The Age 23 September 2014

Relax harsh aid rules

Victoria Legal Aid's annual report tabled last week revealed a surprising turnaround from a deficit of $9.3 million
last year to a surplus of $16.1 million this year. It is surprising because demand for legal aid services has never
been higher, as a result of increased police activity and government changes to sentencing laws. Yet VLA funded
6 per cent fewer clients last year, largely by refusing to fund legal representation for most people appearing on
criminal charges in the Magistrates Court.
Case-related payments to private lawyers, barristers, medical experts and interpreters fell by 20 per cent, despite
extra state and federal government income last year. Legal Aid provides legal representation to those who most
need it and we have worked closely with it to ensure ever-increasing efficiencies.
The courts rely on lawyers to represent vulnerable young people, non-English speakers and others facing
charges such as driving offences, theft and breach of family violence orders. Phone advice or a stretched duty
lawyer service is no substitute. Legal Aid has a statutory obligation to ensure proper financial management,
which we have strongly supported, and should balance its books.
However, we consider that its self-evident over-correction in spending and the failure to foresee an expected
surplus has resulted in many needy Victorians being unrepresented before the courts, where their rights and in
some cases liberty are at risk. In light of this surplus, VLA must immediately relax its harsh eligibility guidelines
for Magistrates Court matters.
Geoff Bowyer, president, Law Institute of Victoria