Carolyn Bond, writing in The Guardian Today (Australian edition, 28.6.2014) asks: ‘Who will speak out for those suffering family violence and the victims of predatory debt collectors, now that George Brandis is restricting Australian community legal centres’ advocacy?’. She continues: ‘The widening gap between the most disadvantaged who may qualify for legal aid and those who can afford a private lawyer is getting wider. Those who rely on community legal centres typically have low incomes and face a host of common but often serious legal problems, flowing from relationship breakdown, tenancy disputes, credit and debt, consumer issues, family violence, fines and mistreatment in the workplace’.
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