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‘A sector in crisis’: Legal assistance funding desperately needed, say advocates
Leading legal bodies in Australia have jointly issued an open letter, calling on all levels of government to address what they describe as Australia’s “greatest shame”.
Grace Robbie
Today, legal professionals in Australia have made a unified plea to the government by jointly signing an open letter to key Commonwealth, state and territory ministers, urging them to promptly address how “chronically” underfunded the Australian legal assistance sector is.
Law Council of Australia president Greg McIntyre SC highlighted the urgency of the situation, stressing that individuals seeking such services are members of the community who are facing significant vulnerability and enduring profound hardships.
“Australia’s legal assistance services – Legal Aid commissions, community legal centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services, and family violence prevention legal services – are designed to be there for members of our community during times of life when they experience significant vulnerability, need, hardship and stress.
“These services provide assistance in so many ways, including providing advice, support and representation to women fleeing harm; those facing discrimination in the workplace; people experiencing elder abuse; and those at risk of homelessness,” McIntyre said.
Due to significant underfunding, McIntrye revealed how these essential services have been denied to distressed clients due to their inability to meet the high demand of individuals who need their support.
“Our legal assistance sector has suffered greatly under decades of funding neglect and cannot keep up with demand for services. For example, women’s legal services in this country have reported they are having to turn away more than 50,000 women a year,” McIntyre said.
The letter makes reference to the Independent Review of the National Assistance Partnership Final Report, in which the legal professionals expressed their endorsement of the key recommendations to improve access to justice in Australia.
These recommendations include “improving funding levels to legal assistance services; improving the working conditions for those undertaking this valuable work; properly valuing the work of private practitioners undertaking legal aid matters; and additional incentives to attract and retain legal practitioners in rural, regional and remote Australia”.
In the open letter, the legal professionals expressed their deep concern, underscored by the fact that most of the current funding commitments for the legal assistance sector come to an end in less than 12 months.
As a result, the letter argued, “there is currently a sword hanging over the hands of Australia’s legal assistance services” as they are “unable to confidently plan for the future without knowing whether their services are sustainable and supported to meet demand”.
McIntyre said: “We need to ensure that the next partnership agreement represents a far greater investment and commitment to legal assistance, in line with the recommendation of the NLAP review.”
The CEO of the Law Society of Australia articulated how these peak legal organisations will continue to advocate vigorously for the government to promptly allocate sufficient resources to the legal assistance sector.
“Through our profession-wide networks, social media, and meetings with local and federal parliamentarians, we will continue to forcefully advocate for governments to adequately resource the legal assistance sector without delay,” McIntyre said.
