Upon arriving in Australia, Muslim women have the right to apply for citizenship and seek the full protection of the Australian Legal system as residents and prospective citizens and, within a few years of their arrival, as citizens of this country. The process of settlement often operates in a symmetrical form to the process of citizenship. There are times however, when citizenship and settlement are asymmetrical, in the sense that Muslims do not know the cultural, economic and legal rights and obligations of citizenship in Australia. Many women are unaware of the legal remedies available to them, and lack the condidence to pursue them. In this context, many Muslim communities avoid and are estranged from the Victorian legal system, and often only come into contact with it in crisis. The cornerstone of citizenship and the protection of new citizens is legal and civic literacy especially for those who are disadvantaged. In this regard the Council already advocates consistently and works collaboratively to ensure our legal system responds appropriately to Muslim women. There is also a further need for a specialised program to build the capacity of Muslim women in matters of settlement and civics. An effective and justice oriented approach to the settlement of an immigrant requires an engagement with its legal institutions. A failure to do so invariably results in high incarceration rates of the young in particular and in negligible protections for those in need within minority groups, especially women and children. The Citizenship and Anti-Violence Legal Literacy Program supports newly arrived women individually to meet their immediate settlement needs. Predominantly, the program aims to increase their capacity to manage structural difficulties and barriers disrupting their settlement process and to help them develop an understanding of their legal rights and protections, with special emphasis on family law because it is an area of demonstrated need for Muslim women.