Dr WOODRUFF – Attorney-General, we can all agree that access to justice is critical for justice to be done fairly and in the manner in which we want the justice system to perform. The Commonwealth Budget has recently allocated $44.1 million, an announcement by the Treasurer, to provide an immediate funding boost to the legal assistance sector. Can you tell me how much of that $44.1 million is coming to us, and when the payments will flow?
Mr BARNETT – Thank you very much. It’s a really good question and it’s at the forefront of my mind, and the mind of my department and the government, because we want our fair share in Tasmania. You are right, that agreement has been announced at a federal level, but in terms of the rollout to Tasmania and the various jurisdictions, that’s to be worked through, you would say. I will ask my acting secretary to speak to that, because it is a very important matter.
Ms BOURNE – Thanks, Attorney-General. As has been noted, I think the announcement around the commitment to ongoing funding from the Commonwealth to the sector has been very much welcomed. Importantly, it also includes statements around ensuring pay parity for workers, particularly from community legal centres, to make sure that they better align with the remainder of the sector and other legal practitioners in the market. Also to make sure that the salaries of those professionals are in line with wage cost inflation. That detail regarding the particular allocation for Tasmanian services is still to be worked through, as the Attorney-General has noted. Ms van Adrichem –
Dr WOODRUFF – Sorry, what does that mean?
Ms BOURNE – We have the public announcement from the Commonwealth coming out of National Cabinet around the overall quantum. There’s a breakdown that’s been provided for the country wide per sector. So, legal aid commissions, community legal centres, ATSILS – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services – and women’s services. However, states and territories are yet to receive a breakdown, as I understand it, of explicit funding. Through you, Attorney-General, Ms van Adrichem can elaborate on that.
Ms van ADRICHEM – I may clarify. The agreements that the Attorney-General and Kristy were speaking to as the heads of agreement, and that was announced for the next successor agreement – but I understand your question relates to the bilateral amendment for this financial year. Is that correct?
Dr WOODRUFF – It’s the announcement of the $44.1 million by the federal Treasurer in the Commonwealth Budget. There’s another announcement I was going to ask about, which is an extra $800 million for the legal assistance sector for five years for 2025-26. I also wanted to know what percentage of that is going to be split between the Legal Aid Commission, community legal centres (CLCs) and Aboriginal legal services (ALSs). Could you please separate those two things – what you know and what the split is going to be, and what you know is going to flow to Tasmania. That’s really what we all want to understand.
Ms van ADRICHEM – For this financial year, the additional funding announced by the Commonwealth for a one‑off indexation supplementation, the amount to go to Legal Aid Commission is $319,000; $79,000 to CLCs; $119,000 to ATSILS. That’s $517,000 in total.
The workforce stabilisation contribution for this financial year is specific to community legal centres and ATSILS, which is $231,000 for community legal centres and $373,000 for ATSILS, which is the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service in Tasmania as the provider.
Dr WOODRUFF – That will be money this year that will be going for this budget year, to the CLCs, who will get an extra $231,000, and ATSILS will get an extra $371,000, in addition to what they would already be expecting. Those other buckets of money – the $319,000 to Legal Aid, the $79,000 to CLCs and the – what was the third?
Ms van ADRICHEM – $119,000 for –
Dr WOODRUFF – They’re also coming this financial year?
Ms van ADRICHEM – Yes. That’s part of the additional funding from the Commonwealth for this financial year, which requires an amendment to the existing national legal partnership agreement for that money to be provided to Tasmania to then distribute to legal assistance providers.
Dr WOODRUFF – Okay, and through you, Attorney-General, is it your understanding then, that that split and that amount will continue on with that $44.1 million?
Ms van ADRICHEM – We don’t have the breakdown yet of the Tasmanian allocation under the National Access to Justice Partnership agreement. That’s related to the heads of agreement that was announced through National Cabinet a number of weeks ago. The states and territories and the Commonwealth are still working through what that looks like.
Dr WOODRUFF – Attorney‑General, what do you understand about that Commonwealth funding? How much will the state be contributing – is there going to be a matched amount? What is the contribution from Tasmania to the legal assistance sector – to Legal Aid, the CLCs and ALSs?
Mr BARNETT – First of all, I recognise their service and thank them for it across the board. It’s very important. In terms of the CLCs, Legal Aid, Women’s Legal Service, Aboriginal Legal Service and the like, they provide important access to justice. In terms of the detail, I will pass to the acting secretary.
Ms BOURNE – In terms of state contributions to the sector, the government permanently committed additional funding of $640,000 per year to the sector in the 2021‑22 state budget. That was effectively to provide certainty to baseline funding for the sector following the National Legal Assistance Partnership. That funding has been provided to Legal Aid and CLCs and has been indexed each year. The government also provided an additional $2.2 million commitment over four years from 2021-22 to provide additional funding support to the sector, and the 2023‑24 Budget extended that commitment until 30 June 2026.
As I mentioned, the majority of this funding has been directed to maintain core services for the sector. There’s also the allocation in this year’s Budget to continue the fantastic work from Legal Aid and the Women’s Legal Service to expand the Just Healthy Families program. From time to time, the Solicitor’s Guarantee Fund has been accessed by the sector, which was originally to pilot innovative programs and support the work that they do. Consideration of additional contributions to the sector continues to be considered in the context of the ongoing negotiations with the Commonwealth around the new National Access to Justice Partnership.
