The status of the Hume Riverina Community Legal Service's Invisible Hurdles project was confirmed by Associate Professor Liz Curran, who has followed the project since the beginning.

"When I first started researching ... there was one health justice partnership in Australia.

"At last count in July 2020, there were 109.

"I thought this might be the longest longitudinal study ... and it's now been verified."

As part of the project, HRCLS lawyers work with Wodonga Flexible Learning Centre, North East Support and Action for Youth (NESAY) and the Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS).

During the pilot phase, 101 young people raised 198 legal matters.

But in just over a year to February, 2021, there were 534 referrals.

Many of the young people involved have complex needs, as demonstrated by the story of Ellie, who was at risk of homelessness.

Ellie's legal issue arose when her boyfriend, Greg, compelled her to apply for an $8000 loan through a bank.

Once Ellie got the money, Greg took the majority of the money from her and used it for his own benefit.

Not long after, Ellie lost her job and Greg started being both physically and emotionally violent.

By the time Ellie was referred to the HRCLS, the debt had risen to over $11,000.

Lawyers were able to get the bank to waive the debt and provide social support.

NESAY chief executive Leah Waring said she and her team were better at picking up legal issues when working with youth.

"It's certainly increased awareness of legal issues - we can work together to create long term outcomes," she said.

"To have a lawyer at NESAY, or AWAHS, just makes it so easy for a young person who has a problem to seek help."

AWAHS chief executive David Noonan said having a lawyer embedded in his service increased the success of referrals for legal advice.

"If we try and make a referral outside of the service, a large majority of those referrals never take place, because we're asking people to go to another service they don't trust," he said.

"Whereas with Invisible Hurdles, we can say, 'Just wait a minute, we'll get somebody to you'.

"HRCLS just received a notification that they've gotten mental health funding through NSW, because we've been able to support that process for Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people.

"We wouldn't have identified that need, if not for Invisible Hurdles."

That funding, for a separate program, is from the NSW government.

It will also enable HRCLS to increase its presence in areas of the southern Riverina such as Deniliquin, Finley and Corowa.

It will be working with the Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service to ensure women in the region who have experienced or are experiencing domestic violence get access to free legal services.

But Victorian funding for the Invisible Hurdles project is only partial, for three years.

Dr Curran said the success of Invisible Hurdles warranted long-term funding and made it viable to extend to other schools.

"Funders need to understand that you cannot build trust and have a service like this with unpredictable, insecure funding," she said.

"Young people need to be able to trust the service and know that the service is there for the long haul for them.

"This idea of funding little bits here and there ... sucks up valuable energy, it's duplication, and it's unnecessary."

Even as stakeholders push for more funding, they are planning for stage three of Invisible Hurdles.

HRCLS lawyer Deb Fisher met with the team on Friday to plan for the future.

"COVID has obviously impacted us, but the partnership is still strong," she said.

"We want to keep the person at the centre, and if they have health issues, social issues or education needs, to meet them where they're at and ensure they feel safe and comfortable.

"We leverage off the trust that these guys have built with their clients and community and then provide that legal assistance to help them on their journey."

Professor Curran said Invisible Hurdles had proven its worth because "legal problems are not in isolation".

"If you're excluded from a shopping plaza, you can't go for a job interview," she said.

"If you can't pay your utility bills, you lose the connection to your power, so the kids can't do their homework or online learning.

"Unresolved legal issues cause stress and anxiety; they make people go into defensive mode and they make people feel hopeless.

"So if you've got an Aboriginal community controlled health organisation, and a young person's homelessness and family support organisation and lawyers, you can actually all work together.

"The government has this mantra about closing the gap - this project is actually closing the gap at so many levels.

"It's also building this incredible professional awareness."

The program means lawyers like Ms Fisher "don't have to bear the brunt" of the often significant trauma and complex needs that people in legal trouble present with.

"If someone is homeless, that will weigh on me as a lawyer, but if I know that I can connect them in with a service that is trusted and we can work together to solve both of their problems, that's a win," she said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Mr Noonan said it gave him great satisfaction that the project created seven years ago as a pilot was continuing today.

"It's absolutely what we wanted to have happen - sustainable change is so important," he said.

"It means that we need to push to get ongoing funding because it has shown itself to work."