Ranges Trader
Staff shaken after attempted FTG theft
Bikes, trollies pulled from creek in clean-up
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Tuesday, 12 March, 2024
A Star News Group Publication
Artist finds peace through textile work
See Real Estate liftout inside
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PR OP ER TY
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Last hoorah Hundreds of people from the outer east and beyond travelled to the Dandenong Ranges last weekend to take part in the last ever Oxfam Trailwalker event. After 25 years the major fundraiser for tackling poverty and inequality has decided to come to an end but went out with a bang as walkers took their last strolls. Star Mail photographer Stewart Chambers captured some of these moments in Menzies Creek, seeing the smiles of participants for one last time. To read more, turn to page 8
Menzies Creek came alive last week as hundreds of trailwalkers trekked the last ever Oxfam. 392498 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
Thousands turned away as legal centre is starved of federal funds...
‘Double our cash’ By Mikayla van Loon For nearly a decade, Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) has gone without a funding increase from the Federal government. Now the collective body for community legal centres is calling for this to be adjusted in the upcoming May budget review. ECLC chief executive officer Michael Smith said for essential legal support to be provided to residents in the outer east at either low cost or free, funding needs to double.
“We’d hope they would double the money for our core work. It wouldn’t be a lot of money for them but it’ll be a huge change for us,” he said. The funding shortfall, while Mr Smith said ECLC will always do what they can to provide the best outcome for clients, has meant the team has had to turn people away or refer them on to other resources because the staff capacity just isn’t available. Hundreds, if not thousands, are turned away every year.
“It’s stressful for the team and it’s stressful for the clients who we really want to help,” he said. With majority of ECLC’s workload revolving around family violence, and with it an ever increasing demand on community legal services, Mr Smith said funding must reflect that growing rate of inquiry. “This is really, really urgent, and we need to make the community aware of how important this is,” he said. With the National Legal Assistance Partner-
ship (NLAP) also under review, Mr Smith said he is hopeful that final report will guide the Federal Government on what funding is required now and long term to ensure vulnerable people can continue accessing essential support as soon as possible. “With things like family violence, if people don’t get help early on, it creates huge issues later on, and the problems just grow and the stress builds and affects their mental health and their family situation,” Mr Smith said.
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