Lawyers in Victoria have a long history of providing free and low-cost legal services to disadvantaged people.

In a recent national survey by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre, Victorian lawyers showed the most widespread support for pro bono work, with 84 per cent of respondents indicating that they had undertaken pro bono legal work in the 12 months before the survey, compared with 80 per cent of all respondents across Australia.

The key motivations cited for undertaking pro bono were to help the disadvantaged and a keen sense of professional responsibility.

Any discussion focused on legal bills also ignores the important role played by lawyers in community legal centres (CLCs) and the legal aid system in helping to attain equal access to justice for all.

Many lawyers regularly contribute to law reform through their firm’s involvement with CLCs and other pro bono service providers, as well as through their own individual efforts as volunteers in many areas. Yet, the general public remains largely unaware of the law reform work undertaken in this area, work which has improved a wide range of laws and the way they are administered in Australia.

The role of CLCs in law reform is considered important because they often represent the marginalised members of the community who don’t have the necessary power or resources to generate effective change themselves.

Recent research reveals that CLCs, through their casework and experience, have been able to target laws and policies that negatively affect their clients and have influenced changes that have directly improved the justice system.

Collectively, CLCs continue to be active in reforming the law in particular areas, including “indefinite detention”, the effect of social welfare reforms on the poor, and the rights of victims in the justice system.

Similarly, CLCs continue to target improved conditions for asylum seekers in detention, more effective regulation of loan sharks, protection for the rights of tenants in public housing, and the monitoring of energy regulation.

Despite this valuable and successful work, CLCs are currently facing major problems as a result of the reduced availability of legal aid and a severe lack of financial support and resources.

The LIV has declared that the federal government’s one-off $7 million funding announced for legal aid in the May federal Budget does not go far enough.

It has supported Victoria Legal Aid’s (VLA) request for federal funding of an extra $10 million a year to sustain family law services in Victoria. Instead, VLA is set to receive a one-off injection of $1.9 million, as part of the $7 million funding package outlined in April . n

More information

Useful websites

Federation of Community Legal Centres at www.communitylaw.org.au/fedclc

VLA at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au.