Investment in legal assistance services 2020–25
In May 2020, the Attorney-General announced the outcomes of the tender process to allocate Queensland and Australian Government legal assistance service delivery funding over 2020–25.
The Queensland Government allocated $112.152 million of this funding to 24 community organisations who were successful in the process. This funding is for providing free or low-cost legal services to vulnerable and disadvantaged Queenslanders. The funding includes:
- $66.319 million in Queensland funding
- $45.832 million in Australian Government funding
A breakdown of the 2020–25 service delivery funding provided to individual community organisations is set out below.
2020–25 funding
| Community Organisation | Queensland and Commonwealth 2020–25 |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Legal Service NQ Inc | $3,399,180 |
| Aged and Disability Advocacy Australia Ltd | $2,004,634 |
| Basic Rights Queensland Inc | $5,291,050 |
| Cairns Community Legal Centre Inc | $4,259,841 |
| Caxton Legal Centre Inc1 | $11,253,654 |
| Central Queensland Community Legal Centre Inc | $3,967,460 |
| Encircle Ltd (Pine Rivers Community Legal Service Inc) | $3,695,072 |
| Gold Coast Community Legal Centre and Advice Bureau Inc | $6,431,861 |
| Hub Community Legal | $5,403,464 |
| LawRight Inc | $10,080,791 |
| LGBTI Legal Service Inc | $1,303,610 |
| Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre Inc | $2,396,817 |
| North Queensland Women's Legal Service Inc | $6,953,877 |
| Northside Connect Inc (prev. Nundah Community Support Group Inc) | $1,498,813 |
| Prisoners' Legal Service Inc | $2,840,200 |
| Queensland Advocacy Incorporated | $3,367,800 |
| Refugee and Immigration Legal Service Inc | $5,042,077 |
| Suncoast Community Legal Service Inc | $2,602,521 |
| TASC National Ltd | $9,887,997 |
| Tenants Queensland Inc | $1,817,098 |
| Townsville Community Legal Service Inc | $2,808,538 |
| Women's Legal Service Inc | $10,037,174 |
| Youth Advocacy Centre Inc | $2,408,069 |
| YFS Ltd | $3,399,919 |
| Total | $112,151,517 |
The total 2020–25 amounts shown above include indicative amounts for indexation on the funding.
The Queensland Government also allocates funding to Community Legal Centres Queensland (CLCQ) to deliver peak services. Over 2020–25, CLCQ will receive $2,478,195.
1This table does not include the direct allocation of $1,165,825 Caxton Legal Centre for statewide coronial services.
2020–21 funding
$1.238 million was also directly allocated to 5 community organisations to deliver services in 2020–21 in regions where there were no successful organisations. The direct allocations will mitigate service delivery gaps until a subsequent procurement process is undertaken.
The organisations listed below were allocated 12 months interim funding to mitigate geographical and area of law service delivery gaps over 2020–21.
| Community Organisation | Queensland and Commonwealth 2020–21 |
|---|---|
| Bayside Community Legal Service Inc | $143,763 |
| Care Goondiwindi Association Inc | $147,964 |
| Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre Inc | $499,008 |
| Moreton Bay Regional Community Legal Service Inc | $144,129 |
| Western Queensland Justice Network | $302,940 |
| Total | $1,237,804 |
Direct allocations
These organisations were unsuccessful in the tender process to allocate Queensland and Australian Government legal assistance service delivery funding over 2020–25.
The Attorney-General allocated these organisations funding to give them enough time to find an alternative funding source.
| Community Organisation | Funding term | Queensland funding |
|---|---|---|
| Carers Queensland Ltd | 2020–21 | $293,955 |
| Centacare | 2020–21 | $186,890 |
| Court Network Inc | 2020–21 | $496,719 |
| Environmental Defenders Office | 2020–25 | $1,128,196 |
A further $1,165,825 was allocated directly to Caxton Legal Centre Inc for the continued delivery of state-wide coronial assistance services.
Program coordination
The following table shows funding set aside over 2020–25 for various program coordination items:
| Program coordination | Queensland 2020–25 | Commonwealth 2020–25 |
|---|---|---|
| Community organisation sundry expenses | $928,828 | $212,979 |
| State Program Manager (Legal Aid Queensland) | - | $766,222 |
| Community legal education collaboration fund | - | $500,000 |
| Data collection system maintenance | - | $1,326,448 |
| Translating and interpreting services | - | $4,209,360 |