Critical funding for Aboriginal legal services

The Queensland Government has announced new funding for community-based legal centres and assistance programs across the State, after Labor left frontline services at risk with a budget blackhole.

The funding will support and renew a range of frontline services across the State under the Legal Assistance Services Program, including:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service
• Aboriginal Family Legal Services Queensland
• First Nations Women’s Legal Service Qld Inc
• Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service

More than $666 million in State and Commonwealth funding has been allocated to 30 organisations providing legal assistance to some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged around the State, including victims of domestic and family violence, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and rural communities.

The Queensland-wide funding will be allocated over five years and comes after the Government announced a dedicated uplift for the legal assistance sector of $142 million, bringing total State funding to approximately $1 billion.

This allowed the State to access a further $827 million in Commonwealth funding under the National Access to Justice Partnership.

“Community Legal Centres Queensland welcomes this historic investment into community legal centres by the State and Commonwealth governments,” Director of Community Legal Centres Queensland, Rosslyn Monro said.

“This investment provides these community legal centres with funding security for the next five years and the funding uplift means centres are facing a more sustainable future.”