Legal aid and legal assistance services


Budget Review 2022–23 Index 

Howard Maclean

Legal aid services: Commonwealth funded legal services delivered by state and territory legal aid commissions through the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) and the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF).

Legal assistance services: all of the sector-wide legal service providers, including legal aid commissions, community legal centres (CLCs), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) and family violence prevention legal services.

Key points

  • The Government will continue additional funding for the legal assistance sector announced in the 2021–22 Budget and the 2021–22 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYFEO). In addition, the Government will provide an additional $40.7 million in resourcing for Legal Aid Commissions over 4 years from 2021–22 under NLAP and as direct funding (Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2022–23, p. 59, Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, p. 92).  
  • The overall level of funding in the ‘justice services’ program in the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) (Portfolio budget statements 2022–23: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, p. 21) for Specialist Family Violence Legal Services (SFVLS) and CLCs has risen substantially, with SFVLS funding increasing to $15 million in 2022–23.
  • The Government will provide $5.4 million over 2 years from 2021–22 in funding for legal services in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) as part of the Flood response package (Budget paper no. 2, p. 62).
  • The Government has extended the Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties program with $52.4 million in funding over the next 4 years (Women’s budget statement 2022–23, p. 19). This is a significant increase on the $6.3 million provided in 2021–22 (Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2021–22, p. 62). 
  • Total Commonwealth expenditure in grants to the legal assistance sector in 2022–23 (including base funding) is expected to be at least $556.2 million.[1] 

National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP)

Most of the funding provided by the Australian Government to support the delivery of legal assistance services to disadvantaged Australians is provided through the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP). The NLAP is a 5-year funding agreement that commenced on 1 July 2020 originally covering Commonwealth funding for state and territory legal aid commissions (LACs), community legal centres (CLCs), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), Domestic Violence Units (DVUs) and Health Justice Partnerships (HJPs).

Over successive budgets and MYFEOs however, the scope of the NLAP has steadily increased, expanding from the original 5 funding lines to 13 as of the 2022–23 Budget. The 2022–23 Budget largely sustains NLAP funding announced in the 2021–22 Budget and 2021–22 MYEFO, with the only major change being an additional $24.2 million for LACs beyond what was projected in the 2021–22 MYFEO over the next 3 years.

Total NLAP multilateral funding is projected to be $506.7 million in 2022–23, with 80.7% of funding to be directed towards original core NLAP programs (LACs, ATSILS, CLCs, and DVUs/HJPs) (see Table 1).

Table 1        Original versus current NLAP total funding ($ million)

Year 2020 NLAP Multilateral Funding Projection Actual funding and projections, NLAP original funding lines[2] Actual funding and projections, new NLAP funding lines[3] Actual funding and projections from 2022–23 onwards, total
2020–21 384.5 384.5 3.9 388.4
2021–22 390.5 394.7 78.3 473.0
2022–23 396.6 408.8 97.9 506.7
2023–24 402.9 415.2 99.3 514.5
2024–25 409.4 421.9 99.8 521.7

Sources: National Legal Assistance Partnership, 13; Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, 92, Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, 86.

 

Table 2        NLAP funding for legal aid services and CLCs ($ million)

Year NLAP funding for legal aid services and CLCs Increase from previous year’s funding
2020–21 299.2* 29.2
2021–22 379.6** 80.4
2022–23 410.4** 30.8
2023–24 416.6** 6.2
2024–25 423.1** 6.5

*       Includes Social and Community Services (SACS) funding (NLAP, 13; Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2020–21, p. 69) and Domestic Violence Unit and Health Justice Partnership funding, which is administered as an element of NLAP from 2020–21 onwards. It does not include $9.9 million funding for the Family Advocacy and Support Service program, which is included under NLAP from 2021–22.

**     In addition to the programs mentioned above, this figure includes legal assistance funding for vulnerable women, supporting increased child sexual abuse prosecutions, the legal assistance family law pilot program, and supporting people with mental health conditions accessing legal services from 2021–22 onwards. Funding for the Family Advocacy and Support Service program is also included under NLAP from 2021–22 onwards (Budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, p. 86). Funding for Frontline support to address workplace sexual harassment is also included (Budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, p. 92).  

Sources: National Legal Assistance Partnership, 13; National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services, (as varied) pp. 10-12; Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, 92, Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, 86.

 

Legal Aid services funding

Funding is provided to LACs through 3 main sources:

  • the NLAP baseline (through which funding is provided to states and territories)
  • the Family Advocacy and Support Service (FASS) program
  • the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF), which is administered by AGD.

This Budget increases the NLAP baseline by $24.2 million over the remainder of the NLAP beyond what was originally agreed.

Table 3        Original and new NLAP LAC baseline ($ million)

Year 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Original NLAP and 2021–22 Budget projection 237.8 241.4 245.3 249.2
2022–23 Budget projection 237.8 249.4 253.3 257.4
Increase 0 8.0 8.0 8.2

Sources: National Legal Assistance Partnership, 13; Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, 92.

Family Advocacy and Support Service

Since 2021–22, Commonwealth funding to LACs under the FASS program (which is an integrated duty lawyer and social worker service for those affected by family violence, delivered through LACs) has been administered as a component of the NLAP. Funding for this program has been extended through the forward estimates and has increased substantially in this Budget to $27.1 million for 2022–23 from $10.0 million in 2021–22 (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

Additional Resourcing 2021–22 to 2022–23

Budget Paper No. 2 states that an additional $16.5 million will be provided over 2 years from 2021–22 to support LACs, as part of the additional resourcing for the Attorney-General’s Portfolio (Budget paper no. 2, p. 59). The Government states that this funding is ‘to meet the cost of legal representation, including independent children lawyers as ordered by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia as part of the Government’s enhanced case management arrangements for family law proceedings’ (Budget paper no. 2, p. 59).

Figure 1 shows payments to states and territories for LACs between 1995–96 and 2025–26.[4] From 2015–16 the funding reflects the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services (NPALAS), the predecessor to NLAP, and from 2020–21 the funding reflects the NLAP (with FASS funding included for 2021–22 onwards).

Figure 1       Payments for the provision of legal aid services to states and territories (non-adjusted figures)

Figure 1 Payments for the provision of legal aid services to states and territories (non-adjusted figures)

Source: Parliamentary Library estimates (see footnote 4).

ECCCF funding

Funding for LACs is also provided through the ECCCF. LACs can apply for funding under the ECCCF when defending clients in high-cost Commonwealth criminal matters such as drug importation, people smuggling, terrorism, fraud and slavery.

ECCCF funding will decline from $18.22 million in 2021–22 to $13.23 million in 2022–23. ECCCF funding more than doubled in 2021–22 from 2020–21 funding levels, and the funding for 2022–23 is still substantially higher than predicted on forward estimates in previous budgets. From 2023–24, ECCCF funding returns to levels consistent with pre-2021–22 funding.

Table 4 shows ECCCF from 2017–18 to 2024–25.[5]

Table 4        Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund funding ($ ‘000)

2017–18 Budget 2018–19 Budget 2019–20 Budget 2020–21 Budget 2021–22 Budget 2022–23 Budget 2023–24 Forward estimate 2024–25 Forward estimate 2025-26 Forward estimate
Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund 2017–18 Budget 3,675 3,722 3,769 3,799 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
2018–19 Budget 3,675* 3,722 3,765 3,799 3,852 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2019–20 Budget   5,100* 7,966 nil nil nil N/A N/A N/A
2020–21 Budget     16,561* 8,101 8,174 8,276 8,392 N/A N/A
2021–22 Budget       8,101* 18,220 8,301 8,417 8,765 N/A
2022-23 Budget         18,220* 13,226 8,450 8,826 8,958

* estimated actual from relevant Portfolio budget statements.

Sources: as per footnote 5.

Community legal centre funding

The Australian Government provides funding for CLCs through the NLAP and the ‘Justice Services’ program in AGD.

The NLAP includes both general baseline funding for CLCs, and baseline funding for use in family law and/or family violence related matters (National Legal Assistance Partnership, pp. 13 and 17). Since 2015–16, the majority of funding for CLCs has been provided through the NPALAS and now the NLAP. Prior to 2015–16 the majority of CLC funding was provided through AGD (Portfolio budget statements 2015–16: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, pp. 19 and 30).

CLC NLAP funding

In 2022–23 the Australian Government will provide $56.7 million funding for CLCs through the NLAP (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92). Funding provided through the NLAP will increase each year in the forward estimates, as shown in Table 5. The 2022–23 funding remains unaltered since the original NLAP agreement in 2020, and consistent with previous years’ forward estimates.

Table 5        NLAP funding for CLCs ($ million)

Year CLC Baseline CLC Baseline: Family Law or Family Violence Total NLAP funding for CLCs Increase Year On Year
2020–21 33.4 15.1 55.0* 4.9
2021–22 40.6 15.3 55.9 0.9
2022–23 41.2 15.5 56.7 0.8
2023–24 41.9 15.8 57.6 0.9
2024–25 42.5 16 58.6 0.9

* Includes SACS funding of $6.5 million.

Sources: NLAP, 13, NPALAS 10–12, Budget Paper No. 3: 2022–23, 92.

AGD ‘Justice Services’ funding

The 2021–22 Budget more than doubled CLC funding through AGD from $3.1 million forecast ($3.7 million actual) in 2020–21 to $7.3 forecast ($9.1 million actual) in 2021–22 (Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, p. 25; Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General’s portfolio, p. 20). The 2022–23 Budget forecasts $8.8 million in funding in 2022–23, although actual expenditure has been higher than budgeted expenditure every year since 2019–20.

The Government projects that funding will steadily decrease over the forward estimates from $9.1 million in 2021–22 to $7.5 million in 2025–26 (Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no. 1.2 Attorney-General’s portfolio, 20), as shown in Table 6.

Table 6        Funding for CLCs provided through AGD ($ ‘000)[6]

  2017–18 Budget 2018–19 Budget 2019–20 Budget 2020–21 Budget 2021–22 Budget 2022–23 Budget 2023–24 Forward estimate 2024–25 Forward estimate 2025–26 Forward Estimate
Community legal services 2017–18 Budget 8,989 10,185 2,991 3,179 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
2018–19 Budget 8,989* 10,185 2,988 3,179 3,223 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2019–20 Budget   2,625* 2,647 3,124 3,172 3,238 N/A N/A N/A
2020–21 Budget     2,913* 3,118 3,147 3,199 3,244 N/A N/A
2021–22 Budget       3,696* 7,315 7,126 7,228 7,318 N/A
2022–23 Budget         9,115* 8,871 8,998 7,870 7,479

*Estimated actual from relevant Portfolio budget statements.

Sources: as per footnote 6.

Total CLC funding

Figure 2 shows Commonwealth recurrent spending on CLCs from 2005–06 to 2025–26. The figures from 2015–16 onwards include funding provided through the AGD and under the NPALAS, and from 2020–21 the funding reflects funding provided through AGD and under the NLAP.[7]

Figure 2: total Commonwealth funding for CLCs (non-adjusted figures)

Figure 2: total Commonwealth funding for CLCs (non-adjusted figures)

Source: Parliamentary Library estimates (see footnote 7).

Family violence, family law and sexual harassment funding

Since 2017, the Government has introduced a series of programs that have provided funding for various family violence, family law and sexual harassment services. These include:

  • NLAP funding for DVUs and HJPs[8]
  • NLAP funding for ‘increased legal assistance for vulnerable women’ which largely flows to specialised women’s CLCs[9]
  • NLAP funding for ‘front-line assistance to address workplace sexual harassment’[10]
  • NLAP funding for a ‘legal assistance family law pilot program’[11]
  • AGD funding for SFVLS[12] and
  • funding for the Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties scheme.[13]

DVUs, HJPs and other SFVLS may sit within a LAC, a general CLC, or a women’s or otherwise specialised CLC.[14] DVUs and HJPs provide legal assistance and other forms of support to women experiencing or at risk of domestic violence, including financial counselling, tenancy assistance, trauma counselling, emergency accommodation, family law services and employment services (NLAP, p. 17; Budget Review 2016–17, p. 92; G Brandis (Attorney-General), Turnbull Government funds new domestic violence units, media release, 16 October 2017).

NLAP DVU and HJP funding

The 2022–23 Budget continues the higher level of funding above the original NLAP baseline, introduced from the 2021–22 Budget, providing $14.5 million in 2022–23. This is an increase of $4.3 million above the NLAP baseline (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

Table 7        Domestic Violence Unit and Health Justice Partnership funding ($ million)

Year NLAP Baseline Funding allocated in 2021–22 and 2022–23 Budgets Difference
2020–21 9.9 9.9 0
2021–22 10.1 14.3 4.2
2022–23 10.2 14.5 4.3
2023–24 10.4 14.7 4.3
2024–25 10.6 14.9 4.3
Total 51.2 68.3 17.1

Source: NLAP 13, Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, 86, Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, 92. 

NLAP – Frontline assistance to address workplace sexual harassment

The Budget provides an additional $43.9 million over 4 years under the NLAP for ‘frontline support to address workplace sexual harassment’ (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

NLAP – Increased legal assistance funding for vulnerable women

The 2021–22 Budget contained funding commitments to women’s legal centres to enable them to respond to increasing demand for domestic violence services (Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2021–22, p. 84, Women’s budget statement 2021–22, p. 25). The Government provided $31.6 million of additional funding in 2021–22, and projects $32 million of funding in 2022–23, with a further $65.4 million over the following 2 years (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

AGD ‘Justice Services’ SFVLS Funding

Since the Women’s Economic Security Package in the 2018–19 MYFEO, a new AGD funding program ‘Support for Specialist Family Violence Legal Services’ has been separated out from the CLC program, to provide funding to SFVLS, including DVU and HJPs directly (Portfolio additional estimates statements 2018–19: Attorney-General’s portfolio, pp. 24 and 27).

The Government will provide $15 million in specialist family violence legal services funding in 2022–23, a substantial increase from the $8.3 million ($10.8 million actual) funding provided in 2021–22 (Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, p. 26, Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no 1.2 Attorney General’s portfolio, p. 21). Furthermore, the Government no longer projects a reduction in funding to the $2 million level over the forward estimates, with funding projected to remain at around $15 million for each financial year (See Table 8).

Table 8        Funding for SFVLs provided through AGD ($ ‘000)[15]

  2018–19 Budget 2019–20 Budget 2020–21 Budget 2021–22 Budget 2022–23 Budget 2023–24 Forward estimate 2024–25 Forward estimate 2025-26 Forward estimate
Specialist Family Violence Legal Services 2018–19 MYFEO 7,800 11,738 11,914 12,093 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2019–20 Budget 7,800* 11,726 1,980 2,012 2,040 N/A N/A N/A
2020–21 Budget   14,516* 9,016 1,996 2,016 2,045 N/A N/A
2021­–22 Budget   9,016* 8,258 2,022 2,051 2,073 N/A
2022–23 Budget       10,758* 15,023 15,249 15,112 15,351

*Estimated actual from relevant Portfolio budget statements.

Source: as per footnote 9.

Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties scheme

Since 2019, direct cross-examination by a party to a family law proceeding is not permitted where there is an allegation of family violence between the parties and specified circumstances exist.[16] As part of the Women’s Economic Security Package announced in 2018, the Government committed to providing funding to LACs to ensure that parties have representation in cases where the ban applies.

The Government is providing $52.4 million over the forward estimates to continue the scheme (Budget paper no. 2, p. 69, Women’s budget statement 2022–23, p. 19).

Indigenous legal assistance services

As noted in Budget Review 2014–15 (p. 116), changes to some Indigenous program names, their transfer to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, subsequent consolidation, and the lack of detail in relevant portfolio budget papers makes assessing long-term funding trends difficult. The relevant portfolio budget statements note that funding for the Indigenous Legal Assistance Program (ILAP) was transferred to the Department of the Treasury from the 2020–21 Budget and is included in the NLAP as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) program.[17]

The funding commitments for the ILAP, (previously named the Indigenous Legal Aid Policy Reform Program, Budget Review 2015–16, p. 106), and the ATSILS component of the NLAP are detailed in Table 9.

Table 9        Funding commitments for the Indigenous legal assistance programs ($ ‘000)[18]

  2017–18 Budget 2018–19 Budget 2019–20 Budget 2020–21 Budget 2021–22 Forward estimate 2022–23 Forward estimate 2023–24 Forward estimate 2024–25 NLAP
Indigenous Legal Assistance Program/ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services component of NLAP. 2017–18 Budget 74,463 74,365 75,276 70,173 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2018–19 Budget 74,463* 74,365 75,202 70,173 71,155 N/A N/A N/A
2019–20 Budget 74,365* 75,202 Nil Nil Nil N/A N/A
2020–21 Budget/
NLAP 		77,690* 85,307** 86,683 88,202 89,612 91,046
2021–22 Budget/
NLAP 		      85,307* 86,683 88,202 89,612 91,046
2022–23 Budget/NLAP         86,683* 88,202 89,612 91,046

* Estimated actual from portfolio budget statements.

** Includes SACS supplementation.

Source: as per footnote 12.

The 2022–23 Budget does not increase funding beyond the NLAP baseline agreed in 2020.

NLAP – Coronial Inquiries and expensive and complex cases

In the 2021–22 MYEFO, the Government announced new funding for ATSILS to support clients involved in complex litigation and to provide legal assistance in coronial inquiries to families of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons. This was part of the Closing the Gap Package and will provide $9.3 million in funding over 4 years from 2021–22, including $2.6 million in 2022–23 (MYFEO 2021–22, pp. 47, 49, 51 and 53). The Budget maintains this funding at the levels announced in the 2021–22 MYFEO (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

Other legal assistance related measures

In addition to the above programs and funding arrangements, the Budget includes additional legal assistance related measures, in the form of new components of the NLAP and other initiatives which are new in 2022–23.

Flood related legal assistance

As part of the Flood Package announced in this year’s Budget, an additional $5.4 million will be provided over 2 years to existing legal assistance services operating within Queensland and NSW to support flood affected individuals and businesses (Budget paper no. 2, p. 62).

NLAP – Legal Assistance for people with mental health conditions

In the 2021–22 Budget, the Government announced funding to support the early resolution of legal problems for those experiencing mental health issues as part of the Mental Health package (Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2021–22, p. 117).

Originally, this package was intended to provide $15 million in 2021–22, and a further $15 million each year through to 2024–25 for a total of $60 million (Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, p. 86). The 2021 MYFEO revised this down to $14 million in 2021–22, and a further $14.5 million each year through to 2024–25 for a total cost of $57.5 million (MYFEO 2021–22, pp. 47, 49, 51 and 53). The 2022–­23 Budget maintains funding at this lower level (Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

NLAP – Supporting increased child sexual abuse prosecutions

In the 2021–22 Budget, the Government provided additional funding to the legal assistance sector through the NLAP to ensure that prosecutions of child sexual abuse offences are not delayed due to the accused lacking representation (Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2021–22, p. 175).

The 2022–23 Budget continues funding at levels announced in the 2021–22 Budget. The Government will provide $1.7 million in 2022–23, and a further $1.7 million over the next 2 years (Federal financial relations: budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, p. 86, Budget paper no. 3, p. 92).

Reaction from stakeholders

The Law Council of Australia (LCA) ‘welcomes’ Budget funding aimed at ‘support[ing] Australians interacting with the family law system, women experiencing family violence and those affected by the floods’. The LCA noted its specific support for certain measures, including the additional funding for the Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties Scheme and for Legal Aid Commissions. The LCA noted however some concerns regarding broader measures in the Budget:

… this funding does not effectively acknowledge that some of these initiatives, particularly the case management pathway, have increased costs for Australian families and that the family law sector has been significantly underfunded for many years. We will have to wait to see the impact this funding has on reducing the backlog of matters, in meeting the growing demand for services and ensuring Australian families can afford assistance when they need it.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) expressed its disappointment with the Budget, noting that it is ‘concerned that no additional funding for legal assistance services or peak justice body will further see our people disproportionately overrepresented in the criminal legal system’. NATSILS noted that in the wake of the Budget, its major and urgent funding issues will persist and that this will particularly affect its ability to recruit and retain staff. NATSILS Executive Officer, Jamie McConnachie, further said:

I am truly devastated with this announcement. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services are the advocates and the protectors of the rights of First Nations peoples. Our communities suffer due to this severe under-resourcing. It is totally unreasonable to manage service delivery expectations with this appalling level of investment. Adequate funding for ATSILS means that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can access culturally safe legal support when they need it.

Community Legal Centres Australia (CLCs Australia) described the Budget as ‘disappointing’ and noted that it did not include ‘much needed funding to allow the sector to deliver services to those in need in our communities’. CLCs Australia’s view is that the Budget ‘does not contain a commitment or vision to improve access to justice in this country and only delivers temporary fixes, when we need long term solutions to the persistent problems of inequality and injustice.’

CLCs Australia did welcome certain funding announcements but noted that it needed further clarity on how this funding would be allocated – this included the funding committed to legal assistance for flood victims.

National Legal Aid (NLA), which represents LACs in Australia, ‘welcomed’ the additional funding for legal assistance to support family law system reforms. NLA noted that some of the funding in the Budget would allow LACs to represent clients through a new case management pathway. NLA also noted its support for the extension of the Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties Scheme which will ensure that it can continue to deliver this ‘vital service’.

This broad support for the Budget measures relating to LACs is also reflected in media releases from the Legal Services Commission South Australia, Victoria Legal Aid, Tasmania Legal Aid and Legal Aid New South Wales.

Women’s Legal Services Victoria noted that the Budget ‘fails to provide further investment in the specialist legal assistance women need when recovering from family violence, so they can get legal help to rebuild their lives.’

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia noted that it was ‘pleased’ that the legal aid commissions have received funding that will allow them to assist the Court with important family law and violence initiatives as well as helping ‘support the most vulnerable litigants in the family law system’. The Australian law firm, Lander & Rogers (L&R) supported the increased funding for legal aid commissions in the Budget noting that:

Increased funding may assist to ensure a greater number of litigants, especially self-represented litigants, have access to representation, resulting in a more efficient use of court resources.

While supporting the Budget funding to community legal centres in assisting women to obtain legal advice, L&R noted that it remains to be seen whether the additional funding will reduce family violence and its impact and whether it will ease the ‘heavy case load’ before the courts.

 


[1].        This figure is derived from the sum of National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) payments ($506.7 million) (Budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, 92), AGD direct funding ($37.1 million) (Portfolio budget statements 2022–23: budget related paper no. 1.2 Attorney-General’s portfolio, 20), additional resourcing for legal aid commissions ($8.3 million) (Budget paper no. 2, 59), and additional legal aid resourcing due to the Flood Package ($4.1 million) (Budget paper no. 3, 92). This figure does not include funding for the Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties scheme as there is some uncertainty as to the exact amount to be delivered in the Cross-Examination Scheme in 2022–23.

[2].        Funding for LACs, ATSILS, CLCs, and DVUs/HJPs.

[3].        This includes funding for state and territory legal assistance administration, the Family Advocacy and Support Service (FASS), increased legal assistance funding for vulnerable women, legal assistance family law pilot program, supporting increased child sexual abuse prosecutions, supporting people with mental health conditions access the justice system, Justice Policy Partnership, and coronial inquiries and expensive and complex cases.

[4].        For consistency, figures for 1994–1995 to 2007–2008 were drawn from the relevant Portfolio budget statements: see, for example, Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 1995–1996: budget related paper no. 4.1: Attorney-General's portfolio, 75. The figures for 2008–09 to 2014–15 were drawn from the respective Final Budget Outcome papers: see, for example, Australian Government, Final budget outcome 2014–2015, 2015, 77. Figures from 2015–16 to 2019–20 were drawn from Council Of Australian Governments (COAG), National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services, [2016], as varied 28 June 2017, 10–12 and calculated on the basis of the funding allocated for legal aid commissions only. Figures from 2020–21 to 2024–25 were drawn from: National Legal Assistance Partnership, 13, Budget paper no. 3: 2020–21, 69, Budget paper no. 3: 2021–22, 86, Budget paper no. 3: 2022–23, p. 92 (including funding for the Family Advocacy and Support Service program from 2021–22) and calculated on the basis of the funding allocated for legal aid commissions only. Other sources provide figures that can differ substantially, see: J Murphy, ‘Legal aid and legal assistance services’, Budget review 2013–14, Research paper, 3, 2012–13, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, May 2013, 61.

[5].        Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2017–18: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 19; Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2018–19: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio , 17; Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2019–20: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio , 24; Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2020–21: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio , 25; Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio , 25; Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no. 1.2 Attorney-General’s Portfolio, 20.

[6].        Portfolio budget statements 2017–18: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 19; Portfolio budget statements 2018–19: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 17; Portfolio budget statements 2019–20: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 24–25; Portfolio budget statements 2020–21: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25–26, Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25–26, Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General’s Portfolio, 20.

[7].        For consistency, figures for 2005–2006 to 2015–16 were drawn from the respective final budget outcome papers. See, for example: Australian Government, Final budget outcome 2014–2015, September 2015, 77. Figures from 2016–17 to 2019–20 were drawn from COAG, National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services, [2016], as varied 28 June 2017, 10–12 and the relevant portfolio budget papers and calculated by combining the spending on CLCs contained in the NPALAS and portfolio budget paper. See, for example: Portfolio budget statements 2018–19: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 17. Figures from 2020–21 to 2025–26 were drawn from Attorney-General's Department (AGD), National Legal Assistance Partnership, [2020], 13; Budget Paper No. 3: 2021–22 , 86, Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25 and Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no 1.2 Attorney General’s Portfolio, 21 and calculated on the basis of the funding allocated for ‘Community Legal Services Program’, and CLC-specific funding in the NLAP.

[8].        G Brandis (Attorney-General), Turnbull Government funds new domestic violence units, media release, 16 October 2017.

[9].        Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2021–22, 84, Women’s budget statement 2021–22, 25.

[10].      Budget paper no. 3, 92.

[11].      Federal Financial Relations: Budget Paper No. 3: 2021–22, 90.

[12].      Portfolio additional estimates statements 2018–19: Attorney-General’s portfolio, 24 and 27.

[13].      Women’s Economic Security Package, November 2018.

[14].      DVUs and HJPs are described as a subset of entities eligible for SFLVS funding in previous budget papers, see Portfolio additional estimates statements 2018–19: Attorney-General’s portfolio, 27 and Portfolio budget statements 2019–20: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, 26.

[15].      Portfolio additional estimates statements 2018-19 Attorney-General’s Portfolio, 24, Portfolio budget statements 2019–20: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 24-25; Portfolio budget statements 2020–21: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25-26, Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio,25-26, Portfolio budget statements 2022-23: budget related paper no 1.2 Attorney General’s Portfolio, 21.

[16].      The specified circumstances include either party being charged with or convicted of an offence involving violence or the threat of violence to the other party, or a family violence order (other than an interim order) applying to the parties—see Division 4 of Part XI of the Family Law Act 1975.

[17].      Portfolio budget statements 2019–20: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, 25–26; Portfolio budget statements 2020–21: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's portfolio, 27, 29; National Legal Assistance Partnership, 13; Federal financial relations: budget Paper No. 3: 2020–21, 69.

[18].      Portfolio budget statements 2017–18: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio , 20; Portfolio budget statements 2018–19: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 19; Portfolio budget statements 2019–20: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25; Portfolio budget statements 2020–21: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25; Portfolio budget statements 2021–22: budget related paper no. 1.2: Attorney-General's Portfolio, 25; National Legal Assistance Partnership, 13; Budget Paper No. 3: 2020–21, 69. Budget Paper No. 3: 2021–22, 86, Budget Paper No 3. 2022-23, 92.

 

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