Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday, we, as a nation, stood together united as we said 'Not Now, Not Ever' to domestic violence. On Monday the Prime Minister stood in this place and talked about the importance of addressing the issue of domestic violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This then begs the question of why this government stands with such bravado in this place declaring that we need to address this critical issue whilst, at the same time, making cuts to frontline community legal centres—cuts to the very same services that vulnerable women rely on in their time of dire need.

Right now, community legal centres across Australia are facing 30 per cent cuts as of 1 July 2017 and, at a time, when the demand on these legal services is already under enormous pressure. Last year alone, 160,000 people were turned away from community legal centres across the nation.

In the Herbert electorate, one of the most notable community legal centres, the North Queensland Women's Legal Service is under significant pressure and strain. Since opening their offices 20 years ago, the NQ Women's Legal Service has serviced 21,000 women who have received approximately 75,000 legal services. NQ Women's Legal covers a large area across North Queensland, and their two legal practices are over 500 kilometres apart. This geographic reality means there are ongoing challenges and costs—such as strong governance, staff supervision and support, and the challenges around the coordination of resources and service delivery. The demand on their 1800 phone line also increased again last year: for every call that was answered, eight calls went unanswered.

It is clear that this service already faces some pretty tough challenges without the added burden of funding cuts. So what do these cuts mean? In reality, these cuts will create pretty dire circumstances for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. If this government were to slash 30 per cent of the NQ Women's Legal Service funding, this would result in up to 2,000 legal services being cut, based on the 6,000 legal services delivered last financial year alone. This will deliver a significant loss to the Herbert community with the potential results being significantly detrimental.

My community is not a wealthy Sydney community. We have unemployment over 10 per cent, youth unemployment over 16 per cent and one of the highest insolvency rates in the nation. What this government fails to understand is that we live in a community where vulnerable people need access to legal assistance, whether arising from domestic or family violence, a car accident or a property dispute. It is very clear that this government is out of touch and has no understanding of the needs of the people who earn less than a million dollars.

The Townsville Community Legal Service helped a couple in their seventies who gave their son a $200,000 loan, which the son used to construct a house and granny flat. Within a year of the granny flat's construction, the son told his parents that they had to vacate the granny flat and was abusive and intimidating to them. The Townsville Community Legal Service helped to recover a substantial amount from the son, once the property was sold, and provided further assistance regarding Centrelink income and asset test implications. Townsville Community Legal Service helped to reduce the risk of homelessness for this elderly couple, and they are now living in a retirement village.

This government has no idea of the vital services our community legal centres deliver, and why would they, as they have not consulted with these centres before making these cuts. How out of touch can a government be? If you ever needed a clearer case in point of how ineffective this government is at managing a budget or understanding simple economics, it is these cuts to community legal centres.

The Prime Minister might find it interesting to note that the Productivity Commission found that, for every dollar invested in community legal centres, $17 is returned to the community. With this sort of economic return on investment, it beggars believe that the government would even consider any funding cuts.

Once again, this government is failing the people of this nation. Once again the people of Australia can rely and depend on Labor to stand up and fight for them. Labor is the party of community legal centres and Labor will continue to fight for better funded legal services. I commend the work of Bill Shorten and shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in this area and the pledge that Labor took to the last election for $43 million in funding for frontline community legal services, to give them the resources they so desperately need.

The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for community legal centres. What these centres want and need in the lead-up to Christmas is some assurance and commitment from this government that they will not be cutting vital funding to these vital services. I am calling on the government to deliver action and not just empty words. My community is seeking confirmation from this government that they will commit to funding community legal centres into the future.