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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/19022
Record ID: e89234ff-3555-4725-b82c-1b8c47bac2ed
Electronic Resources: and
aid
06.pdf
august
legal
Web resource: http://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/publications/reports/documents/women
Type: Report
Title: Women and legal aid : identifying disadvantage
Authors: Whitaker, Louise
Svensson, Alicia
Bathgate, Jane
Hunter, Rosemary
De Simone, Tracey
Keywords: Indigenous issues;Older people;CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse);Disability;Regional rural and remote areas;Legal issues
Year: 2006
Publisher: Griffith University & Legal Aid Australia
Notes:  General Overview: This Australian study examines the refusal of legal aid applications to Legal Aid Queensland, and finds that the application and refusal processes have systematically adverse impacts on women from non English speaking backgrounds (NESB), Indigenous women, older women, rural and regional women and women with a disability.

Objective: This project sought to determine whether women who are Indigenous, NESB women, women with a disability, older women (over 60 years of age), young women (18 – 20 years) or those living in regional or rural areas have equitable access to legal aid.

Methods: The authors examined refusals of women’s applications for legal aid between July 2001 and June 2003. They analysed all applications and refusals, analysed 322 files and interviewed 152 women whose applications were refused.

Discussion: The greatest demand for legal aid was for family law issues, with domestic violence a distant second and anti-discrimination law a remote third. NESB women and Indigenous women had high rates of legal aid applications, while young and older women were under represented in legal aid applications. NESB women, women with a disability, Indigenous women and older women experienced high rates of refusal of legal aid, while younger women experienced relatively low refusal rates.

Barriers to applying for legal aid include a lack of information about Legal Aid Queensland, funding restrictions, the application form (especially for NESB women), lack of awareness of legal rights, reluctance to invoke the legal system, limited access to lawyers and legal aid offices, and misinformation about legal aid circulating in the community.

Disadvantaged clients tended to have multiple dealings with Legal Aid Queensland, indicating that they have complex and recurrent legal problems. Over 60% of women did not understand the reason why they were refused and most of those who did understand the reason disagreed with it. However there was a low rate of appeals because of lack of faith in the appeal system, lack of knowledge about the appeal process, lack of time and lack of emotional capacity.

Women who were refused legal aid either handled the matter alone (38%), paid for a lawyer (27%) or did not pursue the matter (22%). About one third had positive outcomes, particularly those who paid for lawyers and those with domestic violence matters.
URI: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/19022
Physical description: 288 p.
Appears in Collections:Reports

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