Legal Assistance Action Plan


30 September 2022

The ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury has today released the ACT’s Legal Assistance Action Plan for 2023-2025 (the Action Plan).

The Action Plan sits under the inaugural Legal Assistance Sector Strategy for 2023-2025 (the Strategy), which was released by the ACT Attorney-General on 1 July 2022. The Action Plan provides a road map and implementation plan to support the delivery of the Strategy, by outlining measurable targets, timeframes and lead agencies to operationalise the Strategy’s seven key initiatives.

The Action Plan will support and complement a range of other work being undertaken by the ACT Government in increasing access to justice across Canberra, including in the community and health sector. The overarching strategic directions for the Strategy and Action Plan are:

The Strategy and Action Plan was produced from a collaborative, co-design process with the ACT legal assistance sector and broader justice stakeholders, stewarded by the ACT Government Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS). JACS facilitated the collaboration through in-person ACT Legal Assistance Forum meetings and virtual working sessions.

Legal assistance service providers and broader justice stakeholders provided significant input, including:

The publication of the Strategy and Action Plan is a requirement under the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-25 (NLAP). The NLAP is an intergovernmental agreement that facilitates the provision of Commonwealth funding to Legal Aid Commissions, Community Legal Centres and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services.

More information about the process to develop the Strategy and Action Plan, and the collaborative commitment by the Sector, ACT Government and justice stakeholders to implement the Action Plan and improve access to justice for Canberrans can be found here.