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^{Wednesday 22 November}

Justice on the Brink – Stronger Legal Aid for a Better Legal System

National Legal Aid – the body representing all the Legal Aid Commissions around the country, including the Legal Services Commission – has today released a report that sets out the case for adequately funding the legal assistance sector in Australia.

Justice on the Brink – Stronger Legal Aid for a Better Legal System outlines the risk of denying justice to Australia’s most disadvantaged people without a significant annual funding injection to meet the surging demand for services and unmet legal need across the nation.

The release of this report, prepared by Impact Economics and Policy for National Legal Aid, comes as an independent review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) Agreement is underway.

Justice on the Brink looks at the Productivity Commission’s 2014 Access to Justice report, and based on its methodology finds that an increase of $484 million in Commonwealth Legal Aid funding per year is required:

• $317 million to reach the recommended share of family and civil law grants;
• $98 million to reach the recommended means testing coverage; and
• $69 million to protect the sector from the immediate threat of supply failure.

The Legal Services Commission welcomes this report – It is a significant body of work which strongly puts the case for a significant boost to the legal assistance sector across Australia, in order to address the unmet need for Legal Aid assistance.

In South Australia, this unmet legal need is particularly acute in regional areas, including Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Mount Barker, and the Riverland, whilst the emerging areas of demand include child protection, civil law, housing, and service delivery to Aboriginal clients.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders and governments as the NLAP Review is finalised, as we strive to collectively improve access to justice in South Australia.