Federal budget fails First Nations justice

Aboriginal legal services around the country are suspending services after a much-needed funding package was not included in last week’s federal budget.

Aboriginal legal services in NSW and Queensland will stop providing services in a number of regions due to a lack of funding.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) had asked the federal Labor government for a $250 million support package to help it maintain current levels of services around the country.

After receiving a funding boost of $13.5 million in last year’s October budget - equating to about 5% of its funding request - the legal services did not receive any extra support in last week’s budget.

Due to this, Aboriginal Legal Services NSW has ceased offering criminal law services for adults in children across 13 local courts in the state, including Junee, Lithgow and Forster.

In Queensland, the ALS also has multiple temporary service suspensions in place due to funding issues.

“This budget has let down Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities who are crying out for legal support,” NATSILS chair Karly Warner says.

“We’ve been really clear with the government that service freezes and suspensions can only be avoided or reversed with emergency funding. It seems that access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is not a priority for the government in the federal budget.”

The lack of culturally appropriate legal services in these regional locations could be devastating, Warner says.

“There is no point sugar-coating this situation - it could result in far worse outcomes for our clients and communities,” she says.

“We know that when culturally safe legal support isn’t available, the result is more unjust incarceration, more families torn apart, more intergenerational trauma.

“I hate to say it, but there may be more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody.”

The $250 million requested by the First Nations legal services pales in comparison to some of the other spends by the Labor government.

The support needed to keep the Aboriginal legal services running at current capacity equates to just over 1% of the $20.4 billion the Stage 3 tax cuts are expected to cost in just one year.

The package needed is less than 0.1% of the minimum cost of the AUKUS submarines, and is about 15% of the government’s spending on offshore processing over the forward estimates.

NATSILS and the state-based legal services will continue to advocate for further support from the federal government and the states and territories.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to support our communities through this challenging time,” Warner says.

“We will continue to advocate for the needs of our communities right around the country. This is something we won’t give up on.”