2017-09-07
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General. The recent report by the Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales evaluating the Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) summary crime program provides a disturbing picture of a system in crisis. The report details how the increased demand for summary crime services, without the necessary funding and resources to meet this demand, is threatening the appropriateness and sustainability of VLA's summary crime services. The wellbeing of duty lawyer service staff is currently being jeopardised, as is the willingness and financial viability of private practitioners doing VLA-funded work. At the same time, the demand for legal aid assistance is expected to continue to increase.
Resources for prosecutions, registry and magistrates are also insufficient in a summary crime system that is overloaded with a higher concentration of disadvantaged and complex clients, many of whom have more and more complex and serious matters and a rise in custody matters. This is resulting in fraying relationships between agencies within the system and causing long delays in matters being dealt with.
The Law and Justice Foundation report makes 23 recommendations that would improve the VLA summary crime services and the summary crime system more broadly, ranging from sustainable funding, operational changes to the summary crime system, more support for self-represented litigants, an enhanced and extended duty lawyer service, and processes that will enable less serious offences to be dealt with outside the courts, such as revamping the cautioning system used by Victoria Police.
Changes that could be implemented quickly to alleviate the stresses on the Magistrates Court and those who work there would include introducing a notice of charge process as advised by the Honourable Paul Coghlan, QC, in his stage 2 bail review report, examining the notice of pleading process in New South Wales, establishing a night court to sit from 4.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. and urgently upgrading audiovisual links so that they work more efficiently and smoothly, as has occurred in New South Wales and Western Australia.
More also needs to be done to prevent crime through greater investment in secure public housing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and community mental health services, which in particular need to be examined in light of concerns that the national disability insurance scheme rollout may not sufficiently cover community mental health.
I ask the Attorney-General to work closely with all agencies in implementing the recommendations from the summary crime review as soon as possible, as well as to seriously consider the additional points I have raised to help ease the burden on the Magistrates Court and all agencies that work there, and to provide an urgent funding boost to VLA to increase the number of duty lawyers, given the unsustainable and unacceptable pressures that they are working under.
Reply on 14 November 2017:
The Government has made significant investments to support Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) and the courts and improve access to justice.
From 2017-18, the Andrews Labor Government is providing new funding of $85.4 million to Victoria Legal Aid (VLA).
This funding includes $39.6 million for VLA to provide legal responses to family violence and child protection — including support for the roll-out of Specialist Family Violence Courts.
The Government's investment also includes $17.9 million to respond to recommendations of the Access to Justice review and alleviate pressure on key services. The funding will provide additional duty lawyer services and grants of legal aid, as well as additional translating and interpreter services. It will also provide for the expansion of VLA's website and Legal Help telephone service.
The Government delivered a major boost to courts through the 2017-18 Victorian State Budget, including $89.2 million to update ageing technology systems at the Magistrates' and Children's Courts and $25.2 million for the expansion of the Court Integrates Services Program (CISP) and CISP Remand Outreach pilot.
In the aftermath of the Bourke Street tragedy, the Victorian Government worked with Magistrates' Court Victoria to establish a night court to improve the availability of magistrates to consider bail applications. In line with recommendations made by Mr Paul Coghlan QC in his review of bail laws, work is underway to establish a new Bail and Remand Court which will sit for extended hours, building on the current weekend and night court models. This is a longer-term project that requires careful planning to ensure it operates effectively.
The Government is working with all relevant stakeholders including VLA, Victoria Police, the courts, the Office of Public Prosecutions to alleviate the pressures on the courts and ensure they can meet future demand.