In 1997, the Australian Law Reform Commission published an extensive and high-profile report on children in the legal process. The Report spoke of the marginalisation of young people from the legal process and their limited access to legal remedy. Seen and Heard: priority for children in the legal process was a milestone in terms of recognising the limited access children and young people have to justice, and the disadvantage they confront when involved in legal processes.
The National Children's and Youth Law Centre made a leading submission to this inquiry, to which the Report makes wide reference. Since then, the Centre has advocated for and supported the recommendations in the Report, lobbying government, the legal profession, educators, service providers and others. The following are key issues the Centre campaigns for, with the aim of further improving access to justice for children and young people.
This campaigning has continued and in 2000 the NCYLC made two leading submissions to the National Association of Community Legal Centres and the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) as part of their reports on the Federal Budget (2001). Both submissions recommended increased funding for the provision of more legal practitioners dedicated specifically to children and young people. The Centre also drafted the section concerning access to justice for children and young people in ACOSS' Budget 2001: Closing the Gap.
What has featured strongly throughout this campaign work is the identification that there exists a gap in terms of the equitable distribution of legal representation to children and young people. In seeking to address this, the Centre has made recommendations for continued funding for youth advocate positions.
Most importantly, the NCYLC provides legal information/advice services to children and young people and legal representation according to guidelines.
Lawstuff is instrumental in ensuring greater access, particularly for young people in rural, regional and remote Australia.