Page 2936 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 30 June 2010
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The survey for the ACT will allow us to accurately quantify those people who are going without legal advice when they need it. The necessary follow-on work from there will be some form of government action to fund legal service providers to close that gap. Without that action, the survey itself will be pointless. We will have a document that says there is a huge amount of unmet legal need out there—we imagine they are the findings that are going to come out, that there will be a gap—and if we simply have that and leave it on the shelf collecting dust, it is going to be a tremendous missed opportunity. To quantify unmet legal need but then fail to act on it and attempt to close the gap is not good enough. To simply turn a blind eye is not the path that this Assembly and this government should be taking.
It is unfortunate that the government have indicated they will also move to amend the text of our motion to exclude that necessary second step. I find that somewhat surprising. The Greens will not let this opportunity for action go by, and we will move an amendment to the government’s amendment, which I have circulated, so that we can reinsert the requirement to actually act on the results of the survey. That is the gist of it.
I have brought forward this motion in the spirit of saying that this is a community asset from which, by the government making an investment now, we can get so much return on those dollars. We can treat with a bit of respect the people who are working so hard in these community legal centres. We can actually provide them with the basic facilities they need to do their job.
I have a sense that across the Assembly there is a real acknowledgement and respect for the role of community legal centres. I think what we are asking for here is simply that we empower them to do even better the fabulous job they already do. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR CORBELL: (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (4.44), by leave: I move:
(1) Insert new paragraph (1)(ea):
“(ea) that the Department of Justice and Community Safety has provided assistance through minor renovation works and the supply of furniture to create more workstations;”.
(2) Omit paragraph (2), substitute:
(2) calls on the Government to work with CLCs to:
(a) provide assistance through the evaluation of accommodation options which assess space requirements and functional suitability of new accommodation identified by the CLCs with respect to future staffing and office requirements in the long term;
(b) consider proposals for new improved accommodation in the 2011-2012 budget process; and
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