Introduction
We have three areas of legal practice: criminal law, family law and civil law. Each practice includes specialist services. Staff from different practice areas regularly collaborate to better serve clients with multiple legal needs and to apply a wide lens to law reform initiatives. Increasingly, our specialist services follow a multidisciplinary model.
Criminal law
Our Criminal Law Division is the largest criminal defence practice in Australia. It provides legal information, advice, minor assistance, extended legal assistance, duty services, and representation in criminal courts at local, district, supreme and appellate courts, as well as the State Parole Authority and NSW Drug Court.
The practice provides community legal education throughout NSW and contributes to law reform initiatives. It is also responsible for many statewide specialist criminal law services, including the Children’s Legal Service, Prisoners Legal Service, High Risk Offender Unit, Indictable Appeals Unit, Walama Unit and the Commonwealth Crime Unit.
-
Criminal Law Division fact file
- Total staff: 339
- Total expenditure on criminal law services: $229.01m
- Proportion of overall expenditure on criminal law services: 43.41%
We provided 261,828 criminal law services to clients in 2023–24*
| Legal service type | In-house | Assigned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal representation | 11,210 | 20,791 | 32,001 |
| Duty services | 121,118 | 72,795 | 193,913 |
| Legal advice | 29,576 | – | 29,576 |
| Minor assistance | 6,338 | – | 6,338 |
*Information services are not included in service counts in this section.
Expansion of the Child Sexual Assault Evidence Program
Commencing as a pilot at Sydney and Newcastle District Courts in 2016, the Child Sexual Assault Evidence Program (CSOEP) assists children and young people who are victims or prosecution witnesses in some sexual offence proceedings. The program allows for the pre-recording of children’s evidence and the appointment of witness intermediaries to assist them.
NSW Parliament passed the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Child Sexual Offence Evidence) Bill 2023 in October, which made small changes to the existing program and expanded its operation to all NSW District Courts from 29 January 2024.
We updated the guidelines for submitting applications for grants of legal aid and extensions in CSOEP matters and created additional training resources for criminal law practitioners.
We have invested significant resources into the program. Over the next year, we will continue to monitor the impact of the expansion to ensure we are sufficiently resourced to contribute to its objectives.
Submissions on children’s rights central to Operation Mantus
In 2023, our lawyers were asked to participate in Operation Mantus, an important Law Enforcement Conduct Commission investigation into police practices when interviewing children and young people.
Our children’s lawyers identified systemic issues and provided several case studies based on our experience running our Youth Hotline and representing children in court across the state.
Our submission was received as an exhibit to the investigation, and the Solicitor in Charge of our Children’s Legal Service gave evidence at the commission’s public hearings. We made additional recommendations for law and policy reform alongside the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (ALS), which were endorsed by counsel who assisted in the investigation.
The commission’s December 2023 report made 19 recommendations, several of which arose directly from our evidence and submissions. These included a recommendation for legislative reform to ensure that children cannot be interviewed after a “change of mind” unless and until they have received further legal advice.
Our evidence and submissions were quoted at length in the report, and the commission remarked that “the work of the ALS and Legal Aid NSW in providing telephone advice to young persons in custody in police stations throughout the state is of fundamental importance to the fair and proper administration of criminal justice in NSW.”
New process for Back Up Duty Scheme intake
In February 2024, we implemented a new intake format for our Back Up Duty Scheme (BUDS). Private practitioners can now more easily apply to join BUDS, a service where private practitioners work alongside in-house lawyers, predominantly doing duty work. Meetings to determine eligibility are now held regularly instead of periodically every few years. This change streamlines our operations, builds relationships with new highly skilled private practitioners and ensures timely support for those in need.
Pilot advocates for clients seeking support with drugs and alcohol
In January 2024, two alcohol and drug (AoD) project workers commenced with the Legal Aid NSW Criminal Law Division as part of the Information Referral and Rehabilitation Pilot, which will run for two years.
The AoD workers support in-house lawyers who are assisting clients in custody seeking support with alcohol or other drugs. They help with information and referral pathways, maintain up-to-date information on eligibility criteria and the availability of residential rehabilitation and community-based supports, and assist with intake assessments for these services.
The AoD workers have received over 200 referrals from in-house lawyers since the pilot began. They have been able to provide letters outlining the realistic options of clients in the AoD space, which have assisted lawyers in advocating for the best outcomes for clients.
The pilot has confirmed the limited availability of beds for those in need, particularly those coming straight from custody, and will continue to advocate for better outcomes for these clients.
Client supported to return home following drug charge ordeal
Our Commonwealth Crimes Unit recently acted for an elderly Korean client whose luggage was searched when he arrived in Australia and found to have drugs concealed within it. He was the victim of a sophisticated scam targeting older people. Following his acquittal on a drug importation charge, the Department of Home Affairs advised that they would not assist him in returning to Korea. The client, who spoke no English, was released from court to the street without his required medication, with no accommodation and no money.
Legal Aid NSW staff rallied around the client, who was provided clothes, accommodation for the night and Korean food, which he had been craving after over a year in gaol. Staff helped him collect his medication and property from the gaol.
The following day, arrangements were made with the International Organization for Migration, which organised his return to Korea and accommodation for his remaining time in Australia.
Specialist team to support Sydney Drug Court expansion
A new specialist Legal Aid NSW Sydney Drug Court Team now operates in the purpose-built interagency office located at the Downing Centre Court complex.
Having a designated team will improve our client service delivery by providing clients with greater access to legal representation. It will also strengthen our working relationships with other stakeholders, which is fundamental in a therapeutic jurisdiction.
Drug Court solicitors have provided training to in-house Legal Aid NSW solicitors to promote awareness of the new expansion and of the Drug Court, including at the recent 2024 Criminal Law Conference.
The year ahead for the Criminal Law Division
- We will continue to educate the profession and update our processes to reflect the creation of coercive control as a standalone offence in NSW, changes to the ‘show cause’ provisions for some domestic violence offences, and changes that require bail determinations be made by registrars rather than magistrates.
- We will work with our colleagues in the family and civil law divisions to increase our presence as a key justice stakeholder representing the interests of children and young people. We will recruit for two new temporary roles, Senior Legal Project Officer – Children’s Criminal Justice Issues and Children’s Legal Project Officer – Coordination of Services, to help us improve our service delivery to children, respond to recent youth crime-related reforms, strengthen our partnerships and achieve better client outcomes.
Family law
Legal Aid NSW is home to the largest family law practice in Australia. It provides legal information, advice and minor assistance, extended legal assistance, early resolution assistance, duty services, dispute resolution, case representation, and allied professional social support.
The division supports clients with care and protection and domestic violence law matters, provides community legal education throughout NSW and contributes to law reform initiatives.
Our specialist family law services include the Family Law Service for Aboriginal Communities, Early Intervention Unit, Domestic Violence Unit, Child Support Service, Appeals and Complex Litigation Unit and Family Dispute Resolution Unit. These services are available at our offices, by telephone and at outreach locations.
-
Family Law Division fact file
- Total staff: 299
- Total expenditure on family law services: $116.99m
- Proportion of overall expenditure on family law services: 22.18%
We provided 76,296 family law services to clients in 2023–24*
| Legal service type | In-house | Assigned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal representation | 2,295 | 12,857 | 15,152 |
| Duty services | 15,017 | 1,997 | 17,014 |
| Legal advice | 34,150 | – | 34,150 |
| Minor assistance | 9,980 | – | 9,980 |
*Information services are not included in service counts in this section.
Record numbers of mediations and increased property mediations
During the 2023–24 financial year, the Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) Service experienced a significant increase in referrals and managed a record 3,307 mediations – up 20.1 percent from the previous year. This total included 520 property mediations, a 40 percent rise from the previous year, with figures expected to rise further.
Currently, 25 percent of all FDR mediation requests are property-related, underscoring the success of the Commonwealth Property Mediation Pilot and amendments to eligibility guidelines to ensure vulnerable clients can access the process.
The rise also reflects growing confidence from both lawyers and clients, boosted by improvements to disclosure processes, two-session protocols, and increased lawyer preparation funding.
Young child returned home
Reger & Hanney (2023)
We represented a mother, Amelia*, seeking the return of her infant daughter, who had been taken to the USA by Amelia’s ex-husband.
Amelia’s ex-husband had been violent, and she was concerned about her daughter’s welfare. Amelia had filed an application under the Hague Convention, but there had been delays in processing it.
We filed an application in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia seeking urgent interim parenting orders that could be registered and enforced in the USA and which would return Amelia’s daughter to Australia. The application was successful, and Amelia’s daughter was back with her within a month.
*This client’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.
Surge in demand for specialist domestic violence services
The Legal Aid NSW Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) provides specialist services to clients impacted by domestic violence, supporting them with their legal and non-legal problems. This year, the DVU saw a surge in demand for specialist domestic violence services. Calls to the statewide DVU Hotline grew to over 15,370. DVU lawyers delivered over 10,370 duty lawyer services, 2,580 advice services, and 2,600 minor assistance services. Caseworkers, financial counsellors and mental health workers assisted over 325 clients impacted by domestic violence. We expect that demand for DVU services will continue to grow with the rollout of coercive control laws.
The DVU has been active in law and policy reform, community and legal education, and community engagement. The DVU has contributed to key law, policy and system design reforms, including those related to the new coercive control laws. It partnered with the Chief Magistrate's Office and DCJ to train stakeholders on the new Local Court Specialist Family Violence List. The DVU now provides duty lawyer services at two Specialist Family Violence List sites.
DVU has continued to provide crucial in-person services, including Family Advocacy and Support Services (FASS) duty lawyer services in regional and remote NSW. This year, its work was recognised in national media, including online, print, television and radio.
Educating the profession on Family Law Act reforms
In 2023–24, major changes were made to the Family Law Act 1975. The Family Law Amendment Bill was passed in November 2023, and most changes came into effect on 6 May 2024.
The most important changes for Legal Aid NSW clients included:
- the removal of the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility
- a simplification and reframing of the factors considered by the court when determining a child’s best interests – including a focus on the safety of children and a standalone consideration of a child’s right to connect with their Aboriginal kinship and culture
- clarification of when a court can vary existing parenting orders
- amendments to the definition of family to be more inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and traditions
- the introduction of a legislative requirement for independent children’s lawyers (ICLs) to meet with children – a standard practice for ICLs in NSW.
The Family Law Division conducted a series of webinars focusing on different aspects of the reforms for in-house staff and panel lawyers. Webinars featured speakers from the NSW Bar, judicial officers and Indigenous family liaison officers from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and in-house staff from FamAC. The webinar series will continue in 2024–25.
Making sure children’s voices are heard
Tandy & Padula (2024)
We appeared as the ICL in a case where the court had to consider recent changes to the Family Law Act (1975) that require that an ICL meet with the child they are representing.
We acted for an eight-year-old in a parenting dispute with complex dynamics of coercive control. The child’s father had declined to make the child available to meet with us and said the child did not want to meet their lawyer. We sought orders that required him to facilitate a meeting.
The court considered this and ultimately found that it did have the power to require a parent to facilitate a meeting with their child’s ICL. The court placed minimal weight on the father’s evidence that the child did not want to meet their lawyer and emphasised that attending the meeting did not mean the child was required to express a view. It made orders on the terms proposed by the ICL requiring the meeting take to place.
Expanding social work and paralegal roles across the Family Law Division
The Family Law Division expanded social work and paralegal roles following a successful trial of an interdisciplinary team approach from January 2021 to June 2022. The trial demonstrated improvements in litigation, team workload, work practices and staff wellbeing.
As a result, new positions have been created and are being recruited. A training program on interdisciplinary practice has been rolled out, and a community of practice for family law social work staff has been established.
Successful trial of remote preferred provider scheme in the Riverina
The Family Law Division trialled the expansion of remote preferred provider scheme arrangements in the Riverina from November 2023 to June 2024.
The trial explored whether a roster of additional practitioners from outside of the local area would assist parents in receiving advice and representation earlier, improving experiences and outcomes. The scheme has been positively evaluated and achieved its objectives.
Standing up for a young person’s wishes
H v AC (2024)
We acted on behalf of 17-year-old AC in parens patriae proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW. AC had been diagnosed with cancer and did not wish to continue with treatment.
Along with her family, AC is a devout Christian. After several cycles of treatment, scans disclosed a ‘spectacular’ reduction in the size of her tumour. AC believed that she had been treated miraculously and declined further medical care.
The hospital applied to the court for a declaration that AC had the capacity to refuse the recommended treatment or, if the court found that she did not, an order authorising treatment.
The case raised complex moral issues around the circumstances in which a court should override the wishes of a young person. We argued on behalf of AC that her wishes should be determinative, that an order to treat her would be a breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and was not in her best interests.
The court ordered that AC receive treatment on the basis that medical evidence suggested she would die without it. The case created a legal precedent and was covered in the media.
The year ahead for the Family Law Division
- We will partner with our colleagues in the Legal Aid NSW civil and criminal law divisions to ensure children and young people in out-of-home care or in contact with the criminal justice system can access legal advice and representation from experienced lawyers in a timely way.
- We will continue to deliver best practice duty lawyer services at the Bankstown and Liverpool local court specialist lists, deliver training and resources to key list stakeholders, and work collaboratively with the Chief Magistrate’s Office and DCJ.
- We will deliver training, develop resources and provide legal and non-legal support to victim-survivors of domestic violence, particularly those experiencing coercive control. We will continue to work collaboratively to monitor the criminal justice response to the criminalisation of coercive control and the experience of victim-survivors.
- We will work with the Department of Social Security and Services Australia to identify better referral pathways for parents who could benefit from legal advice about child support, especially those who need proof of parentage to start a child support case.
- We will work closely with Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations to ensure family law and care and protection services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are culturally safe and responsive to community needs. We will advocate for the expansion of culturally safe court models and law reform to better meet the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- The Family Dispute Resolution Service will trial a more culturally sensitive model for Indigenous List referrals, work toward building the Aboriginal mediator panel, provide cultural training to the existing mediator panel and work with stakeholders to provide improved dispute resolution services for Aboriginal families.
Civil law
Our Civil Law Division is the largest publicly funded civil practice in Australia. We provide advice and representation for clients experiencing a wide range of civil legal issues involving fundamental needs such as safe and stable housing, income and entitlements, consumer protection, immigration, human rights, mental health, fines and coronial inquests. We provide civil law services in most offices, as well as by phone and at outreach locations throughout NSW. We also provide duty services at the Mental Health Review Tribunal and Youth Koori Court.
We have dedicated specialist services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, children involved in the care and criminal justice systems, refugees, prisoners, veterans, older people experiencing elder abuse, communities impacted by disasters and people who have experienced sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace.
The Civil Law Division is undergoing significant transformation as a result of the Civil Law Blueprint, launched in 2023, which places greater focus on representation services for the most disadvantaged clients and communities in NSW. The blueprint sets our purpose “to improve the lives of people experiencing deep and persistent disadvantage or dislocation by using civil law to meet their fundamental needs”.
-
Civil law fact file
- Total staff: 244
- Total expenditure on civil law services: $50.42m
- Proportion of overall expenditure on civil law services: 9.56%
We provided 59,423 civil law services to clients in 2023–24*
| Legal service type | In-house | Assigned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal representation | 2,796 | 695 | 3,491 |
| Duty services | 1,705 | 13,051 | 14,756 |
| Legal advice | 32,086 | – | 32,086 |
| Minor assistance | 9,090 | – | 9,090 |
*Information services are not included in service counts in this section.
Civil Law Service for Aboriginal Communities turns 10
This year, the Legal Aid NSW Civil Law Service for Aboriginal Communities (CLSAC) celebrated 10 years of supporting Aboriginal clients and communities across NSW.
CLSAC is a team dedicated to the legal needs of Aboriginal clients, predominantly those living in regional and remote areas of NSW and Aboriginal women in custody.
In 2013–2014, CLSAC started out as two Legal Aid NSW pilots – the Money Counts and Aboriginal Women Leaving Custody (AWLC) projects. In 2014–15, permanent funding was secured for an ongoing service specifically supporting Aboriginal communities. The Money Counts and AWLC projects merged to form CLSAC.
The service continues to go from strength to strength, with an evaluation of CLSAC in 2018–2019 finding that “CLSAC operates a warm and compassionate legal service” which has strengths in its client focus, collaboration, consultation, cultural knowledge and campaigning through strategic advocacy.
CLSAC has staff based in the Sydney, Orange, Lismore and Wollongong Legal Aid NSW offices. Services they provide include regular outreach to Aboriginal communities and women’s correctional centres, telephone advice and financial counselling.
Win for veterans seeking reparations for abuse
We successfully challenged a decision by the Defence Force Ombudsman (DFO) in the Federal Court, obtaining $50,000 in reparations for our client and setting an important precedent.
Our client, a Defence Force veteran, was abused while serving and still has post-traumatic stress disorder more than 20 years later. His application to the DFO for reparations was refused. The DFO limited its assessment to whether physical injuries arose from the abuse and not the ongoing impact of the abuse on our client’s mental health.
In a judgment by consent, the DFO conceded that it was an error not to consider the impact of the abuse. The decision confirms that veterans can ask the Federal Court to review DFO’s recommendations and that writs of certiorari and mandamus can be issued under section 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth).
Advocacy to improve the Resilient Homes Program
Following devastating floods in the NSW Northern Rivers in February and March 2022, the Resilient Homes Program (RHP) was established by the NSW Government to support communities to build more flood-resilient housing. The program offers voluntary buybacks, house retrofits, or house-raising to eligible homeowners.
Our Disaster Response Legal Service (DRLS) collaborated with the NSW Reconstruction Authority to create guidelines and a transparent appeal process for homeowners not prioritised for assistance, or who do not receive an outcome. Appeals focus on individual or exceptional circumstances, including homeowners who are elderly, have disabilities or medical conditions, have socio-economic vulnerabilities, are experiencing domestic or family abuse, or are at serious risk of homelessness.
The DRLS developed client-facing resources and delivered community legal education to raise awareness of the RHP and the availability of legal help. We identified evidentiary requirements for appeals and designed a template letter to streamline them.
The DRLS lodged 35 appeals in 2023–24, with 15 successful and 18 awaiting outcomes. We successfully secured over $2 million in offers, with further offers pending. This assistance enables vulnerable people in flood-prone areas to rebuild their lives safely.
DRLS win helps family rebuild their home and lives
The DRLS achieved a life-changing result for a family who lost their home in the 2022 Central West floods. Their insurance claim was denied, with the insurer relying on a hydrologist report, which concluded the property was flooded by creek water, which the policy did not cover. Our client argued that the damage was caused by stormwater run-off, which was covered.
We identified flaws in the hydrologist report and noted inconsistencies with the clients’ eyewitness account, suggesting stormwater inundation. After an unsuccessful internal dispute resolution process, we lodged a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). The insurer then produced a supplementary hydrologist report, which also had inconsistencies.
We obtained additional evidence that challenged the hydrologist’s conclusions, including the timing of creek floodwater entering the town and the water flow direction. The Council opined that the property was first inundated by overland rainwater.
The AFCA panel accepted our submissions, finding that the insurer had not established that the damage was caused by flood and that they must accept the claim, estimated at over $600,000.
The approach of AFCA in considering challenges to expert reports is significant as many people lack flood cover due to unaffordable premiums and insurer’s hydrologist reports are complex and costly to challenge.
Advocacy for two-tier appeal in the new Administrative Review Tribunal
Throughout 2023–24, we contributed to the development of the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), a new federal administrative review body replacing the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, to ensure the tribunal is fair, accessible and inclusive.
In conjunction with Victoria Legal Aid, we led National Legal Aid’s engagement with the Commonwealth Government, advocating for improvements to the current administrative review system for social security, NDIS, child support and migration decisions. Most critically, working in partnership with Economic Justice Australia, we advocated to retain the current two-tier independent merits review system for social security and family assistance matters. We drafted submissions, attended consultations with the Government’s administrative review expert advisory group, and gave evidence to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee.
The ART bills were passed in May 2024 with amendments that retain two tiers of merits review, ensuring more accessible review rights for people experiencing financial disadvantage seeking to challenge Centrelink decisions. The ART is expected to be operational by the end of 2024.
Protecting the privacy of sexual assault victims
We formalised a referral pathway from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to Legal Aid NSW for victims of sexual assault whose phones have been subpoenaed by the defence.
Previously, we had received these referrals on an ad-hoc basis and observed that the subpoenas they referenced amounted to a serious invasion of privacy, required the production of irrelevant material, and caused considerable distress.
One of the first referrals as part of our new pathway was of four complainants in R v Lam (2023). Their subpoenas required that they share their phones so a full copy of the contents could be made. They were further asked to share copies of social media, email and SMS communications between themselves and 20 other people, including their spouses. We objected to the subpoenas, arguing the request was not legitimate as the communications were not relevant to the proceedings.
Her Honour agreed that some of these requests did not have a legitimate forensic purpose. She required the complainants to provide screenshots or downloads of specific relevant items, not their whole phone. She said that there is not a legitimate purpose to “seeking to compel the production of material for the purpose of checking that a subpoenaed party has complied with his or her legal obligation of compliance.”
Increased demand for help with housing problems
The Civil Law Division continues to experience increased demand for assistance with housing and tenancy problems. Our civil lawyers provided 53% more support with housing matters than in the previous year, according to statistics on in-house grants of aid, most commonly supporting clients who had lost their homes. We also provided 4,403 one-off advice sessions about housing problems such as eviction, barriers to social housing and repairs.
DCJ Housing to stop chasing statute-barred debts
We achieved an important win that led to a major change in the Department of Communities and Justice – Housing's (DCJ) approach to debt recovery.
We represented a 38-year-old woman with disabilities who had moved out of her DCJ property in 2013 and fled interstate due to domestic violence. Our client was unaware that she owed DCJ $6,987.11 due to orders they had sought from the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
Ten years later, our client re-applied for social housing and was rejected on policy grounds, which required her to make six months of repayments toward the 2013 debt. At the time, DCJ’s policy incorrectly characterised NCAT orders as court judgments that could be enforced for 12 years. We had been advocating for DCJ to change their approach for some time, as the policy was inconsistent with the law.
We successfully appealed the decision on the basis that the 2013 debt could no longer be enforced, as it had been more than six years since the client’s last payment. The Housing Appeals Committee agreed, commenting that “the department cannot seek to impose a policy that is inconsistent with the current law.”
We continued to advocate that DCJ change its policies, which have since been updated – securing a win not only for our client but for many people seeking social housing.
The year ahead for the Civil Law Division
- We will establish a civil law systemic advocacy group to provide recommendations on strategic litigation, systemic casework, law reform and advocacy. The group will lead systemic advocacy where there is no specialist team to do so and will include representatives from our Strategic Law Reform Unit as well as specialist and generalist civil lawyers.
- We will establish a new disability legal support service, bringing together lawyers and caseworkers to provide accessible, holistic and trauma-informed legal support to people with disability, their families and carers.
- We will deliver the Homeward Sisters Housing Project for Aboriginal women in custody in partnership with the DCJ and Homes NSW, dismantling legal barriers to stable housing and addressing systemic issues contributing to homelessness.
- We will establish a team to provide generalist civil advice and representation services to people in the central Sydney area, mirroring the approach in all other Legal Aid NSW offices and allowing statewide specialist teams based in central Sydney to focus on their area of expertise.
- We will implement a mental health back-up duty scheme to ensure greater transparency, equity and efficiency in the 10,000 proceedings each year in which we represent people subject to coercive orders before the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
Key challenge
Meeting the growing demand for civil legal assistance in the context of a cost of living and housing crisis. With more than one million people in NSW living in poverty, we will need to use the best available evidence to target our help to the people who need us the most and the matters where we can make the greatest impact.
Share with
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn