Community Legal Centres NSW made a submission to the NSW wellbeing inquiry at the end of August. We support the development of a wellbeing framework to guide government budgeting and prioritise wellbeing in policymaking, particularly for marginalised and disadvantaged communities.
It is essential that both expenditure and law reform consider the impacts on social and economic wellbeing, including increased demand for services like legal assistance. Equitable access to legal services is a human right, and there is an urgent need for regular mapping of unmet legal needs in NSW, as highlighted in the Mundy review.
The framework should include indicators such as geographic coverage of legal services, timely dispute resolution at NCAT, and metrics on housing stability, evictions, and rental stress. Additionally, data should be disaggregated to reflect the wellbeing of disadvantaged groups, and robust monitoring of institutional safety and abuse prevention should be prioritised.
Progress on the Priority Reforms under the Closing the Gap Agreement must be transparently measured to ensure accountability to First Nations communities.
Read our full submission here.