Page 4617 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 19 October 2011
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investment in CLCs an exciting opportunity. The reason community legal centres deliver such an incredible return on investment is that in part they give legal advice and represent in court those people who slip through the coverage provided by private law firms and legal aid commissions. However, in addition to giving advice, community legal centres also perform community legal education and awareness work, participate in law reform activities and produce materials which the public rely on. This work is preventative and reduces future strain on the legal system. Community legal centres are uniquely placed to increase the amount of advice and also take a proactive approach to resolving disputes before they end up in court.
However, the problem of unmet legal need cannot simply be solved by providing more lawyers. We need to encourage a different style of professional legal work that prioritises early resolution of disputes. This was highlighted well in the 2009 Senate inquiry into access to justice, which reported that despite the growing number of lawyers practising in Australia there are increasing numbers of people who fall through the gaps and cannot secure legal assistance.
The ACT is certainly not immune from the problem of unmet legal need. As the Greens’ attorney-general spokesperson I can certainly vouch for the fact that constituents often contact my office with legal problems. They cannot afford a private lawyer but they also do not qualify for legal aid. So the question then becomes: how can the ACT best invest in community legal centres to help close the gap?
The most urgent issue facing ACT community legal centres is the lack of adequate office space. It is quite a startling fact that community legal centres are struggling to provide a desk to all paid staff and are also being forced to turn away offers of volunteer pro bono legal work. This is another unique element of the community legal centres; because of their public interest work, lawyers are drawn to them to offer their services free of charge because they want to give something to people in need. The Greens’ approach to this is that the government should harness the energy and capacity of community legal centres through providing a community legal centre hub. That is what this motion directs the government to do. Opportunities to address unmet legal need should not be missed for such simple reasons as a lack of a desk or a phone.
The language in the motion of directing the government is intended to be forceful, because this is not something we have sprung on the government without warning. There is something of a history developing with the proposal for a CLC hub. In April 2010 the Greens released a five-point action plan on closing the gap on unmet legal need. One of the actions identified was the advantage of a community legal centre hub. Since then questions of the government have been asked by both the Canberra Liberals and the Greens at budget estimates and annual report hearings. The community legal centres themselves have invited MLAs to tour their offices and see the cramped conditions firsthand. And most recently, and certainly one of the foundations for today’s motion, there was a recommendation from the budget estimates committee for 2011-12 that the government undertake a feasibility study into a hub.
When this issue has been raised by the Greens in the past, the attorney has stated his view that he does not believe it is the role of the ACT to assist in providing a hub to
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