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Federal budget must include ‘huge boost’ to legal assistance funding
The levels of legal assistance funding in Australia are “abysmal” and are in need of urgent review and significant boost in the upcoming federal budget, according to the Law Council of Australia.
Jerome Doraisamy
A boost of at least $310 million per year is required to address “critical gaps in the system” for legal assistance funding, LCA has argued, listing it as a “matter of critical importance” in its 2019-20 Pre-Budget Submission.
“Legal assistance funding in Australia is abysmal and in need of urgent review. Some of our most vulnerable people are slipping through the cracks, as the Law Council’s Justice Project illustrates,” he said.
“At least $310 million a year is needed to provide adequate funding for Legal Aid Commissions, community legal centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services and family violence prevention legal services. This would provide a much-needed injection of funds for frontline legal services to increase civil legal assistance and will come close to restoring the Commonwealth’s share of funding for Legal Aid Commissions to 50 per cent.”
Commonwealth legal aid funding is at its lowest in decades, Mr Moses continued. In 1997, the federal government spent $11.22 per capita, he mused, whereas today, it is spending less than $8 per capita.
Many persons who are living under the poverty line are ineligible, he added.
“Disadvantaged Australians are not the only ones impacted by the shortfall. Many Australians simply can’t afford legal representation and if required to attend court, are forced to appear alone. Lives are being destroyed because successive governments have failed to invest in critical social justice infrastructure,” Mr Moses posited.
LCA pointed to the Justice Impact Tests in the United Kingdom, noting they have been proven to be a “vital tool in facilitating the smoother development of laws and policies with downstream impacts on the justice system and ensuring adequate funding is provided for any repercussions”.
The submission from LCA also called for urgent additional funding of the federal courts, “especially the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia”.
“Australia’s family law system is chronically under-resourced, underfunded and overburdened. Families and children are having to wait up to three years, in many cases more, to have matters heard. As the federal courts’ workloads continue to increase, more resourcing is desperately needed to keep up with demand. This must include appointing further judges and registrars, and additional legal assistance,” Mr Moses said.
“Law Council calls on the Australian government to commission a review of the resourcing needs of federal courts and tribunals in consultation with the community and key stakeholders. There is also a need for a national interpreter scheme to assist those for whom English is not their first language to access justice.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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