George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I can confirm that they do not. I do not know what you mean by the phrase 'gag clauses', but I take it that you mean clauses that prohibit the utterance of commentary or advocacy. The answer to your question is, 'No, they do not.' But we do not fund advocacy. If people want to engage in advocacy, that is entirely a matter for them.

At a time when the amount of money available for legal assistance is limited, what the government has done is prioritise it so that we put clients before causes. We put clients before causes and we ask those who the Commonwealth assists through the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services to prioritise work for clients. We do not fund them to engage in advocacy. We do not prohibit advocacy, but they are not funded for it.