The Downside of Not inadequate or Underdeveloped Legal Services

Transcription

1 Hard to Help Impacts of under-funding on community legal centres helping ordinary Australians to access justice Community Law Australia 30 November 2012 Community Law Australia Level 3, 225 Bourke Street Melbourne, Victoria

2 Executive Summary 194 community legal centre (CLC) staff from across the country responded to the survey. 72% of staff surveyed said that they had to turn clients away in the last 12 months. The main reason (49%) for turning clients away was lack of resources. 85% of lawyers surveyed said that they had to turn clients away in the last 12 months. 24% of those who have turned away clients said that they turned away more than 50 clients in the last 12 months who sought legal assistance. 75% of staff surveyed said that their CLC s level of resourcing was inadequate or very inadequate. Nearly one third of staff surveyed said that their work environment for themselves and their clients was inadequate or very inadequate. The most frequently identified problems with CLC premises were: o Insufficient space and overcrowding (52%) o Insufficient confidential interview rooms (48%) o Difficulties with computers and IT (44%) o Disability access (28%) The two most common concerns cited for respondents CLCs were inadequate budget to meet local community needs (75%) and staff workload (61%). Almost two thirds of staff surveyed reported problems recruiting lawyers over the past year with lack of funding and uncompetitive salary and conditions identified as the main causes. 91% of staff surveyed said that the current funding levels are not adequate to address the current demands for community legal services. 99% of staff surveyed said that any additional funding would be spent on extra staff to deal with the workload.

3 Methodology & demographics A total of 194 Australian community legal centre staff responded to the survey between 28 August and 19 November No questions were compulsory. Note: Figures are rounded, so percentages may not always add up to exactly 100%. What is your role at the CLC? (192 respondents) Lawyer/Principal Lawyer 44.79% Manager/Co-ordinator 30.73% Community Development/Project/Policy Worker 9.38% Volunteer Co-ordinator 0.52% Administration Other employed staff Volunteer/Management Committee member 3.65% 2.60% 8.33% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% Where is the location of your CLC? (160 respondents) TAS 3% SA 6% NT 2% ACT 4% VIC 26% WA 12% QLD 17% NSW 30%

4 How many years have you been working for a CLC? (159 respondents) 10+ years 18.24% 6-10 years 16.98% 3-5 years 22.01% 1-3 years 28.93% Less than 1 year 13.84% 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 2

5 Turning clients away from CLCs Over the last 12 months have you personally had to turn away a new client that has sought assistance from your CLC? (191 respondents) 72.25% of respondents have turned away clients that have sought assistance from their CLC in the past 12 months. Of the 86 respondents who are lawyers, 73 (or 84.88%) have turned away clients in the past 12 months. If yes, how many new clients would you say you have personally had to turn away in the last 12 months? (135 respondents) 24.44% of respondents that have turned away new clients in the last 12 months have turned away over 50 new clients % % % More than % 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% What is the main reason you encountered for turning new clients away? (137 respondents) 48.91% of respondents cited lack of resources and 30.66% as the client having a legal problem the CLC does not normally assist with as the reason for turning away clients. There were not enough resources at my CLC to assist the new client 48.91% The new client did not have a legal problem 0.73% The new client had a legal problem we do not normally assist with 30.66% Other 19.71% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 3

6 CLC resources and environment How would you rate the level of resources at your CLC to provide legal assistance to your local community? (56 respondents) 75% of respondents rate the level of resources at their CLC as inadequate or very inadequate. Very adequate 5.36% Adequate 19.64% Inadequate 60.71% Very inadequate 14.29% Don t know 0.00% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% How would you rate the physical environment of the CLC you work at, for you and your clients? (56 respondents) Almost a third of respondents (32.14%) rated the physical environment at their CLC as inadequate or very inadequate. Very adequate 16.07% Adequate 51.79% Inadequate 25.00% Very inadequate 7.14% Don t know 0.00% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 4

7 Does your CLC have problems with any of the following? (54 respondents multiple responses allowed) Insufficient space/overcrowding Insufficient confidential interview rooms Safe access Accessibility by transport Disabled access Premises do not treat clients with dignity and respect Electricity (including lighting) Plumbing Telecommunications Internet connections Computers and IT Structural (including floors, roofs, insulation, etc) No, it does not have any of these problems Other 9.26% 14.81% 27.78% 5.56% 12.96% 12.96% 16.67% 25.93% 18.52% 12.96% 9.26% 48.15% 44.44% 51.85% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% What would you say are your main concerns for your CLC? (51 respondents multiple responses allowed) Funding for repairs and maintenance 11.76% Inadequate budget to meet local community needs 74.51% Staff workload 60.78% Over-reliance on volunteers/pro bono support Lack of administration staff 37.25% 39.22% Lack of legal staff 54.90% Lack of community development and education staff 29.41% Turn-away rates 43.14% Other 7.84% 0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 5

8 Filling staff positions Have you experienced problems in filling lawyer positions over the previous year? If yes, was this due to: (135 respondents) Lack of funding for new staff even though workload required it 27.41% Salary and conditions not competitive 22.22% Remoteness/distance from metropolitan centres 3.70% Lack of suitable applicants 9.63% No problems filling lawyer positions 37.04% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 6

9 CLC funding Please select the most appropriate response to the following statement: Funding adequately addresses the levels of demand for legal service at my CLC: (159 respondents) 91.2% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that funding adequately addresses the levels of demand for legal service at their CLC. Strongly agree 2.52% Agree 2.52% Neither agree or disagree 3.14% Disagree 37.11% Strongly disagree 54.09% Can't say 0.63% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% Indicate any areas where extra funding would be spent at your CLC: (157 respondents) Almost all respondents (98.73%) indicated extra funding would be spent on extra staff to cover workload. Maintenance repairs 15.92% Extra staff to cover workload 98.73% After hours support for clients 19.75% Better emergency access for clients 22.29% 0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% % 7

10 Further comments Any other comments you would like to make? (Open-ended response) Verbatim response examples: CLCs provide essential legal services and support to our most vulnerable. Funding and resources must be sufficient to meet the needs of the community to ensure access to timely and efficient justice. Our service turns away between requests for assistance per month. Evidenced in our Telstra missed calls records. Our centre offers a wide range of services to a large catchment area (and a statewide Discrimination service to anyone who lives in NSW) but many of our services book out a long way in advance, indicating that there is still a greater need than what our centre can supply. The ability to retain experienced staff is impacted by a lack of regular increase in funding. I work as a specialist, and it is probable that others in this CLC have said no to clients seeking advice and representation. Like many other CLC's we are under resourced. CLC staff renumeration [sic] remains very low in comparison to government lawyers, or lawyers in private practice. CLC lawyers can only give so much, and we still have to feed, clothe and house ourselves and our children. I want to remain as a CLC lawyer, but simply cannot afford to remain in the sector. CLCs are almost at the point of collapse due to years of underfunding. We are open 4 days a week, not 5 days a week, due to lack of funding. For our idisability[sic] discrimination service, the funding is so low (hasn't increased at all in 9 years) that we have had to increasingly tighten our criteria for service. While it is fair enough for those who can self-advocate to just be given the advice they need to proceed on their own, there are many clients who can't. The end result is mounting stress for the worker who is increasingly having to deal with clients who are angry and frustrated because they can't get the help they need. Funding is inadequate, we constantly receive calls from people who are looking for assistance in legal areas where we have no expertise as they have been refused service elsewhere. We have had to tighten our eligibility requirements for who can receive more than just advice as we only have the capacity to support the very vulnerable. The uncertainty surrdounding [sic] funding is a massive concern for the CLC sector generally and it places an even greater weight on individuals whose jobs are at risk of being lost. We strive to assist as many people as we can in order to increase their access to justice, however the constant cutting of positions, the lower amount that is paid to CLC laywers [sic] and the need to constantly report on outcomes does not help the community at large. If all the governments who provide funding would commit to increase the amount of funding available and the length of time the funding is given to a CLC, then we as lawyers would be able to assist more people and and [sic] provide the key services that we are employed to 8

11 do, such as outreach to rural and remote locations. CLC's are a great resource and very beneficial to the community as a whole... 9