Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is for Senator the Hon. George Brandis, representing the Minister for Justice. Last year, in my home state of Queensland we saw 80,000 people turned away from community legal centres and, concerningly, this is an upward trend. Nationwide more than 160,000 people were turned away. The top two specialist areas in which community legal centres provide advice are family law and family violence. In the last 12 months there was a staggering 56 per cent increase in domestic violence casework in Queensland alone. Today we have seen more than 80 family violence experts and community groups contact Mr Turnbull calling for funding increases to these vital services.

In this environment, why is the federal government cutting national funding to community legal centres by 30 per cent next year and ignoring the recommendations of the Productivity Commission for an immediate injection of $120 million per year?