Lawyers working within the Royal Women’s Hospital are giving abused women discreet legal advice in an initiative that could be extended to other health centres.
The move has put doctors and the legal fraternity in partnership in the latest effort to counter Victoria’s high incidence of family violence.
It is giving women, who might otherwise be too fearful to come forward, access to free advice under the cloak of routine medical appointments.
Lawyer Linda Gyorki, who manages the project, said it was often difficult for women suffering from chronic abuse “to go out and seek legal assistance and work out what their entitlements are”.