Overall, NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said that the investment of $2 billion “will alleviate the stress for victims, their families and other vulnerable people who come into contact with our justice system”.

“The NSW government’s $2 billion investment in our justice system will help modernise and increase access to justice in our state, particularly for those vulnerable members of our community, and support important legal reforms that are making a real difference to the citizens of New South Wales,” he said.

In particular, the NSW government’s $716 million package aimed at Closing the Gap is a significant step toward improving outcomes for Indigenous people, including in the justice system, according to both the Law Society and the NSW Bar Association. 

President of the Law Society of NSW Joanne van der Plaat and president of the NSW Bar Association Gabrielle Bashir SC both welcomed the 2022-23 budget’s $9.9 million investment in a Child and Family Advocacy and Support pilot scheme, $10 million for an Aboriginal Bail Advocacy and Support Service, and $1.1 million to reduce contact with the criminal justice system by children with complex needs. 

“For too long, our First Nations citizens have been over-represented in the care and protection and criminal justice systems. These modest investments represent a long-awaited acknowledgement that there is much work to do to address this inequality,” Ms van der Plaat said.

“Significant funding is needed to address the unacceptably high rates of overrepresentation in the justice system of First Nations persons. This is a step in the right direction,” added Ms Bashir.

The presidents both noted that significant increases in funding for integrity agencies in the budget would help ensure that NSW maintains its reputation for robust responses to corruption in public life. The Law Society also welcomed the continuing roll-out of audio-visual links to 50 courts across the state, with an investment this year of $18 million dollars.

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“The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the importance of technology in keeping the wheels of justice turning,” Ms van der Plaat said.

“The $18 million to be invested next financial year in this ongoing program is just a start on what’s needed to ensure gains made through the pandemic to modernise our legal system are locked in.”

In addition, the budget papers reveal the government has forecast finalisation rates for both the district and local courts to continue declining throughout the next financial year. According to both presidents, whilst the one-year $13.8 million investment for three acting District Court judges will go “some way” towards addressing delays, more needs to be done.

“The Law Society and the Bar Association consider that these acting judge positions should be made a permanent increase to the numbers of District Court judges. It is also clear that the eight extra magistrates appointed as part of the last budget will be insufficient to cope with the backlog that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the continuing massive investments in recruiting new police officers, it would not be surprising if Local and District Court backlogs come under even more pressure” Ms van der Plaat said.

“For every dollar spent on policing, significant investment is also required in downstream justice system and corrections costs. To meet some of that demand, more pre-court diversion would reduce the contact minor offenders – quite often society’s most vulnerable – have with the criminal justice system. Yet the budget is silent on the implementation of the recommendations of the Ice Inquiry.”

Ms Bashir added that “by failing to endorse the inquiry’s evidence-based, expert-informed recommendations and properly fund drug assessment and treatment services, the NSW government is condemning vulnerable persons to a criminal justice response that we know does not work”. 

“It has been more than two years since the inquiry, which reportedly cost $10.85 million of public money, released its findings. Despite repeated calls for action by the NSW Bar Association and the NSW Law Society, the inquiry’s commissioner Professor Dan Howard SC, addiction medicine specialists and key medical bodies, the government has neither responded fully to the recommendations nor addressed them in this budget,” she said. 

The Law Society and Bar Association also welcomed the $13.4 million investment to expand the Statewide Court and Community Liaison Services to support diversion from the criminal justice system for people with mental health conditions, as well as the injection of $43.6 million to expand the Safer Pathway program to support victim-survivors of domestic and family violence and $98.7 million to continue and expand the number of Aboriginal Child and Family Centres, and other moves to enhance self-determination in the provision of First Nation community-controlled services.