New era for legal aid begins today

The biggest overhaul of the legal aid system in a decade comes into force today.

Justice Minister Simon Power said the Legal Services Act 2011 is a major part of the Government’s response to Dame Margaret Bazley’s 2009 report, which identified system-wide failings and called for urgent action to rebuild trust and confidence in the system.

“The Act is designed to deliver high-quality legal services and access to justice to the most vulnerable people in society,” Mr Power said.

The Act’s key features include:

• A new quality framework for all legal aid lawyers. This includes a new approval process to ensure that providers are competent, and new performance mechanisms to ensure the quality of services once lawyers are approved. An independent Review Authority will also be established to review provider approval decisions made by the Secretary for Justice.
• The disestablishment of the Legal Services Agency and the transfer of functions to the Ministry of Justice.

• An independent statutory officer, the Legal Services Commissioner, who will be responsible for granting legal aid to individuals, and ensuring the independence of lawyers in the Public Defence Service.

• Replacing the Legal Aid Review Panel with the Legal Aid Tribunal. The tribunal will review legal aid granting decisions made by the Legal Services Commissioner.

Mr Power acknowledged the work of the outgoing Legal Services Agency (LSA) in balancing a number of operational changes to improve the administration of legal aid, at the same time as ensuring the smooth transfer of its functions to the Ministry of Justice.

“Staff at the LSA has demonstrated a high level of professionalism over the past 18 months, and in particular I would like to thank the LSA board, and its chair, Sir John Hansen, for their leadership.”

Mr Power said quality issues have largely been addressed through the Act, and his focus will now turn to closing the $402 million gap in the legal aid budget over the next five years.

In April, the Government announced proposals to close $138 million of that gap, including adjusting legal aid eligibility, expanding the Public Defence Service, re-introducing a user charge for some cases, and introducing fixed fees for cases that have more standard cost structures.

Budget 2011 also included $103.5 million of new spending for legal aid over the next two years as a stop-gap measure while the Government addresses longer-term sustainability issues, particularly in the Family Court.