Hon Simon Power
Minister of Justice

15 September 2010 Speech Notes

Address to
National Hui of Community Law Centres
Rotorua

I’d like to thank the Rotorua District Community Law Centre for hosting this hui and the Canterbury Community Law Centre for helping to organise it.

Thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to officially open your conference.

Since I spoke to you at last year’s hui, New Zealand’s 26 community law centres have begun a period of significant change.

The catalyst for that was Dame Margaret Bazley’s critical report into the legal aid system.

In that report, Dame Margaret acknowledged the important services you provide in ensuring that everyone, not just a privileged few, can afford access to justice.

That’s a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly concur.

In 2008-09, community law centres were used by nearly 230,000 people, many of them the most vulnerable members of our society.

However, Dame Margaret expressed concern over the variation in the kind, quantity, quality, and cost of services provided.

And she made several recommendations in that regard, including:
• Developing stronger national oversight of community law centres.
• Standardising the types of services provided, and
• Developing stronger quality standards.

I’m delighted to see that community law centres have responded to these concerns by proactively working with the Legal Services Agency to develop quality standards.

You will no doubt be aware that the LSA is undergoing significant change, with the agency being disestablished and its functions absorbed into the Ministry of Justice.

The Legal Services Bill, which is currently before the Justice and Electoral Select Committee, will implement many of the recommendations of Dame Margaret’s review and will replace the Legal Services Act 2000.
Under the bill, the Ministry of Justice will administer the contracts between the government and community law centres in a simpler and less prescriptive way.

Both the Government and community law centres will have greater flexibility to negotiate new contracts and to adapt and improve services.

I’m keen to hear your thoughts and I encourage you, as experts in this field, to make a public submission.

Submissions close on October 8 so you still have plenty of time.

But today, what I want to make very clear is that this Government remains committed to ensuring the long-term viability of community law centres.

In recent years your main source of funding – the Lawyers and Conveyancers Special Fund – has suffered as a result of the slowing housing market and lower interest rates.

That meant that in 2009-10, community law centres faced a funding cut of nearly 70 per cent, putting the future of some centres under serious threat.

The Government was not prepared to let that happen, which is why we provided a $7.2 million top up in last year’s Budget.

And, in this year’s Budget we provided a further $5.9 million over the next two financial years to keep funds at the same level.

I think that demonstrates very clearly the importance the Government places on the services you deliver.

Unfortunately the Government cannot afford to continue topping up these funds year after year and there’s no budget for increases to the total funding level for community law centres in the near future.

That means once the Special Fund recovers, the focus will be on ensuring that the money available is targeted to establishing a safety net for any future shortfalls.

It will take quite a while to build up the substantial reserves needed for this safety net to be a reliable, long-term solution.

As I said to you last year, community law centres need to be innovative in the way they deliver services, and need to be looking to find additional sources of funding outside of government.

And that’s still the case.

But one area where the Government can help is in increasing the level of pro bono services provided to community law centres.

Greater assistance from the profession would help to relieve some of the financial pressure you face from the growing demand for your services, particularly in tough economic times.

It would also enable you to build on what you provide now, to produce an even higher level of service.

I intend working with the Law Society on ideas for how we can do this.

I want to assure you the Government values the contribution that community law centres make to our goal of shifting the focus of the justice system to users of the system, particularly those who are in it through no fault of their own.

But there’s always room for improvement.

Dame Margaret found that your services are fragmented and can vary widely between centres.

She was concerned about the variation in the kinds and quality of services available.

In one example, one community law centre told her it did not provide any family law services.

I believe you also have another issue which doesn’t help – a lack of public awareness.
Previous research has identified that less than half of the population is aware of community law centres.

If that’s correct, it seems to me you need to work together to figure out how to increase awareness.

Perhaps a national body is the answer.

A national body could mean greater co-operation between community law centres, and a stronger voice.

Initiatives such as a single national 0800 number to direct cases to individual centres could also be explored.

It was obvious during the recent contract renegotiations with the Legal Services Agency that a strong national approach was useful and benefited both sides.

In the future, co-ordination between community law centres will be increasingly important to ensure you can provide your services efficiently, and can help a growing number of people.

I agree with Dame Margaret.

I believe community law centres need to make sure that a common set of services are available to all New Zealanders, regardless of where they live.
A stronger national oversight of services will ensure you have an even broader reach.

I believe such initiatives are best coming from you. That way any changes are more likely to be workable and enduring.

I hope you’ll be able to use some of the next three days to explore these issues and how to build on your excellent work.

Thank you again for the opportunity to open your hui.

ENDS

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