Legal aid DV funding call ahead of National Cabinet

Ahead of a National Cabinet meeting on domestic violence on Friday, Legal Aid Commissions across Australia are calling on the government to urgently provide $317 million in additional funding annually to address the domestic violence crisis and stop women being turned away from their services. 

Legal Aid Commissions are a critical frontline service providing over 32,000 family law grants of aid and over 14,000 domestic and family violence duty lawyer services nationally each year.  nationa

National Legal Aid Executive Director Katherine McKernan said that increased legal aid funding was essential because only 8 per cent of Australians are eligible for legal aid.  

“The crisis in funding for legal assistance services means that Legal Aid Commissions have to turn some people away because these Commissions can only work with the most disadvantage people in Australia,” said Ms McKernan.  

“We urge the government to provide critical additional legal aid funding by December, under a new National Legal Assistance Partnership Agreement, to ensure domestic violence victims never have to be turned away.”  

National Legal Aid is concerned that the limited funding for family law services means the sector is unable to meet current demand and that this could put women at risk. Due to restrictions on legal assistance eligibility, some women have been turned away. 

In NSW alone, Legal Aid has seen a 61 per cent increase in duty lawyer services provided by the Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) and a 36 per cent increase in calls to its DVU hotline, with 60 women waiting to be called on any given day.  

Melanie Alexander, a Legal Aid NSW Domestic Violence Unit senior solicitor, said she is seeing a clear increase in demand for services. 

“As a duty solicitor, on any given day I see between six to 10 clients, and most of these women present with a real risk of them, or their children, being harmed,” she said.  

“The volume of clients accessing our service continues to increase on a daily basis. I have noticed women presenting with more and more complex issues – often requiring help with an ADVO, as well as housing, debt and parenting issues.  They need more of our time.” 

Case study 

One single mother who had no family support in Australia was experiencing homelessness and domestic violence.  She was denied legal aid because her partner owned a property, which was solely in his name, however, is still considered to be partially her asset under eligibility criteria. This meant she failed the assets test, despite not having any assets in her name. This is an example of women and children with high needs missing out on legal representation due to funding limitations. 

Katherine McKernan is available for comment.  

Media contact | Katherine McKernan | katherine.mckernan@legalaid.nsw.gov.au| 0425 288 446