This Reconciliation Week (May 27-June 3), SSRV remembers the importance of privileging and amplifying First Nations’ voices and we add our voice to calls for reconciliation and justice.

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year, SSRV came together and marked National Sorry Day with Acknowledgment to Country and a short reflection on what it is like to be a members of the Stolen Generations accessing generalist services, reading an piece from a First Nations person, from It’s not easy walkin in there in 1999, a study just after the Human Rights Commission’s Bringing Them Home Report.

Read more about Sorry Day.

The theme of Reconciliation Week 2021 is ‘More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.’ It urges the reconciliation movement towards braver and more impactful action.

At SSRV, we are working at making our organisation more culturally safe and respectful, and to better engage and respond to First Nations clients and community.

We are building our partnerships and listen to First Nations voices. In this way we hope to grow in our understanding and conduct to work alongside First Nations peoples to improve justice outcomes and impacts.

We are continuing to develop our Reconciliation Action Plan, which serves as a starting point for individual and organisational action, responsibility and reflective practice to inform continuous improvement.

SSRV believes we all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures

Find a Reconciliation Week event near you.

Your opportunity to get involved

An inquiry into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the Disability Support Pension (DSP) has been referred to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee. If you or someone you support has applied for, are now receiving, or have received the DSP in the past, this is an opportunity to share your experience.

More information about this inquiry can be found through the links below:

Inquiry into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the Disability Support Pension

Terms of Reference

Guide for preparing a submission

If you wish to speak to us about this inquiry, please call us on 03 9481 0299. Please ask for the DSP Help Lawyer and mention you are calling about the Senate Inquiry.

If you are currently having difficulty with the DSP, help is available. You may wish to visit our DSP Help website. You can also call our advice lines:

If you are having difficulty yourself, please call our public advice line on 03 9481 0355. (Monday, Wednesday or Thursday, 9:30am to 12:30pm.)

If you are a community worker assisting a client having difficulty, please call our Worker Help Line on 03 9481 0655. (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm.)

The special social security arrangements put in place by the Government in response to the coronavirus pandemic come to an end this week.

Significantly, the Coronavirus Supplement of an additional $150 per fortnight for people receiving JobSeeker Payment will cease from 1 April 2021.

However, the JobSeeker Payment rate has been increased by $50 a fortnight from the pre-COVID Newstart Allowance rate.

There have also been changes to reporting and eligibility requirements, including the JobSeeker payment income test and partner income taper, which were relaxed as a special Coronavirus measure. Information on what you need to know about the changes to JobSeeker, including waiting periods and mutual obligations, can be found here.

Social Security Rights Victoria is looking for experienced legal professionals to join our small but dynamic team of social security law specialists.

Please see advertisements and position descriptions on Ethical Jobs (www.ethicaljobs.com.au) and Pro Bono Australia (www.probonoaustralia.com.au) websites

• Principal Lawyer
• Community Lawyer
• Community Lawyer (Integrated Services Project)

Applications close  Monday 5 April 2021.

Contact Gillian Wilks (03) 9481 0299 for further information.

On Close the Gap Day, Thursday 18 March 2021, we reflect on the health, life expectancy and access to justice gaps between indigenous Australians and non-indigenous Australians.

To understand why this day is so important we only need to look at the truly sobering statistics.

Despite Australia being a prosperous and developed nation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have some of the world’s highest mortality rates. Access to adequate health care, employment opportunities and education remain significantly lower than for non-Indigenous Australians.

Racism is a very real factor in the lived experience for many First Nations People causing pain and affecting them every day.

Despite these odds many First Nations People continue to strive to make a difference.

We can all hear and listen to their stories. We can all be partners in this.

Equality before the law

SSRV supports Close the Gap, acknowledging that international research that tells us unresolved legal problems impact health outcomes by causing stress, anxiety, and poverty.

As a community legal centre, we are aware of the role of justice in achieving positive outcomes, and keeping the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians at the forefront of the national agenda is a key focus of our work.

A cornerstone of our legal system is equality before the law and yet, despite some small gains, for First Nations People the gaps remain.

What we can all do on Close the Gap Day

Here are three ways we can all advance the objectives of Close the Gap:

1. Sign the Close the Gap Pledge
2. Sign up to Close the Gap newsletters (click on the first web link)
3. Read up on the issues

What we are doing at SSRV

To mark Close the Gap Day, SSRV are holding a short lunch time reflection session for staff.

During the session, we will discuss current and systemic issues, focusing on justice outcomes and how we, as a justice organisation, can work towards ensuring we are accessible and safe for our Indigenous clients, partners and supporters. 

In the longer term, we are working at making our organisation more culturally safe and respectful and looking at ways we can change our practice.

We want to better engage and respond to First Nations clients and community and build our partnerships and listen to their voice. In this way we hope to grow in our understanding and conduct to work alongside First Nations peoples to improve justice outcomes and impacts.

To this end we have been developing our Reconciliation Action Plan, which serves as a starting point for individual and organisational action, responsibility and reflective practice to inform continuous improvement.

An acknowledgement to country at all our events is now established, and we’ve introduced a regular item at our staff meetings:

In what ways can we change our practice to better meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and communities? How can we reach/ engage and work in a client centred /strength-based way with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and make a difference? Reflect and Discuss.

We hope you too will share in making a difference and closing the gap.

If you’re part of Gordon Legal’s Robodebt Class Action lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Australia, you’ve probably recently received a notice in your MyGov account – and chances are you’ve got questions.

De-mystifying that Robodebt notice you just received

What’s the notice about?

The Commonwealth has been ordered by the Court to send Group Members a “Notice of Proposed Settlement” by 25 January 2021.

Most Group Members will have received the Notice in their MyGov inbox.

A settlement is an agreement reached between parties outside of Court. The settlement must be approved by the Court in order for it to proceed. This proposed settlement has not yet been approved by the Court.

The Court will hear the Robodebt Class Action settlement approval application on 6-7 May 2021.

Essentially, the notice you have received explains the proposed settlement, as agreed by both parties of the Robodebt Class Action, and outlines the steps in the settlement process.

Importantly, the notice also explains the process that Group Members, which includes all people who have received this settlement notice, can follow if they wish to object to the proposed settlement.

What do I need to do now?

If you do not want to object to the proposed settlement, there is nothing further that you need to do at this stage. You will remain a member of the Class Action and, if the settlement is approved, Services Australia will soon contact you about:

• your eligibility for a settlement payment (if any);
• the amount of payment you’ll receive;
• information about what to do if you don’t agree with Services Australia’s decision on your eligibility for a settlement payment.

Even if you don’t want to object to the proposed settlement, you should get legal advice now to best understand the legal consequences and likely outcomes of doing so.

If you do want to object to the proposed settlement, you should get legal advice now to best understand the legal consequences and likely outcomes of objecting.

This legal advice can’t be provided to you by Gordon Legal as they are representing those who accept the settlement.

If you decide to object to the proposed settlement, the next step will be to ask the Court not to approve the settlement.

To do this, you must send a completed copy of the Notice of Objection (which is attached to the letter you received through your MyGov account) to the Victoria Registry of the Federal Court of Australia.

The court must receive this by 5 March 2021. If you object by 5 March 2021, you have until 19 March 2021 to file documents supporting your objection. You don’t have to file supporting documents if you don’t want to.

If you have any questions about the Robodebt Class Action notice, and you live in Victoria you can call Social Security Rights Victoria’s General Advice Line, Monday–Thursday between 9:30am and 12:30pm on 0419 793 652.

If you live in another state, find your closest social security legal service here.