Family Violence Legal Service Aboriginal Corporation

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (15:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing questions to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs about the Family Violence Legal Service Aboriginal Corporation of South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: There was a news piece recently published in TheAdvertiser with the subheadline, 'Legal service in crisis'. The content of the story refers to the large number of Aboriginal families seeking assistance and the greater demand on the service. My questions to the minister are:

1. What steps has he been taking to ensure that Aboriginal families requiring legal services are actually receiving a service and not being turned away?

2. Can the minister detail the current and projected funding arrangements for this service in light of growing demand?

3. What strategies are in place, particularly for regional areas, and what discussions has he had with his federal counterpart?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:22): I thank the honourable member for her question in relation to the Aboriginal family violence legal service. In the last few months, I have had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to visit the offices of that particular organisation, both in Port Lincoln and Port Augusta, where I could see firsthand some of the work they do, particularly with Aboriginal women in communities in the Upper Spencer Gulf and Eyre Peninsula.

I know that the federal government has engaged in the review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) funding agreement. I think it's a five-year funding agreement that is due to expire in the middle of next year, and there has been a very significant review into funding of legal assistance at community legal centres, the vast majority of which are, if not mostly, fully funded by the commonwealth government. Similarly, too, when concerns have been raised, on occasion, about some specific areas of funding for the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement SA, I have passed them on to the federal Attorney-General, who is responsible in these areas.