Wednesday, 19 June 2024
The NSW Government has failed to increase funding for Community Legal Centres in the NSW Budget, handed down on 18 June. With a small increase in May’s Federal Budget, Community Legal Centres NSW hoped this would be matched in the NSW Budget.
Community Legal Centres are in the midst of a workforce crisis, driven by low wages and increased demand for services. Recruiting and retaining staff is difficult, and frontline workers are suffering high rates of vicarious trauma and burnout.
"Community Legal Centres are very anxious to know what support they are getting from governments, to determine whether they will need to scale back services in the coming year,” said Sarah Marland, Executive Director of peak body Community Legal Centres NSW. "There is important funding for social housing in this budget, but we are concerned that legal services will suffer, especially for matters related to domestic and family violence, family law and child protection.”
Community Legal Centres have been left out of investment in frontline services working to address domestic and family violence in the state. Community Legal Centres NSW welcomes the much-needed boost to funding for services for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, but are alarmed that we have not been included in the funding boost when 80 percent of Community Legal Centres in NSW provide frontline domestic violence legal services, and demand is increasing.
North and North West Community Legal Service in Armidale in rural New South Wales is seeing the highest recorded incidence of domestic and family violence in their almost 30 years of operation. In the past 12 months, their legal service has seen a 42 percent increase in demand.
At the same time, the centre’s baseline funding has been stagnant. It is referring and turning away close to 500 clients each year due to insufficient funding. The centre is also facing the end of funding for its Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence services this month. If this happens, turn-aways will increase significantly again.
Coordinator of North and North West Community Legal Service, Sandy Steele, said, “rural communities are hurting, and without sufficient funding from government for the North and North West Community Legal Service and other regional, rural and remote centres, our community must assume that we are not a priority.”
The Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains Community Legal Centre is also facing a critical funding shortfall that threatens their ability to continue their vital work supporting people seeking safety and justice.
CEO of Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains Community Legal Centre, Arlia Fleming, said “we already have a consistent three-week wait list, without access to our services, victim-survivors may be forced to remain in unsafe environments. Without early intervention and support, the long-term social and economic costs of domestic and family violence will continue to escalate.”
While Community Legal Centres didn’t receive a boost in funding, Legal Aid received an additional $30 million, plus $125 million for private solicitors to provide legal services, particularly in regional areas. In some regions Community Legal Centres are better placed to provide these services as they are already established in these areas, have a trauma-informed approach, and many have expertise in remote service delivery. While we acknowledge that the whole legal assistance sector needs more money to meet demand, any increase should be distributed across all legal assistance providers.
Sarah Marland, Executive Director of Community Legal Centres NSW, said “Community Legal Centres are a key pillar of the legal assistance sector, improving access to justice so all people in the community can live well. It’s extremely disappointing that centres have not received the funding they need in this budget.”
Community Legal Centres NSW will continue work with all legal assistance providers and the government to ensure the most efficient and effective delivery of services to those who need them most. The forthcoming National Legal Assistance Partnership Agreement between federal and state governments is due to be agreed by the end of the year, and will direct payments to Community Legal Centres and the rest of the legal assistance sector.
“Without funding from this NSW Budget, the sector is left with only 12 months of funding. The new NLAP agreement will now be absolutely critical to the wellbeing of Community Legal Centres and ultimately the people they support,” said Sarah Marland.
For Editors: For editors: Community Legal Centres NSW is the peak body for 41 Community Legal Centres across NSW. CLCs collectively have deliver over 185,000 frontline legal services to 54,000 people in New South Wales every year.
Media contact:
Indre McGlinn
Media and Communications Manager
indre@clcnsw.org.au
0434 462 229