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QLD, NSW lawyers remain concerned about government funding
The respective law societies of Queensland and NSW are both welcoming various funding initiatives for the justice system but remain perturbed about a lack of funding for the courts and judicial resourcing in each of their state government budgets.
Jerome Doraisamy
Queensland Law Society noted its approval for numerous pledges in the Queensland 2018–19 state budget, such as the $8.1 million extension of specialist domestic and family violence (DFV) courts, funding to clear criminal prosecution backlogs and youth justice programs.
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The QLD government had delivered funding to a wide range of important justice issues, QLS president Ken Taylor said, for example additional policing and prosecution.
But an absence of increased judicial resourcing means an exacerbation of the bottleneck in processing matters through the courts and housing accused criminals refused bail pending completion of their matters, he warned.
“QLS thinks the government should be praised for its diverse feast of funding to essential justice programs and initiatives such as DFV courts in North Queensland, 30 staff to clear criminal case increases brought about by additional police funding and juvenile justice reforms [$5 million],” he said.
“However, the Society has campaigned hard for more to be done by both state and federal governments to ensure other programs and reforms including fast and fair access to justice for all Queenslanders.”
Elsewhere, The Law Society of NSW remains concerned about a lack of funding for the courts and Legal Aid.
It welcomed the commitment of an additional $12 million for community legal centres and $7 million for civil justice initiatives over the next four years, but president Doug Humphries said there were ongoing inadequacies in the resources allocated to the courts.
“More money for policing could add to existing delays and backlogs that are already hampering access to justice,” he said.
“The courts must be sufficiently staffed and resourced to work effectively and to enable litigants to resolve disputes.”
While Mr Humphries acknowledged that extra funding for CLCs should enable more vulnerable people to access advice and support, he noted funding for Legal Aid NSW must also be a priority to ensure disadvantaged persons can access justice.
“Without a substantial increase in the funding for Legal Aid NSW, including for private practitioners who fill a gap in work that core legal assistance services cannot provide, we can expect the overall cost of the justice system to increase," he explained.
Mr Humphries also supported the expansion of the Youth Koori Court, and suggested that the establishment of an Indigenous sentencing court could also keep more ATSI offenders out of custody and in community-based programs.
“This could ultimately result in significant cost savings for the justice sector,” he mused.
“We trust these gaps in funding will be addressed in the forthcoming NSW budget.”
