Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I direct my question without notice to the Attorney General. Is the Attorney aware that there has been an escalation of civil and family law issues and criminal matters in Aboriginal communities in New South Wales? Is the Minister aware that decreasing levels of funding to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander legal services mean that they no longer offer civil law services in New South Wales, despite growing demand for child protection, and civil and family law matters? In particular, is the Minister aware that family civil law services provide indigenous people with the ability to realise their full legal entitlements across a range of housing issues, consumer rights and employment law, and that improved access to civil law in New South Wales ultimately will assist the economic and social development of indigenous people? Will the Minister implement programs to ensure that civil law is promoted actively in this State’s indigenous communities and seriously invest in community legal education of civil and family law among indigenous people?
The Hon. John Hatzistergos: In reality the New South Wales Government has invested heavily in expanding the range of free legal services that are available through legal aid in New South Wales, in particular, during the period in which the Howard Government pulled back funding for that specific purpose. It pulled back funding for a range of disadvantaged communities. Even the veterans who were appealing against decisions made by the Department of Veterans Affairs had their funding cut and we had to fill that vacuum. Traditionally, the Commonwealth Government funds Aboriginal legal services. It funds those services, and this Government provides some in-kind support for the services that it provides. As I said, the Commonwealth Government has always funded Aboriginal legal services.
Under a funding agreement the Commonwealth Government also funds family law services. Legal Aid New South Wales provides the services but the funding comes from the Commonwealth Government. I am pleased that in more recent times, under Robert McClelland, the Commonwealth Attorney-General, funding has been restored—not to the level that we would like, but it is much more substantial than it has been in the past. I am not aware of the research to which the member has referred. If he wishes to provide it to me, I will be happy to look at it and make appropriate recommendations to the Commonwealth that may flow from the issues that he has raised.