Community Law awaits funds boost
New Zealand’s Community Law is delivering $50 million worth of services, but it receives just $11m, a new report has found.
The New Zealand Institute for Economic Research report found in 2015-16, Community Law provided more than 100,000 hours of help to at least 48,000 clients.
Funding is set to increase under the new coalition government, but it is not yet known by how much.
Community Law Centres of Aotearoa co-chairman Cameron Madgwick said the report showed the service’s economic and social benefits for New Zealand were massive.
The institute’s report says investment in Community Law helped avoid things that society wanted to prevent, like family breakups, crime and social tension.
Madgwick said of the $11m of funding, about half came from a special fund, which consisted of interest from lawyers’ trust accounts, and the rest was government funding. But the report warned that funding model was not an assured source.
‘‘We’ve been able to deliver a lot of assistance on the available money, but we’re only able to do that because of the commitment of the staff and the volunteer group,’’ Madgwick said.
The 24 Community Law centres in New Zealand have 170 staff and more than 1200 volunteer lawyers and law students.
New Minister of Justice Andrew Little said it was not yet known how much the funding increase would be.
‘‘Certainly we have a commitment to strengthening the Community Law Centre network,’’ Little said. ‘‘Community Law Centres are a critical part of making sure those who need legal advice can get it.’’
The report calls the Community Law network ‘‘an example of social investment in action’’, and says it is value for money.
‘‘We estimate that if this role had to be undertaken by an alternative publicly funded service along the lines of the Public Defence Service, the costs to provide these services would have been $30m to $50m.’’
Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley general manager Geoffrey Roberts said there had been an increase in clients with refugee-related law inquiries, so any new funding would be well received.
‘‘There’s been a lot of pressure, so it’s very welcome news,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re looking forward to receiving more funding.’’
National Organisation for Community Law chief executive Elizabeth Tennet said existing funding ‘‘made it extremely difficult for us to maintain our level of service to those who need it, and we know that people have been missing out’’.
An increase would mean more clients could be seen, she said.
It wanted to help more people understand a range of legal issues, including tenancy rights and employee rights, she said.
‘‘This announcement has provided huge hope and happiness ... it’s hopes for our clients and it’s us being able to see more people and help more people in an immediate timeframe.’’