Over 75% of NSW-based practitioners have been handling legally aided matters for over 5 years
National Legal Aid has published its 2024 census of legal practitioners who have been or are currently providing legal services to legal aid recipients.
According to the NSW Law Society, about a third of the NLA survey respondents are based in NSW. Among these, over 75% have been taking on legally aided cases for over five years. Nearly one in four respondents had taken such cases for over two decades.
A third of NSW-based respondents indicated that they travelled over 200 km at least once to work on their legally aided cases. The Law Society noted with concern that 12% of NSW respondents said they intended to stop delivering legal aid services in next 12 months, while 20% were uncertain as to whether they would continue doing so.
Almost 90% of NSW respondents were worried about doing unpaid work, while 62% were concerned about their practices’ continued financial viability. National Legal Aid’s report noted that overall, legal aid work “must be adequately resourced”.
“These practitioners perform a service that is critical to the administration of justice. They do so tirelessly and often in difficult circumstances as they provide access to justice to many of our community’s most vulnerable people”, Law Society President Jennifer Ball said. “The departure of practitioners from this work risks creating a significant access to justice problem in our community”.
She said that the Law Society would continue to push for fairer rates for private practitioners handling legal aid matters.
The National Legal Aid’s 2024 census had a total of 1,010 respondents.
