Inquiry into Access to Justice
Information about the Inquiry
On 19 March 2009 the Senate referred the following matters to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for inquiry and report.
The Senate has withdrawn the terms of reference for the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee's former inquiry into the judicial system and access to justice. In place of that inquiry, the Senate has referred two separate inquiries: one into Australia's judicial system and the role of judges; and the other into access to justice.
The terms of reference for the new inquiry into access to justice require the committee to have particular reference to:
(a) the ability of people to access legal representation;
(b) the adequacy of legal aid;
(c) the cost of delivering justice;
(d) measures to reduce the length and complexity of litigation and improve efficiency;
(e) alternative means of delivering justice;
(f) the adequacy of funding and resource arrangements for community legal centres; and
(g) the ability of Indigenous people to access justice.
Submissions should be received by 31 July 2009. The reporting date is 19 November 2009. On 17 November 2009,the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 26 November 2009.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3560 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5794 or by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia