- Poor miss out on justice: ACOSS
- The Age
- 12/11/2003 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 75 articles in 2003 )
A 20 per cent funding cut to legal aid over the past seven years has disadvantaged the poor and underprivileged, Australia's peak social service body said today.
In a submission to the federal senate inquiry into legal aid, meeting in Melbourne today, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) said $99 million was needed to restore funding lost to legal aid since 1996.
ACOSS president Andrew McCallum said Australia's low-income earners were not receiving proper justice.
"Justice is being provided upon the basis of economic status," he said.
"Low-income Australians are not getting the legal advice they need to obtain proper justice or navigate their way through life's complexities - from divorce, to renting, to consumer credit issues.
"More and more people are being forced to represent themselves which can lead to a worse outcome for them, such as a jail sentence, which with proper representation might have been avoided."
Mr McCallum said the federal government's strict requirement that its legal aid funding only be used for matters of Commonwealth law further eroded the system.
"It has created terrible confusion and difficulties for people whose cases cross jurisdictions," he said.
The senate inquiry is considering the impact of current arrangements on access to justice in regional areas, on community legal services and on levels of self-representation.
In a submission to the federal senate inquiry into legal aid, meeting in Melbourne today, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) said $99 million was needed to restore funding lost to legal aid since 1996.
ACOSS president Andrew McCallum said Australia's low-income earners were not receiving proper justice.
"Justice is being provided upon the basis of economic status," he said.
"Low-income Australians are not getting the legal advice they need to obtain proper justice or navigate their way through life's complexities - from divorce, to renting, to consumer credit issues.
"More and more people are being forced to represent themselves which can lead to a worse outcome for them, such as a jail sentence, which with proper representation might have been avoided."
Mr McCallum said the federal government's strict requirement that its legal aid funding only be used for matters of Commonwealth law further eroded the system.
"It has created terrible confusion and difficulties for people whose cases cross jurisdictions," he said.
The senate inquiry is considering the impact of current arrangements on access to justice in regional areas, on community legal services and on levels of self-representation.
1Will not be visible to public.
2Receive notification of other comments posted for this article. To cease notification after having posted click here.
3To make a link clickable in the comments box enclose in link tags - ie.<link>Link</link>.
4To show an image enclose the image URL in tags - ie.<image>https://fredspage.com/box.jpg</image>. Note: image may be resized if too large
To further have your say, head to our forum Click Here
To contribute a news article Click Here
To view or contribute a Quote Click Here