MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 11 June 2025
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (ALS) says the NSW Government is failing to fund life-saving legal services amidst unprecedented changes to the court system – which will result in delays, chaos and unjust outcomes for Aboriginal people.
From July, all people who are refused bail by police in regional NSW will appear before a centralised ‘virtual’ bail division, without any funding to the ALS to represent Aboriginal children and adults dragged before the new online courts.
Karly Warner, CEO of the ALS, says that if the NSW Government doesn’t provide additional resources to the ALS to accompany these changes, an estimated average of nearly 40 Aboriginal people every day may not have access to culturally safe legal services.
“This is going to be chaotic, dangerous and unjust,” Ms Warner said. “We are already seeing our clients languishing in police and court cells for dangerous periods of time waiting to make a bail application due to increases in remand following changes the NSW Government has made.”
“The NSW Government has now made changes to policy without considering the impact on Aboriginal people and the Aboriginal Legal Service. To date the Aboriginal Legal Service has not received the necessary investment from the NSW Government to accompany legal system changes that disproportionately harm Aboriginal people, despite the life-saving support we provide to thousands of Aboriginal women, children and men each year.
“As we approach the end of this financial year, the state government knows about the resourcing we need to provide the critical services our clients deserve, but when it comes to investment in policy reform, it seems our clients are not a priority.
“We are concerned that these court changes, coupled with recent policies and laws which are driving more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into contact with police and prisons than ever before, are being rolled out without any consideration of the investment needed for us to simply do our jobs.
“If the NSW Government neglects to fund our services, it will be a devastating step backwards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in regional NSW who may no longer be able to access the ALS in their bail matters, a time when they are at their most vulnerable.
“This is a critical point where the Attorney-General has the opportunity to make a sensible decision – one that will impact nearly 300 Aboriginal adults a week – and commit to the government’s obligations under Closing the Gap,” says Ms Warner.
ENDS
Media contact:
Catalina Casar, [email protected], 0421 547 759
