Federal budget shuts out Australia’s most vulnerable

“Every time a budget passes without adequate legal aid funding, Australians are told their access to justice can wait. It cannot,” LCA’s president, Tania Wolff, said in a statement to media.

“The rule of law means nothing if we cannot keep a child safe in the justice system. It is long past time the government funded these services as the essential infrastructure they are.”

From July, NSW Legal Aid will be forced to turn away anyone seeking help with parenting, property or enforcement proceedings unless they are a victim of domestic and family violence or Aboriginal.

In just weeks, vulnerable older people, people with a disability, those who do not speak English, and others struggling without access to critical legal services will have their options cut short, Wolff warned.

Independent Children’s Lawyers (ICLs) were also overlooked despite being critical in having children’s voices heard in family law courts.

Wolff told Lawyers Weekly the ICL workforce was at “breaking point” as the lack of funding – paired with hours of extensive work and large volumes of material – drives private practitioners away.

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“The profession has been striving to assist for many years, but it cannot run on empty,” Wolff said.

“Members of the profession delivering legal aid are having to walk away from the system. The legal aid burden has far too long sat on the shoulders of local practitioners dedicated to helping their community, who are being paid a pittance for their efforts.

“This is not sustainable, and it is not acceptable.”

Community Legal Centres Australia (CLCA) said over 400 victim-survivors of domestic and family violence are turned away each day.

With over 80 per cent of family law matters involving family violence, many victim-survivors are facing the system without the community legal help they need, particularly in regional and remote areas.

CLCA, the national peak body representing 160 community-based legal assistance providers, said it has been calling for urgent targeted investment of $15.8 million in regional and remote communities to assist family violence and family law services.

The fuel crisis has also forced community legal centres to “make impossible decisions” about how often and how far they can drive to reach people who need their help to stay safe.

Prior to the budget, CLCA said it called for an $11.9 million investment to offset the rising cost of fuel for justice centres.

“Economic hard times drive higher rates of family violence and other legal problems. Community legal centres have begun seeing spikes in domestic violence, in acute financial stress, and in other flow-on legal problems,” the CLCA said in a statement.

“This is likely to increase further in coming months. More people will need our support, right when we have less capacity to help.”

The federal government set aside $74.2 million over four years for the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia in relation to the protection visa system.

Just under $4 million will establish a pre-filing duty lawyer plot, $14.7 million over two years will extend supplementary funding for the NDIS Appeals program administered by legal aid commissions, and $10.8 million will go to the Australian Law Reform Commission.

For the first six months of 2026–27, legal aid commissions will continue the Family Violence and Cross Examination of Parties Scheme with an investment of $11.7 million.

Wolff said these measures do not address the structural funding crisis facing legal assistance services across Australia.

“People being able to get legal help when they need it is not a privilege. This is essential public infrastructure that should be available to every person in the same way as health and education,” she said.

“For many Australians already doing it tough, legal remedy may be their last hope when something goes terribly wrong. Yet when they turn to the justice system for help, they find a closed door.”