Page 615 - Week 02 - Thursday, 16 February 2017
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MR RAMSAY: Yes indeed. These cuts are part of the commonwealth’s decision to cut funding more broadly for legal assistance. Community legal centres are particularly hit hard by the commonwealth’s decision under the national partnership agreement on legal assistance services. Across the country the commonwealth is cutting funding for community legal centres by $12.1 million in 2017-18.
Commonwealth funding for community legal centres in the ACT dropped from $1.122 million in 2015-16 to $1.072 million in 2016-17. It will drop again to $807,000 in 2017-18. The remaining two years of the NPA will see a further $532,000 reduction from the 2015-16 funding level, making the total reduction in funding $897,000 over four years.
Canberra Community Law estimates that 200 disadvantaged people will have to face court without legal advice as a direct result of the commonwealth cuts from July this year. Here is just one case study, of course with name changed, from the CCL annual report:
[Stacey], an Aboriginal mother of three young children, got behind on her rent while attending to a family crisis out of state. [Stacey] ended up homeless as a result. With help from Canberra Community Law, she was able to negotiate an agreement with Housing ACT to resolve the matter and get housing.
This is who the commonwealth cuts are targeting, people with the greatest need and at the most risk of serious consequences when they cannot get help. This open disregard for our city’s most vulnerable people is a demonstration of weak and poor values. The ACT will keep working to support CLCs and to keep up the pressure on the commonwealth to meet its obligations to those in need.
MR STEEL: Minister, was the commonwealth decision to cut funding for community legal centres based on any evidence at all about the impacts on the community?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Mr Steel for his supplementary. There is indeed plenty of evidence about the impact of these cuts, but it certainly does not seem that the commonwealth government has paid any attention to it. These cuts will increase costs on the community, they will target the most disadvantaged people in our society and they will limit access to justice. On this topic, let me quote the commonwealth’s Productivity Commission. The 2014 Access to justice report stated:
Disadvantaged Australians are more susceptible to, and less equipped to deal with, legal disputes. Governments have a role in assisting these individuals. Numerous studies show that efficient government funded legal assistance services generate net benefits to the community.
Let me repeat and emphasise that: there are net benefits to the community from investing in legal centres. When people show up to court without legal advice, the process often takes longer, with poorer outcomes that can result in further legal problems. Every dollar that we invest in community legal centres results in savings to the community as a whole and, more importantly, in better service to the disadvantaged.
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