Hidden amongst the Coalition’s costings announcement yesterday was a funding cut of $42m to the Indigenous Policy Reform Program, the program which provides funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) across Australia. NATSILS Chairperson, Shane Duffy, said that while NATSILS are seeking clarification from the Coalition as to the full detail of the indicated cuts, if such a move is solely targeted at ATSILS funding it would be highly disappointing given the Coalition’s stated commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the fact that such a cut would represent an almost 20 per cent reduction in funding for ATSILS and would signal a significant backwards step to 2008 funding levels.