Australian lawyers believe they ought be located among doctors, nurses and social workers in one-stop shops to ensure justice is provided to all those who come through the door.
Outgoing Law Council head Fiona McLeod's inspiration for the justice project proposal, which would also include "impacts tests" to factor in how new laws would impact the justice system, came from her experience at the coal face.
"Women who had been trafficked and exploited, men with manageable mental illness facing involuntary treatment and detention," Ms McLeod told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
"Women lined up outside women's legal service looking for a way out of family violence but with nowhere to go and nowhere to take the kids - cases where early intervention could have made all the difference."
The justice project also recommends a major funding injection for legal assistance and the courts, with the Law Council estimating an extra $390 million a year is required to get the system back on its feet.
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