Legal aid DV funding call ahead of meeting of Attorneys-General

The Federal and State-Territory Attorneys-General are meeting on Tuesday to agree to the allocation of the $3.9 billion investment in legal assistance announced at the National Cabinet meeting on domestic violence a few weeks ago.

Legal Aid Commissions across Australia are calling on the Attorneys-General to prioritise the impact legal assistance can make for victim-survivors of gender-based violence by allocating funding that will allow more women and children to access legal representation in the Family Court.

Legal Aid Commissions are a critical frontline service providing over 32,000 family law grants of aid and over 14,000 domestic and family violence duty lawyer services nationally each year. They also provide over 6,000 grants of aid so that lawyers can independently represent the views and needs of children in the family law court.

In NSW alone, Legal Aid has seen a 61 per cent increase in duty lawyer services provided by the Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) and a 36 per cent increase in calls to its DVU hotline, with 60 women waiting to be called on any given day.

And, whilst it is early days in monitoring the implementation of the changed Family Law Act which started in May 2024, Legal Aid Commissions are seeing an increased demand following the changes, particularly for lawyers representing children. In NSW, early estimates indicate an increase of almost 50%.

National Legal Aid A/Executive Director Aleasha Kelly said that increased legal aid funding was essential in the face of increased demand.

“We welcome the $3.9 billion commitment to the legal assistance sector and are hoping that this will assist us in better meeting the legal representation needs of victim-survivors of gender-based violence.

The crisis in funding for legal assistance services means that Legal Aid Commissions have to turn some people away because these Commissions can only work with the most disadvantaged people in Australia,” said Ms Kelly.

“We are hopeful that the increased funding will allow us to expand our reach in providing critical Family Law legal representation, including for children.”

“We whole-heartedly support the recent changes to the Family Law Act, but need resourcing to help makes sure these changes support those most in need.”