Legislative Council: Tuesday, April 09, 2024

Contents

Family Violence Legal Service Aboriginal Corporation

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (15:23): Supplementary question arising from the answer: is the minister concerned that clients are being turned away because of increased demand?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:23): I thank the honourable member for her question. Certainly, in a whole range of areas of community legal services and the provision of legal aid, there are challenges. As I have said, that stems from not just the quantum of funding but the mix of funding from the commonwealth government. Where there are challenges, I know that the commonwealth government has, on occasion, stepped in to help. There have been demand mitigation strategies that community legal centres have been able to put in place. We would like to see as much as possible funded by the commonwealth for South Australians in the community legal sector.