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Mary’s story
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Mary’s story
Mary and her kids just wanted a safe, long-term home to live in. But the debts and fines incurred by her violent ex-partner continued to hang over her head. Our lawyers and social workers were able to have her unfair fines waived and move her and the kids into a new house.
Meet Mary, an Aboriginal single mother of four and a family violence victim-survivor.
Mary has a history of homelessness and was couch surfing at the time she first spoke to Justice Connect’s Homeless Law program.
Mary had a web of issues hanging over her that she couldn’t solve alone. She had a Directory of Housing debt and a string of fines incurred by her violent ex-partner. Justice Connect’s Homeless Law team was able to advise her about her rights and options regarding the debt and remove the unfair burden of the fines.
Through the trust built by our Homeless Law team, Mary felt comfortable to disclose that she also had a Centrelink debt related to an incorrect report about her children’s care arrangements.
We linked her with expert social security rights assistance to address this, too.
Due to this wrap-around legal and social work assistance, Mary was empowered to secure a safe, long-term private rental property. Justice Connect’s social worker also secured financial brokerage to cover removalist costs, so Mary could move her belongings out of storage into her new house. Since achieving this crucial housing security, Mary has regained the care of her three older children, and she and her reunited family are looking forward to staying safely housed in their home.
By lifting the weight of unfair debts and fines, Justice Connect helped Mary move from crisis to stability.
Through trusted legal and social work support, she was able to secure a safe, long-term home and reunite her family. This intervention didn’t just resolve legal problems, it gave Mary and her children the chance to feel safe, stay together and look forward to a more secure future.
Please note, Mary* is a pseudonym. All individuals in this story have been deidentified.
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