The Law Society of NSW welcomes the NSW Government’s commitment of additional funding for the justice system, but remains concerned about a lack of funding for the courts and Legal Aid NSW.

The Law Society of NSW notes the NSW Government’s welcome commitment of an additional $12 million for Community Legal Centres and $7 million for civil justice initiatives over the next four years follows an earlier commitment of significant resources for policing.

President of The Law Society of NSW Doug Humphreys said the Law Society however remained significantly concerned about ongoing inadequacies in the level of resources allocated to the courts.

“More money for policing could add to existing delays and backlogs that are already hampering access to justice,” he said. “The courts must be sufficiently staffed and resourced to work effectively and to enable litigants to resolve disputes.”

Mr Humphreys said while extra funding for CLCs should enable more vulnerable people to access legal advice and support, funding for Legal Aid NSW must also remain a priority to ensure the state’s most disadvantaged people had access to justice.

“Without a substantial increase in funding for Legal Aid NSW, including for private practitioners who fill a gap in work that core legal assistance services cannot provide, we can expect the overall cost of the justice system to increase,” Mr Humphreys said.

Mr Humphreys said the use of new technology through a civil justice strategy could assist to reduce costs and delays and simplify the procedures involved in civil litigation, but could also create unforeseen issues for practitioners and litigants.

“Reliance on technology to administer and deliver court services may also have a disproportionately adverse impact on people who do not have ready access to online services,” Mr Humphreys said.

The Law Society also supported the expansion of the youth Koori Court and anticipated further measures to assist in reducing the disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our jails.

“The establishment of an Indigenous sentencing court at Walama could keep more Indigenous offenders out of custody and in community based programs,” Mr Humphreys said. “This could ultimately result in significant cost savings for the justice sector.

“We trust these gaps in funding will be addressed in the forthcoming NSW Budget.”