Legal Aid: Concern over pay gap could lead to shortage of Legal Aid practitioners

Disadvantaged defendants could soon struggle to find a legal aid lawyer because of an 11-year fee freeze that threatens to drain the pool of experienced legal practitioners willing to help the needy. The WA Legal Aid Commission, in its latest annual report, has warned there is a real risk that private lawyers — who carry out 79 per cent of all legal aid work — will no longer provide their services if hourly rates are not increased. At present the rate sits at $140 for most services, regardless of the level of the legal practitioner, and has not increased since September 2010. The commission notes that although a CPI increase will apply to the rate from this year, it does not address the significant gap that has opened up in the industry over the past decade. Professional rates for junior lawyers, in comparison, range have increased by 18.5 per cent from $297 to $352 per hour. “Without the gap being addressed, there is a real risk, competent private practitioners will not be available to provide these services to the disadvantaged,” the commission said. Last year the commission spent $29.7 million on legal services, about a third of its $100 million budget largely funded by the State Government and Commonwealth grants. It said it provided lawyers for clients on more than 109,000 occasions. Along with concerns over pay, its report highlighted how barriers were impacting on regional Australians accessing justice. The commission said it was increasingly using video technology to reach remote communities. Due to COVID-19 challenges, virtual offices were used 43 per cent more than the previous year. Social support services increased by more than two thirds. The report also revealed there had been an increase in legal aid grants for offences of violence as well as a spike in applications for restraining orders. In response, a partnership was set up with major hospitals and medical services to provide support to clients with mental health issues and those who had experienced domestic violence.