In May 2012 …

• We provided preventative legal services to 135,711 people. These services include providing people with free legal information via our call centre, in person at one of our 14 offices or via our website; providing referrals to community and support services; helping people apply for court orders to protect them from domestic violence; distributing our factsheets and guides and providing community legal education sessions.
• 4993 people received early intervention services such as receiving legal advice and minor assistance from our lawyers over the phone, via videoconference or face-to-face at one of our offices.
• We provided dispute resolution services to 708 people to help couples work out their family law problems without going to court.
• Our duty lawyers guided 5705 adults through their appearance in the magistrates courts.
• 424 children were represented by our duty lawyers in the childrens courts.
• Our family law duty lawyers helped 175 unrepresented people get through their day in the Family Law Courts.
• We approved aid for 380 children and adults to be represented by lawyers in the Family Law Courts.
• We approved aid for lawyers to defend 1592 people charged with criminal offences.
• Our social workers helped three couples understand the requirements of their family dispute resolution conference agreement, and explained how to make the agreement best work for them.
• We helped ensure decisions made in 161 child protection proceedings were in the best interests of the children involved.
• Our consumer protection lawyers helped 50 people sort out their money problems.
• We helped 51 farmers to negotiate with banks and mining companies about their debts or disputes.

These statistics are reported in line with the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services.

*The number of people = the number of matters.

Media contact: Katherine Gorter Ph: (07) 3238 3392