Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 895, standing in my name for today, by substituting the word 'notes' for 'supports' in paragraph (e).

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the crucial work done by community legal centres across Australia in assisting victims and survivors of domestic violence;

(b) acknowledges recent commitments to addressing domestic violence from the Queensland and Federal governments;

(c) notes the fact that regardless of those commitments:

(i) Queensland community legal centres helped 50 000 people in 2014 15, but were forced to turn away more than 80,000 people, and

(ii) community legal centres face a funding cut of $12 million in 2017 under the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services;

(d) notes the emergency meeting on Tuesday, 13 October 2015, in Brisbane attempting to find solutions to the funding crisis for community legal centres;

(e) notes the Productivity Commission's 2014 recommendation for an immediate $200 million funding boost for civil and family law assistance; and

(f) calls on the Federal Government to abandon the funding cuts planned for 2017, and work with state governments to increase funding to community legal centres.