Federal Government cuts to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services will mean that even more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will not be able to access essential legal services and will further entrench Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as second class citizens in their own country, says the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services peak body.
The Abbott Government is set to announce the defunding of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS), the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), and of all Law Reform and Policy Officer positions within each State and Territory based ATSILS, in order to make an annual saving of $3m from the 2014-2015 financial year onwards.