This year’s Knowledge Grants awarded

This funding will support community legal organisations to better understand their communities through improved data and information.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Victoria Law Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Knowledge Grants.

This is the first year that VLF has offered Knowledge Grants. This funding will support community legal organisations to better understand their communities through improved data and information.

We were overwhelmed by a wide range of outstanding applications and it was very difficult to choose - thanks to everyone who made a submission.

Congratulations to our four successful applicants who are sure to make valuable contributions to the sector and community through their projects. We look forward to sharing their results.

Our successful applicants are:

Police applications for intervention orders and women’s experience of the family violence justice system in a post-Royal Commission landscape

Advocacy and Rights Centre Ltd

$49,984 (excl. GST)

Since the Royal Commission into family violence, the police response to family violence has intensified and resulted in a significant increase of family violence intervention orders brought by police. This project will explore the impact on affected women’s experience of the justice process as well as their safety and wellbeing.

Read the final report.

Moving towards evidence based practice – How to understand elder abuse as a civil law problem in the Barwon region

Barwon Community Legal Service Inc

$50,000 (excl. GST)

Barwon Community Legal Service and project partner, Deakin University, will investigate the civil law aspects of elder abuse in the Barwon region. Research findings will inform service delivery, interventions and responses to elder abuse to meet the needs of a growing ageing population.

User centered research of priority groups in the ‘missing middle’

Justice Connect

$50,000 (excl. GST)

This research project will focus on three priority groups - people with disability, CALD communities, and women/single parents and explore their capacity to use online self-help resources to resolve a legal problem. Findings will inform better design and implementation of digital self-help resources.

The growth of community housing: what does it mean for tenants?

Banyule Community Health (West Heidelberg Community Legal Service)

$43,925 (excl. GST)

West Heidelberg Community Legal Service, with project partners Tenants Victoria and Inner Melbourne Community Legal, will collect new data on legal outcomes for community housing tenants by looking at the management of housing issues and tenancy disputes.


Knowledge Grant applications are now closed. We will offer Knowledge Grants again in 2020/21.

Community Legal Grants and Small Grants are now open. If you have an idea for a project, see our website for more information or contact Melanie Rygl, Grants Manager on (03) 9604 8100.

See the full list of projects we have supported