Unique to Holstep Health is our health justice approach to people in our community. Our community legal team also collaborate with other services to provide the kind of wraparound care that can make a big difference to peoples’ overall health and wellbeing. This is Danielle’s story.
Fighting back against unfair eviction
Danielle is a sole parent with two school-aged children. Living near their school in a home and community where they feel safe and secure is important, as Danielle lives with multiple chronic health issues, including a mental health condition.
The family was living in a local rental property that needed some major repairs. Danielle asked her landlord to make some repairs, but instead of fixing her property, the landlord tried to evict her – citing the condition of the property as the reason.
“I was in the rental for nearly eight years, and I’d been requesting repairs on and off for the whole time. It wasn’t in a good state – the stove wasn’t working, the bathroom ceiling was collapsing, and the rear deck was unsafe. The landlord kept putting the rent up more than he was meant to, and then he tried to evict me. It was really stressful,” says Danielle.
We assisted Danielle to object to the unfair rent increases and avoid eviction at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). We were able to obtain orders requiring the landlord to repair the property instead.
Around 18 months later, Danielle received another notice to vacate and was again facing the prospect of homelessness if she couldn’t secure a new property.
So, we jumped right back in and assisted Danielle to defend herself against the landlord’s application to take possession of the property at VCAT.
“With everything I’ve had going on, there have been times when I’ve felt suicidal. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be alive today without their support.” – Danielle
Working together to secure safe public housing
“We were able to delay the eviction and, working with our GP and LIFT mental health program team, supported Danielle until she was able to secure a new rental”, says one of our community lawyers, Caitlin.
“Now Danielle and her children are living in safe and secure housing, which has made a hugely positive difference to their health and wellbeing.”
Caitlin works in a program that supports people who have a mental health diagnosis. The program addresses people’s needs holistically by involving support from other service areas that might not normally be accessed through a traditional legal service.
“Achieving a positive legal outcome often only meets one aspect of a client’s overall needs,” says Caitlin.
The far-reaching impact of our health justice approach
In Danielle’s case, our wraparound care has also involved GP services, social work, emergency relief, a dietician, and support for her mental health through our LIFT stepped care model.
One of our GPs, Dr Ben, provided support letters for VCAT and supported Danielle to manage the stress associated with her eviction. The LIFT team helped with referrals to housing support services.
The types of legal matters West Heidelberg Community Legal commonly support people with include fines and debt, tenancy concerns, uninsured motor vehicle accidents, family law, family violence, intervention orders, victims of crime compensation and minor criminal offences.
“One of the great features of the health justice model is being part of a team that contributes to a person’s broader health and wellbeing and assists them with accessing supports to live a safe and happy life.” – Caitlin
Social Security Rights Victoria, which is now also part of Holstep Health, offers specialist statewide legal support for social security matters, including issues with Centrelink.
Danielle appreciates having services like ours available in her local community.
“I used to have another lawyer, but it’s quite far away from home and hard for me to get to on public transport. Holstep Health is a short walk from home, and I know if I need something I can walk there. I really don’t know how it would’ve ended if I hadn’t had support from Holstep Health,” Danielle continues.
“With everything I’ve had going on, there have been times when I’ve felt suicidal. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be alive today without their support.”
၂၀၂၅ ခုနှစ်တွင် အစီအစဉ်၏ သက်ရောက်မှု
| 800 | people supported by our community legal team, an increase of 40% from 2024 |
| 300 | court and tribunal cases, improving access to justice. |
| 90 | people were supported with specialist legal services while receiving mother-and-baby care at Curran Place withdrawal service. |
| 63% | of people indicated that they experience mental health problems. |
| 37% | affected by family violence. |
| 35% | are also engaged with at least one other service at Holstep Health. |
| 7% | identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples. |
Image: Community Lawyer, Caitlin, Danielle and GP, Dr Ben.
ပိုမိုရှာဖွေပါ။
