❓ Hon Adele Farina questions the Attorney General regarding the impact of Sunday Magistrates Court sittings on Legal Aid resources, and whether additional funding has been allocated. The Attorney General confirms a negative impact and provides details of resources allocated.
AnsweredQoN 1400Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to Budget Paper No. 2, Volume 2 at page 439, "Services and Key Efficiency Indicators – Legal Aid Assistance", and ask: (a) will the introduction of Magistrates Court sittings on Sundays impact on Legal Aid resources; (b) what is the expected impact; and (c) has Legal Aid been provided with additional resources specifically to address the impact of Sunday sittings of the Magistrates Court and, if so, what are those resources?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
16 September 2014
Response time
35 days
(a) Yes.
(b) Two duty lawyers are currently rostered to provide services at the Magistrates Court from 7am to 2pm each Sunday. On some occasions their period of court attendance can extend beyond the rostered time and the introduction of video link-up to regional centres is expected to increase the period of court attendance. In addition to providing services directly within the Court, duty lawyers are also required to undertake file administration in relation to each client and other activities, such as requests for information and negotiation with relevant authorities. These additional activities are undertaken outside the rostered court time.
(c) Yes - $184,000 in 2014-15.
(b) Two duty lawyers are currently rostered to provide services at the Magistrates Court from 7am to 2pm each Sunday. On some occasions their period of court attendance can extend beyond the rostered time and the introduction of video link-up to regional centres is expected to increase the period of court attendance. In addition to providing services directly within the Court, duty lawyers are also required to undertake file administration in relation to each client and other activities, such as requests for information and negotiation with relevant authorities. These additional activities are undertaken outside the rostered court time.
(c) Yes - $184,000 in 2014-15.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.