Qld unveils legal aid boost on budget day

The Queensland government has announced grants of $100 million to community legal aid groups.

The Queensland government has announced a $100 million funding deal for legal aid services, ahead of likely federal budget cuts to legal services.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie appeared alongside outgoing Chief Justice Paul de Jersey to announce the three-year funding deal.

"Rather than legal centres getting one-year funding, and then coming past the financial year and ... wondering whether they have funding, we wanted to make sure that wasn't the case any more," Mr Bleijie said on Tuesday.

He later sidestepped a question about whether the triennial funding announcement was linked to reports that Tuesday night's budget is set to strip federal funds from legal aid services.

"I'm not speculating on what's in or what's not in the budget," he told reporters.

Legal Aid Queensland is receiving $64 million from the state government while other legal groups are sharing in $30 million.

Another $5.5 million will be spent on regulating the services.

Queensland's announcement comes after the federal government flagged in December deep cuts to indigenous legal aid services and Environmental Defenders Offices, which are set to be reflected in Tuesday night's budget.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world