Foreword

The Legal Aid Commission of NSW provides a range of legal services to socially and economically disadvantaged people. It is the largest legal aid agency in Australia providing over 500,000 services each year. These services include duty appearances, legal advice and community legal education.

Like most government services they are limited by the funds available.

It is important that legal aid is distributed equitably throughout the community, supported by a good public awareness of these services and sound decisions on how best to allocate them.

In this review we have examined how the Legal Aid Commission responds to the demands from the community despite funding pressures.

Peter Achterstraat

Auditor-General

December 2006