2017-04-24
The government's backdown on community legal centre funding should be the first step to properly funding the sector, Greens Justice spokesperson Nick McKim says.
"Attorney-General George Brandis has finally bowed to community pressure and reinstated the funding to CLCs that his government stripped away," Senator McKim said.
"This is a welcome step that will prevent thousands more people in need of legal assistance from being turned away."
"Senator Brandis now needs to invest the $200 million the Productivity Commission says is needed to properly fund legal assistance in Australia."
"The community legal sector does a huge amount of work supporting some of our most vulnerable people and helping the Australian justice system work more efficiently.”
“This is a welcome first step which offers a degree of short term comfort to CLCs, but the government can and must do more to offer long term certainty to the sector.”