Every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person should be able to access culturally safe legal services if they choose to, but that will not be possible due to the shoddy decision by the Federal Labor Government to leave VALS severely underfunded.

VALS calls on Anthony Albanese and Mark Dreyfus to fully fund Aboriginal Legal Services across the country so that they can meet the demand of the communities they serve.

The Federal Labor Government has made big promises about supporting Aboriginal communities to address the challenges they face, and fully funding Aboriginal Legal Services is essential to meeting those promises.

VALS is particularly concerned by today’s announcement regarding a new National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) funding that:

• This is a rebadging of existing funding plus funding for indexation and wage parity – which should always have been part of the funding
• There is no new funding to expand our services to meet increasing demand
• There is no detail on the implications of a new funding stream for Aboriginal Legal Services
• VALS might be worse off due to changes in how funding is provided to different jurisdictions
• NLAP red-tape might increase, meaning services are diverted away from service delivery and the community who needs legal assistance.

Funding for indexation and wage parity will not even allow us to maintain our current level of services. Over recent years we have secured a range of one-off funding sources that have allowed us to pilot new services and cover a new small amount of the unmet demand for our services. The Federal Labor Government’s announcement will not allow us to continue any of those services.

The funding announced today will also not allow us to cover the growing cost of corporate, administrative and finance services that we need to support our legal services.

Over the life of the current agreement, the new matters we open each day has almost tripled and the number of custody notification we receive has increased by almost 50 percent. We have opened new offices across regional Victoria and reopened offices that had closed. We have created Wirraway, a new legal practice that supports the families of Aboriginal people who have died in custody.

Despite expanding services and opening new ones, we still cannot meet the needs of so many Aboriginal people due to a lack of resources. Many of them go through the legal system unrepresented as a result and that leads to worse outcomes for our people.

Aboriginal people are the most incarcerated peoples on earth because of the legacy of colonisation, the Frontier Wars, the Stolen Generations, Stolen Wages, a racist legal system, and racist policing.

The intergenerational trauma inflicted by the overpolicing and overincarceration of our people entrenches the discrimination and disadvantage that the Federal Labor Government has promised to address and has failed to do so.

A review of the current NLAP agreement, commissioned by Mark Dreyfus, found that the agreement “significantly impede[s] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ access to justice” and that “funding inadequacy prevents [Aboriginal Legal Services] from providing the full range of services to community.”

This shoddy decision is entirely the fault of Anthony Albanese and Mark Dreyfus. NLAP is a five-year agreement. Over more than 2 years we have tried to engage with the Federal Labor Government about the need to negotiate a new agreement that addresses the systemic underfunding of Aboriginal Legal Services, and our voice has not been listened to.

The review was commissioned too late, and the Government sat on the review for too long, meaning that the Federal Labor Government has not engaged in substantial discussions about the new agreement with Aboriginal Legal Services.

You cannot say you believe in Aboriginal self-determination and then make decisions about our funding without us.

Quotes Attributable to Nerita Waight, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service:

“This announcement is not representative of a government that says it believes in Aboriginal justice.”

“VALS has spent so much time working with community to develop plans for how we can deliver the services they want, and it hurts that the Federal Labor Government has chosen not to invest in those communities.”

“It stings worse because Anthony Albanese has spent so many years claiming to be a champion for Aboriginal people, and he has failed us at every turn. You can speak nice words at media opportunities, but it means nothing when you take away the resources our communities need.”

“This is just a rollover of the stingy deal the former Federal Government implemented which was a cut from the agreement before that. In Opposition, Mark Dreyfus campaigned against the former governments’ cuts to NLAP and now he has locked them in.”

“This will mean that services like Balit Ngulu, our dedicated legal service for Aboriginal children, and our regional offices are at risk of cutbacks and closure.”

“We are particularly concerned that Victoria might be worse off under the new agreement. VALS has been underfunded for so many years and it will be devastating for the people who rely on us if the Federal Labor Government cuts our funding.”

“It is hard not to think that Anthony Albanese and Mark Dreyfus contrived this situation to silence Aboriginal voices. It is entirely because of the process they created that we have not had an opportunity to properly discuss the new agreement with the Federal Labor Government.”

“There is plenty of time for the Federal Labor Government to fix their mistake before the new agreement is implemented and before the next election. We know that there is an increasing number of Australians that want governments to invest in Aboriginal communities and they are willing to change their vote accordingly.”

Quotes Attributable to Crystal McKinnon, Chair of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service:

“We don’t get a lot of money from the Federal Labor Government, and we don’t ask for a lot. We just want to be able to provide a culturally safe legal service to those who want to be supported by us.”

“Anthony Albanese could find the money we need down the back of a chair in cabinet given our funding requirements are so small compared to the Federal Budget. The Federal Labor Government chose to ignore us, like so many governments before it.”

“Their own review said that we are funded inadequately and that our people are being denied justice – but they ignored the review, and they ignored us.”

“They should own up to their mistake and ensure VALS and Aboriginal Legal Services across the country are fully funded immediately. It is particularly disappointing that they covered over this bad news by wrapping it up in an announcement about family violence.”

“I would love for Anthony Albanese and Mark Dreyfus to join me at a Board meeting and see the data and hear the stories about the Aboriginal people who need our services but who we cannot help due to a lack of resources. I am sure they would make a different decision if they took the time to understand what is happening.”