ACT Independent Senator David Pocock and independent member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel MP have today joined with Community Legal Centres Australia to launch the next phase of their Save Community Legal Centres campaign.
Together with other colleagues on the crossbench, Senator Pocock and Ms Daniel have been pushing to significantly increase funding as part of the next National Legal Assistance Partnership agreement currently being negotiated by federal, state and territory governments.
The independent Mundy review released in May sets out a roadmap for reform, including increased funding to ensure the most vulnerable in our communities can access the justice system.
“Access to legal assistance is a critical part of confronting the crisis in family and domestic violence,” Senator Pocock said.
“We need the net amount of government funding for legal assistance to increase substantially - all governments must rise to meet that challenge.
“The increases to funding are essential if Community Legal Centres are to stop turning away an average of 1000 people a day across the country.
“We also need to ensure that legal aid can continue to be provided with private sector providers also facing a chronic shortfall in funding that is undermining the provision of legal assistance services.”
Member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel said “The $270 million a year that Community Legal Centres require to meet the demand for legal help is an investment in stronger communities.
“Frontline women's legal services are often the difference between survival and disaster for far too many women and families in crisis. An annual investment of $95 million is desperately required to ensure these services are sustainable.
What an irony that these frontline workers are in the house desperately seeking funding to keep women and children safe while the government is providing an update on the progress of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.
I would suggest the update is that we have a justice crisis and it's forcing women to choose between violence and poverty,” Ms Daniel said.
The Law Council estimates that national funding shortfall for legal assistance services at $500 million per year.
The Save Community Legal Centres campaign is calling for:
- An immediate funding injection of $35 million to address the workforce crisis, as recommended by the Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership
- An additional $135 million each year to sustainably address overall community demand
- An additional $95 million each year to fully meet domestic and family violence demand