Last Thursday evening, members of the legal profession, judiciary, government, not for profit organisations and community gathered in the Strangers Dining Room at NSW Parliament House to mark a significant moment in the provision of legal aid services in New South Wales – the 40^th anniversary of NSW Legal Aid.

In the four decades since Legal Aid was first established as the Legal Services Commission it has grown to one of the country’s biggest law practices – with 24 offices across NSW and more than 1,000 staff providing criminal, family and civil law assistance, as well as non-legal services, particularly in relation to domestic and family violence.

As Attorney General Mark Speakman acknowledged in his speech at the 40^th anniversary event, Legal Aid’s invaluable work is made possible by the long-standing partnerships it has built over many years with the Aboriginal Legal Service, the NSW Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Program (now known as Women’s Safety NSW), the state’s Community Legal Centres, LawAccess and private practitioners.

Partnerships which have ensured access to justice for tens of thousands of women, children and men every year: people at the lowest end of the poverty threshold, who are struggling to deal with family violence, mental health issues, criminal and debt matters and more recently, farmers and members of our rural communities impacted by the drought.

However, the caseload for legal assistance in NSW is such that for many years, NSW Legal Aid has relied heavily on private practitioners to serve the client base. Private practitioners now undertake 70 per cent of legally aided matters and in regional areas, that figure jumps to 80 per cent. For more than a decade, the current rates and fee structures have not adequately reflected the time, effort and often long distances travelled to undertake legal aid matters. Many have been working unpaid hours to keep the system going.

The dedication and professionalism of private and in-house solicitors and their commitment to ensuring access to justice have been at the forefront of our ongoing dialogue with the Attorney General about the need to provide substantial funding increases for legal aid. It was one of the key priorities outlined in our State Election Platform and has been championed by Presidents before me.

Which is why the Attorney General’s commitment of an additional $88 million in legal aid funding over the next four years, announced at the 40-year celebrations for Legal Aid NSW, is a step in the right direction. The package will fund structural changes to pre-trial payments and hourly rates including an increase in travel allowances for practitioners driving long distances to court in regional areas. While the funding is welcomed, it will only go some way to easing the demands on the system and we join the Attorney General in calling on the Federal Government to match these funding increases. In the meantime, we look forward to working with the NSW Government to ensure the legal aid package benefits those most in need.

Elizabeth Espinosa, Law Society President