Tasmanian legal assistance programs will benefit from almost $1.6 million in grants distributed from the Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund this week.
Organisations including Legal Aid, Women’s Legal Service, Community Legal Centres and the Tenants Union will benefit from the grants.
These are the first grants from the Fund since the Hodgman Liberal Government implemented new, robust procedures to ensure grants from the Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund are spent in accordance with the terms of the grant and on genuine legal assistance programs.
Last year it emerged that a $190,000 SGF grant distributed to Unions Tasmania under the previous government had not been spent on the intended purpose and that there had been no formal mechanisms in place to ensure grant money was spent in accordance with the terms of the grant.
As a result, the Liberal Government has put in place measures including making it a condition of the grant that successful applicants enter into a grant deed prior to the provision of funds.
The new process also provides for a formal application process, in place of the previous informal procedure of the Attorney-General of the day inviting and approving applications from selected organisations.
While the principal purpose of the Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund is to compensate clients who suffer losses due to the misbehaviour of their lawyer, if the Guarantee Fund is in surplus the Attorney-General may call for applications for grants from the Fund.
Twelve legal assistance organisations have received grants of between $10,000 and $585,000.
The largest grant has been awarded to Legal Aid to assist with a range of services, including providing a child protection lawyer to serve the North West Coast.
Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund Grant recipients
LEGAL AID
$585,000 to Legal Aid for the following:
* Providing a child protection lawyer to serve the NW Coast
* Servicing the Youth Justice Court in Hobart and Launceston
* Representation at the Mental Health Tribunal
* Servicing the mental health and CMD lists in Hobart and Launceston
* Providing a ‘Serious Cases Fund’ to assist with the cost of expensive criminal cases
SENTENCING ADVISORY COUNCIL
* $150,000 to support the work of the Sentencing Advisory Council
LAW FOUNDATION
* $100,000 to support its grant program for law-related projects which are in accordance with the Foundation’s objects
LAW SOCIETY
* $70,000 for funding for legal information resources for the law library service
LAUNCESTON CLC
* $101,686 for the Employment Law Service which provides legal advice and representation to employees in Northern Tasmania
* $196,111 for the Legal Literacy Volunteer Program
WOMEN’S LEGAL SERVICE
* $150,490 for administrative support
TENANTS UNION
* $37,323 for legal services for tenants in the North/North West
* $33,965 for quality training and skills for legal volunteers
* $71,935 for community legal education activities
COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTRES TASMANIA
* $35,415 to continue to fund the policy officer position with a statewide focus
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TASMANIA SOCIETY (COMET)
* $4,000 to provide training for law student volunteers who run workshops for young women in women’s shelters
ARTS LAW CENTRE
* $4000 to the Arts Law Centre of Australia to run a community legal education project for the Tasmanian arts community
TASMANIA LAW REFORM INSTITUTE
* $16,842 for a project titled: ‘Responding to the problem of recidivist drink drivers: Is the Court Mandated framework the answer?’
* $16,842 for a project examining the feasibility of an expert intermediary scheme for the reception of evidence from children and witnesses with cognitive impairments
PRISONERS LEGAL SERVICE
* $10,000 to assist prisoners with parole applications
Vanessa Goodwin, Attorney-General
