The Law Society of Tasmania has joined an Australia wide call for proper funding of the legal assistance sector. It urges the Tasmanian Attorney-General to implement the recommendations of the recent final report of the Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership.

The report confirms the continuing and significant challenges of the legal assistance sector in Tasmania, including the decreasing number of lawyers willing to undertake legal aid work, the difficulties in attracting and retaining lawyers and the chronic and decades long underfunding of the sector by the Commonwealth and the State.

Law Society President Julia Higgins said “The legal assistance sector looks after the most vulnerable in our community.“

“Legal Aid Commissions, Community Legal Centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services – are designed to be there for members of the Tasmanian community during times of significant vulnerability, need, hardship and stress.

These services play a particularly critical role for vulnerable women and children in Tasmania experiencing family violence or at risk of homelessness; workers facing the loss of their employment or challenging discrimination; and Tasmanians experiencing elder abuse, among others.

The ongoing funding crisis means that many Tasmanians are missing out on the advice and support needed to protect their rights.

In Tasmania, the criminal law sector is facing a particularly acute shortage of lawyers.” Ms Higgins said.

Ms Higgins added the Tasmanian Government needs to act before it is too late. In particular, the Government should action the following recommendations of the report:

  • Provide its share of the additional $337 million in funding to enable the rates of grants of legal aid to be at the same level as court fee scales where a matter is heard;
  • Indexing funding at 4.5% in 2024-25 and after that by the sum of the expected growth in demand and expected rate of growth in prices in Tasmania;
  • Resetting the base funding for each community sector provider to reflect the true costs of operating sustainable organisations;
  • Advancing those recommendations seeking to improve the experience of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community with the legal assistance sector.

“It was heartening that the Tasmanian Attorney-General welcomed the report and expressed a desire to foster an effective, fit-for-purpose legal system. Implementing the report’s recommendations would be a good starting point.

“The demand for legal services is increasing but the cost is unaffordable to many Tasmanians which is why access to justice must be a funding priority.” Ms Higgins concluded.