Download legal assistance funding cuts

COST OF
LEGAL ASSISTANCE
FUNDING CUTS
1
$
invested
in legal
aid
$
=
2
invested on
community legal
services
.25
18
$
=
in down-stream
savings to the
community.2
49%
of Australians
experienced
a legal problem
From 1997-2014,
COMMONWEALTH FUNDING OF
LEGAL AID FELL FROM $
.59
while cost of
providing
services
10
8
INCREASED
per capita to
$
IN THE PAST
12-MONTHS:
in efficiency
savings to the
justice system.1
.97
significantly.
22%
of Australians
experienced 3-ormore legal problems
CUTS IN COMMONWEALTH FUNDING
Since January 2014
The Aboriginal Family
Violence Prevention and
Legal Service (FVPLS)
4
MILLION
$
Community Legal
Centres (CLCs)
20
MILLION
$
Legal Aid
22
MILLION
$
TOTAL CUTS =
60
MILLION
$
Aboriginal & Torres
Strait Islander Legal
Service (ATSILS)
OR
TWICE AS LIKELY
to experience legal
problems.3
14
MILLION
$
LEGAL AID IS ONLY GRANTED TO
PEOPLE WHO ARE:
living wellbeneath the
poverty line
People with a disability
and single parents were
likely to receive
a term of
imprisonment
1. PricewaterhouseCoopers (2009), The Economic Value of Legal Aid; 2. Judith Stubbs & Associates (2012), Economic Cost-Benefit Analysis
of Community Legal Centres 2012; 3. NSW Law and Justice Foundation (2012), Legal Australia-Wide Survey 2012.
WHAT IS THE
SOCIAL COST?
SERIOUS IMPACT ON THE
A
DELIVERY OF JUSTICE:
•criminal trials have been stopped
•some complex criminal trials
proceed without proper
representation
IMPACT ON
INDIGENOUS
FAMILY VIOLENCE
LEGAL SERVICES
CUTS TO LEGAL AID,
ATSILS AND FVPLS COMPOUND
FAMILY VIOLENCE PROBLEMS
Indigenous family
violence assault
victims are hospitalised
approximately
30
TIMES
the rates for other
Australians.4
Indigenous females
experience physical or
threatened violence at
2
TIMES
the rate of nonIndigenous females.5
ABORIGINAL VICTIMS OF
FAMILY VIOLENCE COULD
GO WITHOUT DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE LEGAL SUPPORT
as FVPLS must now tender for funding.
DENIAL OF
LEGAL AID IN FAMILY
LAW PROCEEDINGS
HAS LED TO:
• victims being cross examined by abusers
COST OF FAMILY VIOLENCE
15 billion
1.1%
$
p/a, or
of GDP 6
4. Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage - Key Indicators 2014; 5. Productivity Commission, 2014;
6. KPMG, International White Ribbon Conference, 2013.
• children at risk
MAJOR DOWNSTREAM COSTS FOR
UNEMPLOYMENT, MENTAL HEALTH
AND SOCIAL SERVICES.