The Law Society of NSW welcomes Federal Budget measures aimed at enhancing the protection of older Australians from abuse as well as women affected by violence, but remains concerned at the under-funding of the family law system and legal aid.

President of The Law Society of NSW Doug Humphreys welcomed the allocation of $22 million over four years for a national plan to combat and prevent the mistreatment of older people.

“The Law Society’s Working Group to Combat Elder Abuse has advocated for a multidisciplinary approach to address elder abuse backed by sufficient funding,” Mr Humphreys said.

A National Prevalence Study could assess not only the size of the problem but also appropriate interventions needed to stop the physical, psychological or emotional, financial, sexual abuse and neglect of older people, he said.

Mr Humphreys said however that the establishment of a National Online Register for Enduring Powers of Attorney could have little practical effect on preventing incidents of elder abuse.

“Rather, a national register could create complexities with unforeseen consequences,” he said. “Greater investment in health and justice services as well as education, training and research is needed to address this complex problem.”

The Law Society also welcomed the Federal Government’s allocation of $54.4 million for services to assist women who face violence including the national counselling information and referral service and training for community and frontline workers.

“More investment is critical as there are many women who are not being identified as being at serious risk of harm,” Mr Humphreys said. “As a result of this, many women also do not have access to adequate support including victims’ safety services.”

A new civil penalty regime to address revenge porn, as part of a broader allocation of funding to protect women online, would complement the existing online complaints portal and Commonwealth, state and territory criminal offences, he said.

Mr Humphreys said that despite last year’s budget boost for family law there remained a lack of ongoing recurrent funding to remedy a critical backlog of cases that were causing significant delays in the system.

“Delays cause undue hardship for families struggling through complex and emotionally charged family litigation,” Mr Humphreys said.

Mr Humphreys said the rollout of parenting management hearings should, at least, be deferred until the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review of the family law system was completed.

“The chronic backlog of matters could be better addressed if the funds allocated for parenting management hearings were redirected to the courts,” he said. “An urgent allocation of funding to appoint more judges is required in the interim.”

Mr Humphreys said more resources were also needed to address a surge in demand for legal assistance services.

“Financial incapacity or geographic distance should never be a barrier that means the most vulnerable people in society cannot access justice,” he said.