❓ Question regarding reduced legal fees and increased funding for Aboriginal Affairs in the 2019-20 State Budget. The answer explains the reduction in legal fees is due to more consent determinations in native title applications and the funding increase is for agreement making, community engagement, and staffing.
AnsweredQoN 5194Legislative Assembly
Asked
11 June 2019
Member
Portfolio
Treasurer; Minister for Finance; Aboriginal Affairs; Lands
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the 2019-20 State Budget, Division 3; Premier and Cabinet: (a) Page 68, Government Policy Management –
Aboriginal Affairs, point 1 Explanation of Significant Movements. Reduced Legal
Fees, and I ask: (i) Can an explanation be given as to why these fees
have been reduced in the 2018-19 budget; and (ii) What legal fees have been reduced, and please provide a breakdown of this reduction; and (b) Page 68, Government Policy Management – Aboriginal
Affairs, line 5 Efficiency Indicators. In relation to the average cost to
deliver policy advice per applicable full-time equivalent, and I ask: (i) The estimated funding for 2019-20 financial year has increased
by $23 per full-time employee however the staff level has not increased. Can
this increase please be explained, including details of where this extra funding is needed?
Aboriginal Affairs, point 1 Explanation of Significant Movements. Reduced Legal
Fees, and I ask: (i) Can an explanation be given as to why these fees
have been reduced in the 2018-19 budget; and (ii) What legal fees have been reduced, and please provide a breakdown of this reduction; and (b) Page 68, Government Policy Management – Aboriginal
Affairs, line 5 Efficiency Indicators. In relation to the average cost to
deliver policy advice per applicable full-time equivalent, and I ask: (i) The estimated funding for 2019-20 financial year has increased
by $23 per full-time employee however the staff level has not increased. Can
this increase please be explained, including details of where this extra funding is needed?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
6 August 2019
Response time
9 days
(a)(i)-(ii) Legal fees incurred for Aboriginal policy are driven by the number, complexity and nature of legal claims and Indigenous Land Use Agreements. The Government is committed to settling native title applications by consent, rather than through a litigated outcome. Determinations by consent result in significantly lower legal fees. There have been 19 determinations in Western Australia in 2018/19, all of them consent determinations. In 2017-18, there were 15 determinations of which five were litigated outcomes. When the 2018-19 budget was set, it was anticipated that a larger number of applications would be litigated which did not eventuate. Due to higher numbers of consent determinations this has resulted in lower legal costs.
(b)(i) The difference in the estimated actual for 2018-19 and the budget target in 2019-20 represents the proposed estimated increase in non-FTE costs associated with agreement making and community engagement, as well as the appointment staff in key positions.
(b)(i) The difference in the estimated actual for 2018-19 and the budget target in 2019-20 represents the proposed estimated increase in non-FTE costs associated with agreement making and community engagement, as well as the appointment staff in key positions.
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