Supporting the Legal Assistance Sector

A high-performing and well-functioning legal assistance sector is invaluable not only because of the positive impact it can have for an individual, but also because of the broader, public benefits to the community.

The development of this Legal Assistance Strategy has been informed by consultation with the legal assistance sector. It is intended to be a practical, flexible and proactive roadmap to support legal assistance service providers in collectively delivering legal assistance in a way which responds to the needs of Western Australia’s diverse and geographically vast community. More broadly, this Strategy seeks to ensure that people experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage in Western Australia are best able to access appropriate and timely legal assistance irrespective of where they are located in the state.

Whilst the development of this Strategy is a requirement pursuant to the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-2025 (NLAP), this Strategy also seeks go beyond the minimum requirements of the NLAP and in doing so build on the guidance that the NLAP objective and outcomes provide to the legal assistance sector.

The Legal Assistance Action Plan sets out how the Strategy will be implemented, including the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy as a whole to ensure continuous and demonstrable improvement, progress and change.

It is acknowledged that there are a number of socio-economic and systemic barriers to individuals which cannot be overcome simply by the provision of legal assistance. This Strategy also seeks to work in conjunction with other State Government initiatives towards improving access to justice and achieving a fair, just and safe community for all Western Australians.

As part of the ongoing work to estimate the level and nature of legal need in Western Australia, the Department of Justice commissioned the 2022 WA Legal Needs Report and the Legal Needs Service Data Tool. They are the first of their kind in Australia and represent an innovative approach to estimating legal need based on a range of data sources.

The WA Legal Needs Report provides a snapshot of the estimated level and nature of legal need in Western Australia, with reference to geographic regions, Priority Areas of Law and Priority Client Groups. The Legal Needs Service Data Tool synthesises legal assistance service provider data and legal needs indicators, providing an ongoing statistical narrative of legal need in Western Australia and how it is met.

Both the WA Legal Needs Report and the Legal Needs Service Data Tool contribute to a quantitative evidence base which informs service planning and funding decisions, while the Department’s ongoing consultation with the legal assistance sector and other stakeholders about on the ground experiences contributes to the qualitative evidence base.

It is acknowledged that the WA Legal Needs Report and the Legal Needs Service Data Tool do not completely overcome the challenge of identifying and documenting unmet legal need and measuring the statistically obscured population who do not obtain the legal help they need, either because they are not aware of their legal rights, or because there is not appropriate, accessible legal assistance available to them.

It is also acknowledged that the WA Legal Needs Report and the Legal Needs Service Data Tool are both long term projects. As part of the Legal Assistance Strategy (PDF) and Legal Assistance Action Plan (PDF), it is intended that the Legal Needs Service Data Tool and future versions of the Report are updated and refined with current data over time.  An update to the Legal Needs service Data Tool is currently underway, using a co-design approach with the sector to redesign the legal needs analysis methodology, to incorporate updated data, and to include a wider range of data sources to estimate legal need more accurately.

Reports

The Department of Justice, via the Legal Assistance Branch, chairs the Collaborative Services Planning Group (CSPG) and the State Jurisdictional Forum as a requirement of the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-2025.

The CSPG and the State Jurisdictional Forum brings together representatives from Government and leaders of the legal assistance sector to work together to maximise their reach so that services are targeted to areas of greatest need, within available resources. They are also supported by specialist advisory committees and other consultation mechanisms to contribute to the quantitative and qualitative evidence base for legal need and inform collaborative service planning.

As part of the work they undertake, the CSPG and the State Jurisdictional Forum have worked to implement the Legal Assistance Strategy and Legal Assistance Action Plan 2022-2025.

The Legal Assistance Services Commissioning Strategy and Implementation Plan 2024-2030 (Commissioning Strategy) sets a blueprint for future commissioning of legal assistance services by the Department of Justice.

The Commissioning Strategy aims to:

• ensure the legal assistance services funded by governments are working to achieve desired outcomes across the system;
• communicate a unified future direction and goals for the system, including service priorities and consistent expectations around minimum levels and standards of service;
• provide guidance to inform service provider roles going forward; and
• recognise the unique and distinct role that Aboriginal community organisations have in the legal assistance system in delivering culturally safe, appropriate and accessible services to individuals and communities.

More broadly, the Commissioning Strategy guides approaches to procurement, contract management, and monitoring with the aim to nurture sector sustainability.

The Commissioning Strategy will play a role in supporting the sector to move towards its desired state of a fair, just, and safe community, where people experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage are supported to understand and assert their legal rights; and where they have access to culturally safe, trauma informed, client-centred and timely legal assistance to address or prevent legal problems.

This marks the first step in setting the direction for change. Implementing the Commissioning Strategy will be a gradual and consultative process that will aim to minimise disruptions to the sector, clients, and communities. Additional resources and consultations with the sector will be required to ensure effective implementation. The Department will monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Commissioning Strategy and its impacts and will make informed adjustments as needed.

The Legal Assistance Workforce Planning and Development Strategy and Implementation Plan 2024-2030 has been developed in response to acute workforce pressures that have been reported by the legal assistance sector.

A number of data collection processes were undertaken in 2023 to form a clearer picture of the workforce pressures experienced by the legal assistance sector. Comparisons were also drawn to the legal profession overall, as well as other workforces and other jurisdictions.

The resulting analysis identified two priorities:

• Grow and sustain the regional and remote workforce
• Sustain and support Aboriginal-led legal assistance service providers.

with corresponding outcomes and contributing actions. Additional focus areas have also been identified.

Workforce Planning and Development Strategy and Implementation Plan (PDF, 453KB)

The National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-2025 (NLAP) is an agreement between the Commonwealth, States and Territories, which sets out the arrangements for the delivery of Commonwealth funded legal assistance services, and otherwise provides for an integrated, efficient, effective and appropriate model of service delivery that is focussed on improving access to justice.

The NLAP is supported by the National Strategic Framework for Legal Assistance 2020-2025, which is the agreed policy framework for government legal assistance funding, guiding service delivery and sector planning.

The National Legal Assistance Data Strategy and National Legal Assistance Data Standards Manual provide guidance to legal assistance service providers to facilitate the collection of consistent and comparable data as the foundation for a strong, reliable evidence base that informs legal assistance policy and supports planning and resource allocation.

Pursuant to the terms of the NLAP, an Independent Review of the NLAP was conducted and the final report of the Review (the NLAP Review Report) was released on 28 May 2024.

Negotiations are currently on foot in relation to the National Access to Justice Partnership (NAJP), which is expected to commence on 1 July 2025, following the expiration of the current NLAP. The NAJP is expected to be agreed through the Standing Council of Attorneys-General by the end of the year. 

The State and Commonwealth Governments are committed to ensuring vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians, who cannot afford the services of a private lawyer, can access justice, wherever they live.

Legal assistance service providers receive funding from the State and Commonwealth Governments to deliver front-line services to vulnerable people facing disadvantage to engage effectively in the justice system. Together, these funds allow the sector to deliver a range of essential frontline services, including but not limited to, information, advice, representation, mediation, document drafting, domestic violence supports and community legal education.

In Western Australia, the Department of Justice will distribute more than $159 million to the State’s legal assistance sector in 2024-2025.  This includes approximately $68.7 million from the Commonwealth under the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-2025, with approximately $20.4 million for the Aboriginal Legal Service WA, $34.2 million for Legal Aid WA and $14 million for Community Legal Centres.

This includes $4.819 million in 2024-25 to the community legal sector as part of the State Baseline Funding Boost to maintain the sector’s capacity to respond to the demand for its services. The State Baseline Funding Boost allocations for 2024-25 were based on estimated legal need and informed by the Legal Needs Assessment Data Tool (2022), with consideration given to more timely legal need estimate data. Community Legal Centres were allocated funding based on services delivered to clients in high population growth locations and clients in high priority client groups.

The Commonwealth and State Governments also provide funding to the legal assistance sector to support specific or project-based services to enhance outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged West Australians.

For Commonwealth funding this includes increased legal assistance for vulnerable women, supporting people with mental health conditions to access the justice system, the delivery of enhanced Domestic Violence Units and Health Justice Partnerships, Workplace Sexual Harassment Funding, the Justice Policy Partnership, Coronial Inquiries and Expensive and Complex Cases, Coronial Inquiries, Lawyer-assisted Family Law Property Mediation, the Family Advocacy and Support Service and Supporting Increased Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions. The Commonwealth also provides funding for the Sexual Assault Legal Service WA and funding to address protection visa backlogs.

State project funding includes the Shuttle Conferencing Pilot, the Leave Safe, Stay Safe program, Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) funding, Workplace Sexual Harassment in the Mining Industry funding, funding for Dandjoo Bidi-Ak court, funding for the In-Roads Court and funding for DARDY: Disability Advocacy and Referral Diversion for Young people.

The Department of Justice also provides funding to Aboriginal Family Legal Services to provide family violence prevention legal services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Perth Metropolitan region.

The State also funds Law Access to administer and deliver the WA Pro Bono Model, in partnership with Community Legal WA, which is aimed at improving access to justice for individuals from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds. Law Access also receives Improved Access funding to be used to maintain and expand Law Access’ ability to connect financially disadvantaged people in the community with legal assistance.

A table showing funding allocations to be distributed by the Department of Justice to legal assistance organisations in 2024-25 is shown below.  Please note that funding provided for emergency response has not been included in the below table.

Legal Assistance Service Provider Funding Table 2024-2025

Emergency Response

In December 2022, Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie crossed into Western Australia from the Northern Territory as a slow moving tropical low. The low slowly tracked west across the Kimberley region resulting in significant rainfall and flooding across the region. 

Following the flooding event, the Department of Justice was successful in obtaining approximately $4.2 million funding under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018, which is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the State. 

The funding is intended to support a collaborative and place-based response that will target the projected increase in legal need in areas of civil law, family law and criminal law. The funding includes provision for the coordination of the legal assistance response, FTE allocations for service providers to deliver services, travel and accommodation costs, and interpreter and translation costs.