I acknowledge and pay my respects to the Traditional Owners and Custodians on whose land we live and work across NSW on the country of the Wiradjuri, Dharawhal, Darkinjung, Yuin, Kamilaroi, Bundjalung, Gumbangirr, Biripi, Awabalkal, Dhurug, Gadigal, Paakingdji, Ngemba and Dhungutti. I pay my respects to Elders past who have paved the way for future generations through their resistance and resilience; Elders present who continue to share their wisdom, knowledge and strength to protect and sustain their families and culture; and I acknowledge our emerging Elders, our Aboriginal staff and colleagues who are leading and contributing to shaping not only our organisation and the way we work with Aboriginal clients, but the wider legal system.

It is my pleasure to present Legal Aid NSW’s Annual Report for 2022–23. This report tells a story of an organisation that is resolutely committed to social justice and to ‘doing justice’. We provide vital, high-quality legal advice and advocacy every day in courts, tribunals, community centres, health services and our Legal Aid offices across NSW. We advocate for our clients through our written legal and law reform submissions and share our expertise and insights from the front line in joint working groups focused on Closing the Gap, legislative reform and almost everything in between. 

This annual report outlines our key organisational governance information and data, and provides a snapshot of our client service highlights and achievements over the last year. Behind every statistic in this report, such as the number of Aboriginal clients, young people or people from a regional or remote area that we have assisted, is a story of someone who was touched in some way by the care, compassion and advocacy of our organisation in one form or another. We share some of these stories in the following pages, but there are many more. 

I am deeply proud of my Legal Aid NSW colleagues and the exceptional legal advice, assistance and representation that they provide. Legal Aid NSW plays an essential role in our legal system, enabling it to function smoothly and efficiently. We ensure that members of the NSW community experience equality before the law, including those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community. Every member of our team is vital to fulfilling this role in our community, and I thank them all for their incredibly hard work over the last year.

As this report evidences, we continue to work alongside those advocating for, trialling and standing up for new and innovative approaches to justice that ensure our legal system is not just client-centred, but human-centred. We are very committed to working with our partners in parliament, government, the Aboriginal-controlled and community legal sector, and other interlinking social sectors to continue improving the justice system’s effectiveness. We remain ready to expand, explore and establish new and existing evidence-based approaches to delivering justice in NSW.

Strategic plan

We recently introduced the Legal Aid Strategic Plan for 2023–28. Close to 200 staff members directly shaped our strategic goals for the five years to come. Their voices came from all parts of Legal Aid NSW, across all levels – they represent our legal officers, administrative workforce, corporate services, staff networks, leaders and newcomers, from city to country to coast. 

The focus of our previous five-year strategic plan was to transform our service delivery to clients. It provided the direction we needed to action a wide range of ambitious changes in our organisation. The new strategic plan will be equally transformative, centrally focusing on supporting and investing in our people. Some of the projects include developing a Wellbeing Strategy to support staff wellbeing, ensure their health is paramount and strengthen cultural safety for our staff through a dedicated internal dispute resolution model and targeted strategies to promote inclusivity, diversity and respect. 

Closing the Gap

In September 2022, we launched the Closing the Gap Project Board to provide a high-level, Aboriginal-led decision-making voice to support, monitor and guide Legal Aid NSW’s contributions to Closing the Gap priority reforms and targets. The Project Board and the Closing the Gap Working Group meet regularly to ensure organisation-wide consistency and collaboration in developing and progressing Closing the Gap initiatives. The existing initiatives set out in the Closing the Gap program of work are only the start – new initiatives continue to be added.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Department of Communities and Justice, particularly Transforming Aboriginal Outcomes, and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), for their leadership in the Closing the Gap work being undertaken in NSW. We remain steadfast in our support for their vital role and contribution in the legal assistance sector and our commitment to partnering with them to deliver the change we need to see in our justice system and beyond for Aboriginal clients and communities. 

Project Respect

We have been on an incredibly important journey as an organisation to unearth and acknowledge where and how we can do better to recognise, support and value the full diversity of staff at Legal Aid NSW. We have been through a process of deep listening and learning over the past year which has produced a detailed plan of action to implement that will support and develop a fair, respectful and inclusive workplace culture.

I look forward to continuing this work over the next 12 months including developing a new complaints model.

Panel lawyers and regional communities

I acknowledge the continued and essential role that private practitioners play in delivering legal services to our clients across NSW, particularly in regional areas. In some regional areas, we are entirely reliant on private lawyers to deliver services to local clients. Even in areas where we have offices, we rely on private practitioners to help us deliver services to our clients. I thank the private practitioners who enable us to ensure access to justice across the state, and I look forward to exploring ways we can continue encouraging lawyers to join our panels.

Our presence in regional areas continues to grow. In 2016, we opened a satellite office in Broken Hill. Since then, we have increased the number of full-time staff, and in 2023, we opened a full-service shopfront office that provides family, civil and criminal law services. We look forward to working with the private profession in the coming year to deliver services to as many clients as possible.

One Legal Aid

It has been just over one year since we launched the new One Legal Aid streamlined client service delivery model. Over the past year, the One Legal Aid model has continued to demonstrate its worth, helping us reduce call volumes organisation-wide and provide our clients with a better experience when they first come to us for help. In response to feedback, we refreshed the model and created new and better support resources for staff. We have also launched a brand-new website with LawAccess NSW. 

Legal Support Officer uplift

Our organisation continues to grow each year, and this year was no exception. Our organisation is the largest legal aid commission and one of the largest legal practices in Australia.

Our solicitors in charge and office managers continue to emphasise the increasing demands that have been placed on our administrative staff. In acknowledgment of the increasingly complex work done by our legal support officers, in June 2023, we announced the creation of a new higher-graded administrative support role for teams and offices delivering frontline legal services to clients. This higher-graded role will take on the more complex triage and intake processes in administrative support to legal practices.

The structure of our administrative support workforce must recognise the skills and capabilities needed to perform their role. It is also important that we can attract and retain skilled administrative support staff who are a valued and essential part of our organisation.

The year ahead

With each new year, we face new challenges and opportunities. 

Front of mind for the Executive in the coming year is the need for us to support the wellbeing of our staff, providing legal services to clients with complex needs with very limited resources. Demand for legal assistance continues to increase, placing increased pressure on our frontline and in-house staff. As an Executive, we are very cognisant of the need to support the wellbeing of our staff and are acutely aware of the need to support and retain our expert, specialist staff in a very competitive labour market.  

The review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–2025 has the potential to significantly impact the way we are funded and the amount of funding that we receive in the coming years. In turn, this directly impacts our ability to continue to provide high-quality legal services to the NSW community. We will continue to advocate for an appropriate level of funding for the exceptional work that we do and the essential services that we provide to the NSW community.

Special thanks

I would like to thank the Chair and the Legal Aid NSW Board for their stewardship and invaluable contributions to our organisation over the last year.

I would also like to thank our partners in the private profession, legal assistance and community sectors for their work this year. I reiterate my deep thanks to all Legal Aid NSW staff for their incredibly hard work and ongoing commitment to our clients and our broader community. 

Lastly, I thank the Legal Aid NSW Executive Team for their leadership, expertise and support throughout the year. Their dedication and vision provide invaluable inspiration that helps our organisation to be the best it can be. 

I look forward to the coming year and to delivering on all the important work we have in our sights, both within our organisation and the wider legal system.

Monique Hitter
CEO, Legal Aid NSW