About our campaign
Homelessness is a complex issue that requires systems-level change.
We challenge and change laws that unfairly impact people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The risks of criminalising homelessness
Due to living their lives in public places, people experiencing homelessness are more vulnerable to interactions with police and enforcement officers, and are at a greater risk of being fined or charged.
Since Justice Connect’s Homeless Law service started in 2001, fines and charges for poverty-related offences, including being drunk in public, begging and conduct on public transport, have remained a key area of legal need for homeless or at risk Victorians.
How we’re helping stop the criminalisation of homelessness
As Victoria’s specialist free legal service for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, Justice Connect has spent 20 years holistically helping Victorians with poverty-related fines and charges, and we know that enforcement-based responses to homelessness don’t work.
Relying on the justice system to respond to homelessness entrenches disadvantage, compounds housing insecurity and creates a further burden on an already stretched justice system.
Focuses of our campaign
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Your donation will help make justice more accessible, more efficient, and more human.
