Community legal centres and Legal Aid Matters James Farrell OAM Tuesday 17 May 2016

Queensland’s community legal centres | 2

Queensland community legal centres’ practice | 3

Top 5 areas of assistance Casework Offences against property Family/domestic violence Child contact and residency Government/ administrative law Credit and debt Legal advice: Child contact and residency Family/domestic violence Other civil law Family law (property) Tenancy law | 4

Queensland’s Community Legal Centres Our ‘average’ client Master page: ‘Slide Master’. Include images, charts, etc as needed. Second level body text. Female, aged 35-49 Receives less than $500 per week (many have dependent children) Doesn’t live in traditional stable housing/home One in six tell us they have a disability Casework clients 48% of family law clients experience violence 22% Indigenous One third in RRR areas | 5

We can’t help three in five of the people who need our help | 6

27%

Complementing the role of Legal Aid | 8

Volunteers and pro bono lawyers Each week: 1,595 volunteers 3,383 volunteer hours of work Many rely on volunteers and structured partnerships with law firms who work pro bono

Volunteers and pro bono lawyers 12 centres have pro bono partnership 22,444 hours pro bono work 18,145 hours direct client services Many rely on volunteers and structured partnerships with law firms who work pro bono

What do community legal centres need? Reverse funding cuts Implement Productivity Commission’s recommendation: inject $200 million per year into legal assistance services Process for determining adequate and sustainable longer-term funding | 11

What do other services need? Legal Aid – see #LegalAidMatters Increase to 50% of funding Productivity Commission recommendations Reverse cuts to ATSILS ($4m) Proper support for Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention Legal Services | 12

Presentation Title and Footer Information (change on Master page) | 13