The Hodgman Liberal Government will ensure that a funding shortfall created by reductions in Commonwealth funding will not impact on Tasmanian Community Legal Centres and Legal Aid.
Along with Attorneys-General from the other states and territories, I wrote to the Commonwealth Attorney-General last month to call for the funding reduction in the federal budget to be reversed.
We have also given assurances that financial resources for Community Legal Centres and Legal Aid will be maintained at the same level by the Tasmanian Government while we continue to strongly lobby the Commonwealth to reinstate their funding.
The Hodgman Liberal Government recognises and values the important role that legal assistance organisations play in our community, which is why we have stepped in to ensure that they won’t lose staff or resources due to the Federal Budget.
In conjunction with my interstate colleagues we will continue to lobby strongly to ensure that the Commonwealth meets its full funding obligations for Community Legal Centres and Legal Aid.