Criminal Lawyers Association slams legal aid funding shortages as ‘ticking time bomb’

The peak body for defence lawyers in the NT says resourcing in the Territory’s criminal justice system ‘has long been a ticking time bomb’.

Territory defence lawyers have added their voices to growing alarm at critical staffing shortages in the NT’s legal aid sector, saying the issue “has long been a ticking time bomb”.

The Territory’s largest legal aid organisation, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, has been at the centre of multiple controversies in recent months, with more than a dozen lawyers reportedly quitting since June.

In a statement, the Criminal Lawyers Association of the NT said it was “deeply concerned” about reports NAAJA had stopped taking on new criminal clients in Alice Springs.

“We are deeply troubled that some of our most vulnerable Territorians will now be forced to navigate a complex and in many ways foreign system without the benefit of legal representation to ensure their rights are preserved and that the system deals with their cases in a fair and dignified manner,” it reads.

“We are also concerned at the burden this decision will place on the resources of the NT Legal Aid Commission.”

It comes as NAAJA chief executive Priscilla Atkins is suing her employer in the Federal Court seeking compensation while asking the court to declare her purported termination last year was invalid.

The legal spat involved Ms Atkins and NAAJA board members trading allegations of wrongdoing from the witness box during a two-week hearing before Justice Natalie Charlesworth in Darwin last month.

Meanwhile, interim CEO Olga Havnen and principal legal officer Nick Espie both recently left the agency after spending just months in their respective roles.

In its statement, CLANT said while it would be “naive to suggest” the recent instability had no impact on staffing levels, the sector was already “stretched to breaking point”.

“The reality is that the workload faced by all lawyers in the Territory’s criminal justice system, particularly those in the legal-aid sector, has long been a ticking time bomb,” it reads.

“NAAJA’s decision to limit the caseload of its remaining, hardworking staff in its Alice Springs office was no doubt extraordinarily difficult but ultimately, entirely necessary from a work health and safety perspective.

“The real issue here is successive governments’ chronic underfunding of the legal aid sector, which is stretched to breaking point.”

The lawyers said in the statement it was “time to get smart on crime”, with a “continued lack of action” to address the issues only serving “to maintain the status quo”.

“Crime rates will not decrease while government policy fails to deal with the underlying causal factors that contribute to the over-representation of Indigenous people in the justice system, and fails to fund and place value on community-based programs and other alternatives to custody that evidence shows will lower recidivism rates and prevent crime from occurring,” it reads.

Law Society expresses ‘great concern’ at troubled legal service chaos

The Law Society NT has expressed its “great concern” with issues plaguing the Territory’s troubled Aboriginal legal aid agency after it reportedly stopped taking on new criminal cases in Alice Springs.

The ABC reported the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency had faced a rash of resignations at its central Australian office, with more than a dozen lawyers quitting since June.

In a statement released on Friday, the LSNT said it noted “with great concern the current issues impacting the operations of NAAJA”.

“The current situation at NAAJA, including personnel shortages, impacts severely on the ability of the agency to provide adequate and sustainable representation to Aboriginal people across the NT particularly in relation to criminal matters,” it said.

“Equally of concern to the society is the impact the current situation at NAAJA is having on its employees generally and on its legal practitioners in particular.

“The health, wellbeing and welfare of legal practitioners at NAAJA must be and must remain of paramount concern at all times.

“The society is pleased to note that the Northern Territory government and the commonwealth government are working with NAAJA to address the current situation.”

Society President Richard Henschke said it was vital legal aid agencies were properly resourced.

“Organisations such as NAAJA have a very important role in the administration of justice in the Northern Territory and it is vital that they are properly resourced and governed and that their staff receive adequate and appropriate support at all times,” he said.

It comes after the federal government made a bid to take control of all grant funding to the embattled agency last week, with the commonwealth and NT Attorneys-General demanding NAAJA agree to allow a grant controller to oversee all funding.

It also follows NAAJA chief executive Priscilla Atkins’ appearance in the Federal Court last month over an unfair dismissal case after the board tried to sack her following a bitter falling out last year.