Integral to our policy and advocacy role is the constructive advice, guidance and direction we provide to government. This page contains the submissions NLA has made to various Commonwealth Government and Parliamentary inquiries.
National Legal Aid is urging the government to include funding for key strategic priorities in the 2026–27 budget to uphold access to justice. These include baseline funding to meet demand in the Federal Circuit and Family Court for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, ongoing support for the NDIS Appeals Program, and preventing the Permanent Protection Visa Program and disaster response legal services from ending due to funding cliffs.
This page contains the Executive Summary and List of Recommendations sections from National Legal Aid's submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee's inquiry into the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026. Our full submission is available for download.
This page contains the Executive Summary and List of Recommendations from National Legal Aid's submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee's Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Bill 2026. A complete version of our submission is available for download.
This page contains the Executive Summary and List of Recommendations from National Legal Aid submission to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's consultation on a new Commonwealth Individual Disability Advocacy Program. The full version is available for download.
This page contains the Executive Summary from National Legal Aid's submission to the Department of health, Disability, and Ageing's Disability Safeguards Consultation. The complete submission is available for download.
Australia’s youth justice system is in deepening crisis, with escalating criminalisation and detention causing serious and ongoing harm to children, particularly First Nations children. We call on the Commonwealth to urgently lead coordinated, evidence‑based reform by raising the age of criminal responsibility, ending harmful detention practices, ensuring detention is a last resort, and adequately funding legal assistance to protect children’s rights and futures.
