Vanstone targets Aboriginal Legal Services

Aboriginal legal services throughout Australia may be replaced 
by private law firms if changes proposed by Aboriginal Affairs 
Minister Amanda Vanstone are adopted.

The Minister has proposed that the services be put out to tender 
by private legal firms as a way of "ensuring that Indigenous 
people get value for money".

The idea has been floated for some time but the release on the 
internet of a document, "Notes on the Exposure Draft for the 
Tendering of Legal Services", by the Government came as a 
surprise to Aboriginal legal services around the country.

Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (CAALAS) 
Principal Lawyer David Bamber said that the proposal had serious 
implications for CAALAS clients.

"The major point is that provision of legal services could not be 
profitable without a major reduction in service", he said.

"The introduction of means testing and reduction in the number of 
types of matter for which aid is granted, services such as our 
after-hours services, a lot of our field services and services to 
the bush would surely be cut."

If the changes suggested in the Government's document are 
followed, then people charged with trivial offences like 
drunkenness and traffic offences would no longer be represented.

These types of offences account for 62 per cent of Aboriginal 
people in the Alice Springs jail.

If legal aid is removed for such offences it is likely the number 
of Aboriginal people in prison will increase.

The government document suggests that initial legal advice can be 
given face to face or by phone.

Repeat offenders of certain categories of crime such as violence, 
assault or the breach of a restraining order may be refused 
representation altogether.

Ms Vanstone also wants to see means testing introduced.

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Land Rights News