Legal Aid NSW Reduces Family Law Services Amid Budget Pressure
Legal Aid NSW has confirmed that there will be no changes to Legal Aid NSW’s care and protection services following the NSW Budget.
This is an important update following our previous article, “Legal Aid NSW Tightens Family Law Services for Parenting Orders and Property Settlement”, which reported on proposed changes to Legal Aid NSW services amid budget pressure.
Legal Aid NSW has now advised that, as a result of the NSW Budget, there will be no changes to its care and protection services. Legal Aid NSW also confirmed that the budget recognised the important care and protection work carried out by private lawyers.
Legal Aid NSW said it would notify other critical stakeholders, including the Children’s Court of NSW, the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT, and the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
What this means for care and protection matters
The update means there will be no cuts to Legal Aid NSW’s care and protection representation by lawyers.
For families, children and young people involved in the care and protection system, this is a significant outcome. As NLS Law Solicitor Director Neisha Shepherd said following the update on her linkedin:
Neisha noted that the outcome followed advocacy by lawyers over the past six weeks to ensure decision-makers understood what was at stake. The message was clear: children and vulnerable families cannot afford to lose access to legal representation.
Neisha Shepherd’s advocacy for children
Three weeks ago, Neisha attended Parliament House in Canberra with Tania Wolff, President of the Law Council of Australia, and Leonie Campbell, General Manager of Policy, meeting with Ministers and advocating for access to justice for children.
Neisha sees every day the children behind the statistics, including children living with family violence and children exposed to abuse, neglect and trauma.
Neisha’s message to the Government was that Independent Children’s Lawyers are not an optional extra in the family law system. They are a critical safeguard for children in the most complex and high-risk cases before the courts.
Concerns remain about Independent Children’s Lawyers
While the NSW Budget outcome confirms there will be no changes to Legal Aid NSW’s care and protection services, concerns remain about Independent Children’s Lawyers.
Neisha raised concerns that, since the family law reforms, demand for Independent Children’s Lawyer services has increased significantly. Children are entitled to have their views heard about their own care and safety, but the funding required to deliver those reforms has not followed.
In particular, concerns have been raised that in NSW, Legal Aid is ceasing ICL funding at final hearings if parties are represented.
Neisha also raised concerns that private practitioners delivering legal aid services are leaving the system because the work has become financially unsustainable. Private practitioners deliver more than 70% of legal aid grants nationally and are an essential part of the justice infrastructure.
Access to justice for children
This update is an important outcome for care and protection matters in NSW.
However, the broader concerns about Independent Children’s Lawyers and funding for children’s legal representation remain.
As Neisha stated, this is not simply a funding issue. It is a child safety issue, an access to justice issue, and an issue that requires urgent action.
Children’s voices matter. Their safety matters. Their futures matter.