One of the country's most prominent indigenous legal aid agencies has announced it will not take on any new criminal matters in Alice Springs for the rest of the year, as it faces a mass exodus of lawyers. It's raised concerns some of Alice Springs' most vulnerable residents may need to represent themselves in court.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 It's the main legal aid agency for Aboriginal Territorians, but the North Australian Aboriginal
00:07 Justice Agency is in crisis.
00:10 Naja this week lost its third chief executive in 12 months.
00:16 And now, its Alice Springs office is turning away clients from Monday.
00:20 "We're suspending taking on new matters into our criminal practice from that date
00:27 until the end of the year.
00:28 It is essential and it will give us a much needed reprieve."
00:33 Naja says it will continue servicing Bush courts and the clients already on its books.
00:38 Closing its doors to new files will give remaining staff a chance to catch up on heavy workloads.
00:45 But means the burden will fall to another overworked agency.
00:49 The Legal Aid Commission will have to step in.
00:52 And when conflicts of interest arise, there's fears vulnerable Alice Springs residents will
00:57 have to represent themselves in court.
00:59 "I've made it very clear to all parties invested in this space that that is to not
01:05 happen."
01:06 The NT Attorney General says he's calling on his Commonwealth counterpart to temporarily
01:11 redirect funds from Naja to NT Legal Aid.
01:15 Former staff told the ABC the workload of 17 criminal lawyers is currently being shared
01:21 between just three at Naja's Alice Springs office.
01:25 They said rehiring didn't take place for about six months due to what they call dysfunction
01:30 and delays, while many other staff left due to burnout.
01:35 The federal and NT Attorneys General have written to the Naja board, raising their concerns.
01:42 Naja is currently advertising 19 positions across Alice Springs, Catherine and Darwin.
01:48 "I have absolute confidence that we can turn this around."
01:52 In the meantime, it's the territory's most at-risk residents bearing the brunt.
01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]