The Federal Government will restore funding to the community legal sector in the May budget, abandoning cuts outlined in previous budgets after a backlash from the law sector.

The sector has been preparing itself for a 30 per cent funding cut from July 1 with some services warning their ability to assist vulnerable Australians would be immediately impacted.

Federal Labor, peak legal bodies, the community legal sector and every state attorney-general have called for cuts to the sector to be overturned in recent years.

The Government will restore $55.7 million to the sector over three years, including $16.7 million for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services.

Attorney-General George Brandis said the sector would be “delighted” by the funding announcement and called for domestic and family violence services to be prioritised.

“It is an important announcement for the sector,” Senator Brandis told the ABC’s AM program.

“[They] have been waiting and hoping that the Government would see their point of view and we have done that and delivered for them.”

The National Partnership Agreement — the five-year plan that determines the provision of Commonwealth funds — currently provides around $42 million to the community legal sector each year.

But that figure was set to drop by $30.1 million from July 1, leaving many legal services with a substantial shortfall.

In Queensland, community lawyers warned the cuts could increase the workload for police, courts and hospitals.

Senator Brandis said the funding announcement meant there would be no funding loss over a five-year period.

“They are getting $55.7 million over three years that they were not otherwise going to get,” he said.

“That funding has now been restored so there would be no reduction in funding on the contrary, we will now be investing in the community legal sector and access to justice services generally.”

Coalition blames previous ALP government

Senator Brandis sought to blame the expected funding shortfall on cuts outlined during the previous Labor government, but the Coalition has announced its own savings in recent years.

The 2014 budget cut $6 million from community legal centres along with $15 million from legal aid commissions.

Less than a year later $35 million was restored to the sector over two years and an extra $25 million for domestic violence services.

“Most of the funding shortfall was represented by a decision that was made in the last budget of the former Labor government, which created a funding cliff on June 30 when a program terminated,” Senator Brandis said.

“That funding has now been restored so there would be no reduction in funding on the contrary, we will now be investing in the community legal sector and access to justice services generally.”

Labor welcomes funding ‘backdown’

Labor’s Shadow-Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said the announcement was a “humiliating backdown” for the Government and Senator Brandis.

“Just last week, he was claiming that funding had increased to the legal assistance sector and of course that was not the case,” he told AM.

“But it is very welcome news, it ends years of uncertainty which community legal centres and Aboriginal legal services have endured.”

The New South Wales Government delivered an unexpected $6 million to the state’s community legal sectors earlier this year, anticipating the funding shortfall from July 1.

Senator Brandis said funding would remain a “shared responsibility” between the Federal Government and the states and territories.

“I am glad that some of the states like NSW have increased their contribution and I hope that increase will continue,” Senator Brandis said.