Ms Patricia Brazil:

I will reply on behalf of the Bar Council on the issue of legal counselling and access to legal assistance. It is important to recognise that what is envisaged in this proposed legislation is a fundamentally different procedure. It is not a diminution of or reduction in the standards of legal assistance. We are introducing new procedures so there is no equivalent within the current system. Members will see, on page 13 of the submission we prepared for the committee, that we tried to draft a kind of chart of all the different categories of legal assistance - legal advice, cultural mediators - and the different stages at which they will apply. For example, it appears there is no provision made for legal representation during the screening procedure. There is no equivalent of that at the moment. However, the point is to look at the new system being brought in by this, where legal assistance will be provided and at which points. As the graph makes clear, it is very fragmented and difficult to understand. We submit that it needs to be brought into a consistent, clearly signposted framework with the provision of effective legal representation at every stage of the process.