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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 63 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

In particular, let us look at women's access to justice, because there are particular needs of women in relation to justice. In particular, let us consider domestic violence. Women who are victims of domestic violence often suffer from lower self-esteem, fear of authority figures and learnt helplessness. These women feel quite powerless and isolated and have little understanding of their formal rights before the law and little understanding of their formal rights particularly in relation to the operation of the Family Law Act, which can be particularly important in relation to their children and access to the property. They are also facing a complexity of legal problems.

Let me paraphrase the Doris Women's Refuge submission to the legal aid inquiry on some of the legal problems for women and children leaving domestic violence. They could come under the criminal law in relation to threats, or physical or sexual assault of themselves or their children. There will be family law matters to do with contact, residency orders, property settlements, freedom of movement and child support. There can be debt incurred by the ex-partner in her name. There can be criminal injuries compensation and care and protection of children proceedings. All these do not fit nicely into the slot of Commonwealth matters or State matters; they go across the jurisdictions. What would some poor woman, in the situation of escaping domestic violence, do when trying to work out which responsibility she comes under, which part of the legal system she could access, and finding maybe she could access only one part and not the other? Does that mean you look after the children but then leave other aspects untouched? If women who are trying to escape domestic violence cannot access legal aid, the likely outcome is that they have to stay in these appalling, obscene situations where they are subjected to violence, where their children are subjected to violence and where they remain in danger for themselves and for their children.

The Canberra Rape Crisis Centre also raises issues of the importance of access to legal aid and justice to women, particularly those escaping violence. There are a number of instances where this is important. The Women's Legal Centre in Canberra raised the issue of the means test and how women accessing legal aid already have problems with the way in which the means test is applied. Quite often it is very difficult for women to establish what their income is; and, if they have to rely upon the cooperation of a male partner to establish what their income is, it can be extremely difficult to assess what is and what is not counted as accessible income. This also affects their access to property in family law situations because they are trying to prove what property they own and what their income level is in terms of being able to take further action. If we reduce legal aid, if we put legal aid into Commonwealth and State boxes, it also impacts on a number of women and children in our community. There are a number of impacts if we get rid of legal aid, and there are things that we need to consider.

One of the things that result from failure to have sufficient legal aid is self-representation. It is extremely difficult for people to represent themselves in court situations which can take considerably longer than was originally anticipated and in which the legislation and case law are much too complex. There is a disadvantage for those who are representing themselves and there is also a considerable imbalance of power in the legal system

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