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Family Advocacy and Support Service

In January 2021 Tasmania Legal Aid (TLA) contracted with Relationships Australia to deliver the social support component of the Family Advocacy and Support Service (FASS).

The service provides assistance to families who have been affected by family violence with family law matters. The FASS program recognises that people attending the Family Law Courts often have more than legal needs and offers an integrated response to more broadly support people.

The service assisted people to address barriers, access support services and manage their safety while pursuing legal pathways.

With Practitioners based in Hobart, Launceston and the North West, our social support work includes initial assessment and triage – to identify needs including safety planning, counselling, court support and review and external referrals.

Between January and June 2021 RA Tas social support workers provided 637 episodes of service to assist individuals and families affected by family violence. The service assisted people to address barriers, access support services and manage their safety while pursuing legal pathways.

The team have also undertaken an active role in directly promoting FASS to community service organisations. Promotional work seeks to encourage referral to the program and build services’ understanding of the additional supports available to strengthen the overall support system for people affected by family violence.

Whilst the impact of COVID restrictions limited face to face activity in the early part of the year, the team are now actively supporting individuals in the family law courts or from Legal Aid and RA offices. The brief interventions offered to women and men have provided positive outcomes for many families who would otherwise not have had support.