The Northern Territory Government's calls to allocate a section of funding earmarked for the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) to Legal Aid NT (LANT) is based on "inaccurate information," the Aboriginal legal organisation says.
The calls came after earlier this week, LANT announced it would no longer provide free legal representation to people charged with crimes unless they are in custody, as it faces a significant projected budget deficit.
"Legal Aid has worked hard to try to identify efficiencies," Director Catherine Voumard told NT Lawyers. "Unfortunately, it is not possible to save the significant amount required except by drastic action."
In response, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the government wanted some of NAAJA's funding redirected to LANT, arguing NAAJA frequently refers clients to Legal Aid due to conflicts of interest.
She told ABC Radio this has added a "huge additional burden to the legal aid system," adding the "attorney-general is working through [it] at the moment".
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On Thursday, NAAJA said it works in a "spirit of cooperation and solidarity" with all frontline legal services, and warned Ms Finocchiaro's comments "risk creating division amongst legal services who have a long and proud history of working collaboratively".
A spokesperson said the NT Government does not fund NAAJA's legal services, which are funded by the Commonwealth under the National Access to Justice Partnership (NAJP).
They argued calls to reallocate funds are based on "inaccurate information and limited understanding of service delivery and funding for legal services in the NT." Conflict-of-interest referrals between NAAJA and LANT are "noticeably low," they said, adding they have requested evidence of the Chief Minister's "huge additional burden" claim.
"Aboriginal people do not have a lesser right to access Legal Aid NT services than non-Aboriginal people," the spokesperson said. "These comments reflect a view that Aboriginal people do not have an automatic and inherent right to access mainstream services."
NAAJA Chairperson Theresa Roe said the government has increased funding to police, corrections, the courts, the Department of Public Prosecutions and LANT — but not to NAAJA.
"We call on the government to explain why they've increased funding to non-Aboriginal agencies, but have not made any offer of increased funding to the Aboriginal legal service," she said.
Ms Roe added NAAJA should receive funding increases equal to those given to LANT, insisting their extra workload must be "properly recognised".
NAAJA says it represents around 65 per cent of all people appearing in criminal matters in the NT and remains the most cost-efficient legal service in the jurisdiction. The organisation said the Chief Minister's comments show a lack of understanding of the high volume of work NAAJA performs.
New CEO Ben Grimes says criminal matters have increased by 25 per cent, claiming no government department would be expected to do a quarter more work with no extra funding. He argued LANT's service reductions are "most likely caused by the increased workloads from this government's legislative and policy changes, rather than conflict of interest referrals".
"The government is trying to create a distraction away from the negative impacts and high costs of their legislative changes by creating a funding argument between legal services," Mr Grimes said.
He argued the Chief Minister had failed to acknowledge the funding imbalance between NAAJA and LANT, noting NAAJA lawyers regularly carry double the caseload.
"This government should be working to reduce, rather than exacerbate, the funding disparity between Aboriginal and mainstream legal services," Mr Grimes said.
Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has asked NAAJA to consider short-term measures to ease pressure on LANT, including referring more clients to private lawyers.
LANT's announcement comes as incarceration rates in the NT have surged since the CLP took power last year. With the age of criminal responsibility lowered to 10 and bail laws tightened, more than 1 per cent of Territorians are now imprisoned on any given day.
Almost 90 per cent of detainees are Aboriginal, and numerous reports have highlighted severe overcrowding.
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe condemned the situation, telling National Indigenous Times the announcement from LANT is a "direct result of the NT Government's shameful tough on crime human rights abuses, and the Albanese Government's failure to fix the funding crisis, or hold the states and territories to account".
"Children as young as ten will now be forced to face court without a lawyer because governments refuse to properly fund the legal assistance sector," she said.
"This is what happens when you lower the age of criminal responsibility, ramp up punitive bail laws, and push more people into the system while starving legal services of the resources they need. First Peoples are suffering most because we are already over-policed and over-criminalised in the Territory."
