Hon Alison Xamon questions the Attorney General about a reduced budget target for legal aid grants in 2019-20 compared to the previous year. The Attorney General attributes the decrease to the lack of surplus Commonwealth funds for Independent Children's Lawyer matters.

AnsweredQoN 2276Legislative Council
Asked
27 June 2019
Portfolio
Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

I
refer to the Western Australian State Budget 2019-20, page 371, Outcomes and Key Effectiveness Indicators: Equitable access
to legal services and information, and I ask why is the 2019-20 budget target for the percentage of eligible applicants who receive a grant of legal aid less than the 2018-19 estimated actual (85% and 88%)?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
3 September 2019
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Attorney General
Response time
10 days
The 2018-19 estimated actual is higher than 2019-20 target due to additional grants of aid provided for Commonwealth Family Law matters in the 2018-19 year, such as Independent Children’s Lawyer (ICL) matters. These additional matters were funded from unallocated Commonwealth funds received under the National Partnership Agreement (NPA) 2015-20.
The 2019-20 Budget Target of 85% is set lower than the 2018-19 Estimated Actual of 88% as there are no surplus funds allocated for additional Commonwealth funded ICL matters in 2019-20.

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