Legal aid groups welcome funding flip

Attorney-General George Brandis has defended the government's backflip to cut legal aid funding. Source: AAP

LEGAL aid groups have welcomed the government's about-face on plans to slash $25.5 million from legal aid commissions, community legal centres and indigenous legal providers.

THAT was also good news for Liberal MP Sharman Stone who said after much worry and concern, the funding would continue.

After complaints from states, territories and legal groups about the impact of the legal aid funding reduction on domestic violence victims and indigenous Australians, the government on Thursday announced it would revive a two-year funding commitment.Attorney-General George Brandis initially justified this funding reduction as a contribution to efforts to rein in the budget "train wreck" left by Labor.However, he's happy the cuts are being reversed, describing it as a more nuanced approach to the budget problem.While the government was determined to exercise fiscal discipline, it also wanted to look after the most vulnerable people in the community."Those are not inconsistent objectives," he told reporters in Canberra.National Legal Aid, the peak legal aid body, welcomed reinstatement of this funding but said it still only went part of the way to addressing the high level of unmet need for legal aid services.NLA chairwoman Gabrielle Canny said legal aid commissions were at the forefront of efforts to help victims of family and domestic violence."More than two-thirds of work done by the legal assistance sector for women and children is provided by legal aid commissions," she said."But they need to be better resourced to deliver adequate services for vulnerable women and children."Dr Stone said community centres delivered free legal advice to people with a range of issues."Most importantly these centres help people who have experienced domestic violence, family law issues, bankruptcy, defamation, discrimination, employment problems and a number of other issues," she said in a statement.

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