Legal bodies warn of court chaos, offenders out on bail if funding mess not fixed

The NT Attorney-General said Territorians were right to be concerned about access to justice, while suggesting Legal Aid might be sitting on millions of dollars of unused funds.

NT legal groups have warned of court chaos of Legal Aid’s service cuts are allowed to occur. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The Northern Territory’s peak legal groups have told the Attorney-General she must take urgent action to increase legal aid funding, warning of “uncertainty and chaos” if threatened service cuts occur.

In a joint letter this week, the head of the NT Bar Association, Law Society NT and Criminal Lawyers Association NT expressed “grave concern” at Legal Aid NT’s notice it will cut key services due to underfunding.

“The Northern Territory’s justice system is already badly underfunded and overburdened and is simply not in a position to withstand this latest blow,” the letter said.

It also revealed some cuts could come into effect as soon as this month, with some listed cases not being funded as of October 21.

NT Bar Association president Mary Chalmers SC, Law Society NT president Richard Henschke and Criminal Lawyers Association NT president Beth Wild.

Organisation presidents Mary Chalmers SC, Richard Henschke and Beth Wild laid out 12 “profound, immediate and wide-reaching” impacts of the proposed legal aid changes.

That included defendants sitting on remand for longer, lawyers' livelihoods threatened, and some victims having to face cross examination from a self-represented defendant.

They warned some trials would be unable to proceed due to a legal principal requiring someone charged with a serious crime to have legal representation if desired.

“More defendants will be released on bail in the above circumstances because courts will be unable to justify continuing remand,” the letter said.

Legal Aid services jumped dramatically in 2023 (FDR = Family Dispute Resolution). Source: Legal Aid NT 2022-23 annual report.

Legal Aid NT receives funding from both federal and Territory governments, with federal money generally going to civil matters and the NT funding criminal cases.

Funding at both levels of government has remained relatively stagnant over the past five years; the NT’s contribution increased from $7m in 2019 to $8.3m in 2023, plus a one off $2.5m grant, while federal government grants increased from $6.5m to $7.2m over the same period.

At the same time Legal Aid’s annual report shows a dramatic jump in legal representation services in 2023, helping 4257 Territorians in court and family disputes.

Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said she had asked Legal Aid to approach the federal government about accessing what she described as millions of dollars sitting unused.

“The money Legal Aid received from the Commonwealth had been portioned aside for civil cases, and it’s been underspent,” Ms Boothby said.

“There’s $6m that’s accumulated due to the underspend, and it’s a cash reserve sitting there not being tapped into.

“I have asked Legal Aid to go back to the Commonwealth government and ask if those funds can be used.”

Ms Boothby said Territorians were right to be worried about access to justice in the NT legal system.

“We’ve had eight years of Labor under a crime crisis, and we have a broken system now,” she said.

“I’m focused on ensuring that as all the (legal) changes happen through parliament, that we have a justice system that works efficiently, and there is a lot of work to be done.”

Originally published as Legal bodies warn of court chaos, offenders out on bail if funding mess not fixed