See, eg, YoungUrbis Keys, 2008 Profile of the Solicitors of NSW (2009) 15; Legal Aid Commission of NSW, Review of the NSW Community Legal Centres Funding Program Final Report (2006); FergusonGlenn, ‘Bush lawyers – the problem facing regional and rural Queensland’ (2004) Dec Proctor. Also see MundyTrish, ‘Attracting and Retaining Lawyers: A problem for rural, regional and remote communities’ (2009) 34(1) Alternative Law Journal32, for additional analysis on the nature and extent of the problem.
2.
Standing Committee on Regional Development, Attracting and Retaining Skilled People in Regional Australia: A Practitioners Guide (2004) 1.
3.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Parliament of Australia, Access to Justice (2009) [2.104].
4.
Law Council of Australia and Law Institute of Victoria, Report into the Rural, Regional and Remote Areas Lawyers Survey, July 2009, 6. The report also notes that ‘51 per cent of respondents indicated that their firm accepted legally aided matters. Of those firms, the majority (50 per cent) dealt with more than 30 cases per year.’
5.
Ibid16. The report notes that more than 64 per cent of respondents indicated that their firm undertakes pro bono work and 71 per cent undertake other unpaid voluntary work within their area.
6.
See, eg, key reports such as Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, above n 3; Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, Parliament of Australia, Legal Aid and Access to Justice (2004) 113–136, and references to submission therein; SchetzerLouisHendersonJudith, Access to Justice and Legal Needs: A Project to Identify Legal Needs, Pathways and Barriers for People in NSW. Stage 1: Public Consultations (2003) [2.281].
7.
Law Council of Australia, Erosion of Legal Representation in the Australian Justice System (2004) 6.
8.
GottersonBob, Erosion of legal representation harming the justice system (2004).
9.
YoungUrbis Keys, above n 1, 1.
10.
Ibid27. Please note, ‘Government’ includes lawyers working in ‘community legal centres’ and Indigenous legal services.
11.
Ibid29.
12.
Ibid15.
13.
CullKim, Law Society of NSW, ‘Young rural solicitors in decline: New blood needed in bush’ (Press Release, 8 February 2002).
14.
Law Council of Australia and Law Institute of Victoria, above n 5.
15.
Ibid17.
16.
Ibid18.
17.
Ibid5.
18.
Ibid.
19.
Ibid19.
20.
Law Council of Australia, Funding for Recruitment and Retention of Legal Practitioners to Rural, Regional and Remote areas 2009–2010 Federal Budget (2009).
21.
To be eligible to apply for admission as a legal practitioner in Queensland, applicants must have completed an approved law degree as well as undertaken a course of practical legal training (PLT) or a traineeship in accordance with the Legal Profession Act 2004 (Qld) and the Supreme Court (Legal Practitioner Admission) Rules 2004 (Qld). PLT students study a range of subjects such as Trust Accounting, Civil Litigation, Property Law Practice and cover a range of lawyering skills including drafting, advocacy, negotiation, legal writing and client interviewing.
22.
The average law student will accrue around $34 708 in HECS fees in their undergraduate degree. See Universities Admission <uac.edu.au/undergraduate/fees/costs.shtml> at 7 January 2009. For some students there is an additional cost for the compulsory Practical Legal Training, at an average price of $6850.
23.
Of the three students who indicated they would ‘definitely’ take up an HRS, only one identified a remote location as desirable.
24.
Law Council of Australia and Law Institute of Victoria, above n 5, 37.
25.
Ibid.
26.
AdamsDorothy, Review of the Regional Solicitor Scheme (2007) 8.
27.
GuthrieFionaWattersShirley, Evaluation of the Regional Solicitor Program, Legal Aid Queensland (2005) 2.
MilesRobert L, Attraction and Retention of Professionals to Regional Areas, Queensland Department of State Development and Innovation (2004).
32.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Regional Population Growth Australia 3218.0, 1996 to 2006 (2007) 4.
33.
RiceSimon, ‘Rural access to private lawyers’ (Working Paper, Australian National University, 2008). Rice has analysed data collected by the Law Society of NSW and mapped the movement and gender distribution of private sector lawyers in rural NSW over the past two decades. [The survey] found that 42 per cent of practitioners do not intend to practise law in five years' time and that many young lawyers are intending to leave their work in RRR areas to seek better remuneration or work in the city.
34.
CourtneyMary, ‘The impact of a rural clinical placement on student nurses employment intentions’ (2002) 9(1) The Collegian12–18; WoodDanette, ‘Effects of educational focus on a graduate nurse's initial choice of practice area’, (1998) 14(4), Journal of Professional Nursing214–9; BoylanColinMcSwanDavid, ‘Long-staying rural teachers: Who are they?’, (1998) 42(1), Australian Journal of Education49.
35.
These are consistent with current LCA proposals: Law Council of Australia, ‘Recruitment Strategies that Stay the Distance’ (2009) 3Australasian Law Management Journal2.
36.
SchofieldDeborah, ‘Decision criteria in health professionals choosing a rural practice setting: Development of Careers in Rural health Tracking Survey’ (2007) 7(666) Rural and Remote Health <rrh.org.au/publishedarticles/article_print_666.pdf> at 13 April 2010; HacketJeanette, ‘Outreach should be rewarded’, The Australian (Sydney), 13 February 2008, 38.
37.
SchetzerLouisHendersonJudith, above n 6.
38.
Hacket, above n 36. Note reference to statistics which show that people in regional Australia have a university participation rate of 18 per cent compared to metropolitan participation rates of 28 per cent.
The expanded eligibility criteria includes an increase in the parenting income threshold (from $33 300 to $44 165), the personal income threshold (from $236 to $400 per week) and a lowering of the age of independence (from 25 to 22 years). See for details, <deewr.gov.au/highereducation/programs/youthallowance/Pages/default.aspx> at 14 May 2010.
41.
All university students receiving student income support are eligible to receive the scholarship amount for up to four years. In 2010 this is valued at $1300, increasing to $2128 in 2011. The Relocation scholarship is valued at $4 000 in the first year and $1000 in subsequent years. See DEEWR for details.
Law students currently contribute 80.5 per cent of their course costs compared to Education (37.5 per cent), Science (31.8 per cent) Medicine (30.4 per cent) and Engineering (31.4 per cent) students.
44.
ALSA, above n 39.
45.
BrownMelinda, ‘A Country Practice’ (2000) 74(9) Law Institute Journal15.
McGowanHelen, above n 46. The project focused on three areas of regional Victoria: Bendigo, Goulburn Valley and North East of Victoria.
49.
Ibid.
50.
Ibid11.
51.
Ibid6.
52.
Ibid11.
53.
Ibid11.
54.
National Association of Community Legal Centres, Project Proposal, Law Graduates for CLCs in Regional Areas, March 2008—March 2012, Year One: Feasibility Study (2008).
55.
Pilot Program is from 1 January 2009–30 July 2010 National Association of Community Legal Centres, Pilot Program — A partnership with ANU College of Law Legal Workshop (2009) Law Graduates for CLCs in Rural Australia <lawgraduatesrrrclc.com.au/pilot_program.html> at 6 January 2010.
