In the lead up to the state election, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) has launched its Queensland 'Call-to-Parties' urging politicians to improve access to justice for all Queenslanders.
"Elected representatives in our state must be committed to ensuring that all Queenslanders can access justice when they need it," said Sarah Grace, Queensland President, Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA). "When people have been negligently injured at work or on our roads, abused while in care, mistreated or discriminated against, Queenslanders need to be confident that we have laws and court processes in place to ensure appropriate support and compensation are readily available to help individuals get their lives back on track."
The ALA's Queensland Branch has outlined six areas of policy and law reform for consideration by candidates vying for election or re-election at the upcoming Queensland State Election.
The priorities the ALA is focused on are: Queensland's Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance scheme; workers' compensation in Queensland; rights for victim survivors of institutional child sexual abuse; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice; advertising restrictions for personal injury law services; and raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
"This election is a valuable opportunity to focus on common law rights in our state," said Ms Grace. "We have strong CTP and workers' compensation schemes in Queensland, but there are always opportunities to improve the experience for injured people needing to access rehabilitation and compensation, and we are calling on candidates to commit to maintaining and improving these schemes.
"Likewise, victim survivors of abuse often experience delays and challenges when making claims which underscores why taking a trauma-informed, best practice approach to all abuse claims must be a priority.
"We are calling on candidates to commit to making it simpler for people to make claims and access justice by removing advertising restrictions currently imposed on personal injury lawyers in this state which are not present in other states and territories or for any other industry within Queensland."
The ALA is also urging candidates to commit to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by ensuring ongoing funding and resourcing of all Path to Treaty initiatives, including the Inquiry and the Institute.
"We also call on candidates to affirm their commitment to ensuring that all Path to Treaty processes will be culturally safe and accessible for First Nations Queenslanders," said Ms Grace.
Finally, the ALA calls on all candidates to commit to raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Queensland to 14 years and ensuring sufficient resources for alternative programs for children instead of processing them through Queensland's criminal justice system.
"As a community we can always continue to improve access to justice, and we are calling on all candidates in the upcoming Queensland election to aspire to creating a community that treats everyone, including those most vulnerable, with fairness and respect at a time where social cohesion should be paramount," said Ms Grace.
Read the complete Call to Parties document here.
