Safe at Home (SAH) project

1. Background

The Tasmania Law Reform Institute (TLRI) was provided by Tasmania Legal Aid (TLA) with a Consultant Brief to allow the TLRI to submit a proposal to review the TLA’s Safe at Home (SAH) Program.

The SAH program delivers:

• Specialist legal services (information, advice, assistance, education and training, outreach services and representation), including family violence order and FV-related restraint order applications/extensions/variations/revocations and appeals.
• Community legal education (community and service-provider)
• Referrals to other services 
• Operational-level TLA involvement in Just Healthy Families pilot joint project.

It has operated since 2004 and has not been formally reviewed. Professor Prichard and Dr Bradfield also met with TLA in a Teams meeting, during which further information was provided in relation to the scope of the project. It is noted that the Brief requests a review of the SAH program offered by TLA in the terms outlined below rather than an evaluation of the project (for example, by examining the effectiveness of the SAH program or the like).

The TLA’s SAH program forms part of a broader integrated criminal justice response to family violence established by the Tasmanian Government, which also includes specialised police services, victim support services, offender support services, financial support for victims and accommodation services.

2. Terms of Reference

• Review of funding expectations and legislative service delivery requirements (e.g. document review).
• Jurisdictional scan (investigation of other jurisdictions’ reviews, to consider if that report format is fit-for-purpose noting the contextual differences between Tasmania and other jurisdictions).
• Review of service requirements.
• Staff and stakeholder interviews. The outcomes of these interviews will be used to inform the Review Report and the Service Offering Report.