the Foundation and the Lady Musgrave Trust who deliver safe and secure housing for young women and children facing homelessness and we collaborate with the community legal sector, including organisations like Caxton Legal, Women’s Legal Service Queensland and Townsville Community Law to provide further pro bono legal support to people impacted by DFV.
“We are also fortunate to work with members of the Queensland Bar on a pro bono basis, including Hemmant’s List barristers, to ensure that our clients have the best legal representation possible.”
Asked what it meant to see the difference their work has done, Ms Collingburn said as legal practitioners, they were typically involved once something has already gone wrong and a victim-survivor, or their family, needs help.
“But we’d like to help prevent something going wrong in the first place, so our work in this space also seeks to reduce the impact of DFV through prevention and community education.
“The Foundation is a natural partner for us to deliver on this and we are proud to have provided pro bono legal support for the Foundation’s Toxic Love campaign which aims to educate teenagers on the ‘red flags’ of coercive control in a relationship.
“It is incredibly rewarding to work with the Foundation as they equip the next generation of young adults to avoid toxic relationships that lead to DFV.
“Since Allison’s murder, we have seen greater education and awareness around domestic and family violence – the Toxic Love campaign is one example but there are many other great campaigns aimed at educating individuals about DFV.
“Queensland has really led the charge in raising awareness of DFV, particularly in the last three years, not just in intimate partner relationships but broader family relationships, including elder abuse.
“The Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce in 2020/21 Hear her Voice reports and recommendations, and subsequent Government action on these recommendations really brought forward community awareness of DFV.
“As a consequence of this campaign, our laws and policies have also changed to provide better protection for victim-survivors including the criminalisation of coercive control which came into effect on 26 May.
“Across Australia there has been so much change that we developed a coercive control reform tracker to try to keep on top of all of the coercive control law and policy reform across Australia.”
Looking to the future, Ms Collingburn said there were so many moving parts to providing effective DFV education and enforcing strong laws.
“Despite all of the education and awareness raising – it can still be difficult to recognise DFV, particularly where victim-survivors either don’t recognise it themselves or otherwise actively seek to cover it up.
“This can be for a whole range of reasons.
“It is critical that a victim-survivor has all of the necessary supports around them to empower them to take action and then when they make that decision, when they are ready, they able to access the necessary legal support to enforce their legal rights.
“Once they are able to access the legal system, the laws need to be fit for purpose.
“Though we are heading in the right direction in Queensland, we still don’t have all of those moving parts right yet.
“There are still far too many individuals without the necessary support to take action and then, far too many individuals who simply can’t access the justice system.
“This includes not just victim-survivors, but also users of violence and abuse.
“Better supports for users of violence might lead to positive interventions and changes in their behaviour.
“In terms of the laws being fit for purpose, we have seen significant improvements in Queensland, however implementation is still difficult and still involves complexities.
“Queensland should be really proud of how far we have come in improving DFV education, supports and the law, however, a significant increase in funding for front line services – including social supports and legal supports – would go a long way in increasing access to justice for DFV victim-survivors.
“It is also important that other people at the intersections have equal access to DFV and coercive control laws that protect them.
This includes the elder community, First Nations peoples, members of the LGBTIQ+ community, members of the CALD communities, people with disabilities and people from regional, rural and remote communities.”
