Indigenous legal services and justice advocates say the 2026-27 federal budget has effectively cut funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services in real terms – with the $164 million 2026-27 allocation failing to increase beyond inflation despite rising demand and a national push to reduce First Nations over-representation in the criminal justice system.
The budget delivered Tuesday 12 May allocates $164 million to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services in 2026-27 alongside $110.1 million for community legal centres through the National Access to Justice Partnership. The figure has remained essentially flat in real terms despite the National Agreement on Closing the Gap target to reduce the rate of First Nations adults held in incarceration by at least 15 per cent by 2031 and to reduce the rate of First Nations young people in detention by at least 30 per cent.
Yvette D’Ath the Executive Director of National Legal Aid said legal assistance was an essential prevention and early intervention measure that needed to be properly funded.
“We have to invest in prevention and early intervention, and it’s got to be a holistic approach” Ms D’Ath told NITV. “Legal assistance is an important component of that in keeping people out of the justice system and out of our youth detention centres and our prisons, but it’s also about housing, it’s about all those other supports.”
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, a Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, said the budget had failed to deliver on justice.
“There’s very little funding dedicated to Aboriginal responses. There were plenty of community-led solutions on the table, and very little commitment at a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families and the services that support them are under scrutiny and needing support the most” Senator Thorpe said.
She said the budget should have included funding to implement the recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and broader investment in legal and diversion services. “The government talks constantly about Closing the Gap, but you cannot close the gap while underfunding the services and solutions that our communities know work,” she said.
The peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children SNAICC – National Voice for our Children – also criticised the package. SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said the budget was a “missed opportunity”.
“At a time when our children, families and services are facing increasing and often unwarranted scrutiny, it’s disheartening to see the Federal Government failing to back programs we know will make a huge difference in our communities,” Ms Liddle said.
Ms Liddle welcomed the $218.3 million over five years committed to establish up to 40 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver specialist community-led services under the Our Ways – Strong Ways – Our Voices national plan to end violence against First Nations women and children. “This investment recognises what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have always known, that lasting change comes when solutions are led by our people, grounded in culture, and designed with children, families and communities at the centre,” she said.
Other justice-adjacent measures in the budget include $65.6 million in 2026-27 for a community safety implementation plan as part of the Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment and $8.8 million for Aboriginal interpreter services in the NT. $12.1 million in 2026-27 will go to the Attorney-General’s Department National Indigenous Australians Agency Australian Institute of Criminology and Treasury for initiatives to prevent disrupt and respond to family domestic and sexual violence.
The Northern Territory has the highest rate of First Nations adult incarceration in the country and one of the highest rates of First Nations youth detention. The community safety implementation plan is part of a broader bilateral arrangement between the Commonwealth and NT government.
Justice reinvestment – the long-term community-led approach to reducing incarceration by addressing causes of crime – has been a key focus of advocacy. The Commonwealth’s $109 million First Nations justice package has so far supported 30 community-led justice reinvestment initiatives across Australia including Gunawuna Jungai at Doomadgee in northwest Queensland.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up approximately 33 per cent of Australia’s adult prison population at June 2025 despite being approximately 3.8 per cent of the general population. The proportion of First Nations young people in detention is similarly disproportionate.
Support is available. 13YARN is available 24 hours a day on 13 92 76. 1800RESPECT is available on 1800 737 732. Lifeline is available on 13 11 14.
Sources
- SBS NITV – Budget 2026: Remote jobs and health infrastructure key focus for Indigenous communities
- National Indigenous Times – Remote jobs, housing and healthcare headline Indigenous budget spend
- SBS News – Indigenous Australia reacts to the 2026 federal budget
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