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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-03-06 Daily Xml
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National Access to Justice Partnership

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:46): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will he inform the council about the signing of the new National Access to Justice Partnership?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:46): I would be most pleased to do so, and I thank the honourable member for his question. It is a basic tenet of our justice system that individuals should have access to justice, regardless of their financial means or knowledge of the law. For the past five years funding for legal assistance has been funded through the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-25, an agreement between the commonwealth and states and territories.

Funding is provided by both the commonwealth and the state and territory governments. Legal aid commissions, such as South Australia's Legal Services Commission, are predominantly funded by states, whereas other legal services are predominantly funded by the commonwealth. This agreement has seen significant legal services delivered in this state, but we know that more investment is needed. This has been made clear, not only by legal services and their clients but also by an independent review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership undertaken by Dr Warren Mundy.

I am pleased to inform the council that the new National Access to Justice Partnership, taking effect from 1 July this year, delivers an additional $800 million in funding for legal services across the country. In South Australia more than $300 million is being invested across the life of the agreement. This funding also acknowledges a number of important priorities for targeted investment.

In September 2024, national cabinet signed a heads of agreement for the new agreement, committing to the $800 million funding increase and identifying a particular focus on supporting legal services responding to gender-based violence. The new National Access to Justice Partnership includes specific funding and allocations for community legal centres, women's legal services, family violence prevention legal services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services and legal aid commissions.

I acknowledge the strong commitment of the Prime Minister and the commonwealth Attorney-General to ensuring access for justice in Australia. I was proud to be able to sign the initial agreement on behalf of South Australia at the end of last year and, more recently, the final agreement. I also acknowledge the enormous work of legal practitioners across the state in delivering legal services for South Australians every single day.

I have spoken many times in this place about their work, whether it is the Legal Services Commission staff in Whyalla (supporting businesses right now), the Community Legal Centre staff in the Riverland during the River Murray flood event in 2022-23, and the many and varied staff working in this sector right across the state. I can report that we will continue to work hard to finalise the agreements that sit under this new plan during the course of this year, and I look forward to the ongoing work of our legal assistance sector over the years during the course of this agreement.

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