Access to justice

A fair and effective legal system is fundamental to a just society.

The Justice and Equity Centre advocates for a legal system that all members of our community can access and understand. We provide oversight of government and legal institutions, to demand transparency and accountability.

Over our 40-year history, we have been a leader in promoting access to justice. Our recent work includes urging reform to Freedom of Information laws, ensuring access to the Courts through fair regulation of costs and improving our system for reviewing administrative decisions by government.

News and resources

News
A group of civil society organisations have urged the federal government to boost funding and fix the laws surrounding its ‘highly dysfunctional’ FOI system. The open letter, which was sent to
News
Leading transparency and civil society organisations have joined with community legal centres in calling for FOI reform.
News
Legal organisations, freedom of information (FOI) experts and media groups are urging Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to publicly clarify the Government’s position on FOI reform. Following a damning Senate Committee report
Resource
In December 2023, the Australian Government introduced the Administrative Review Tribunal Bill 2023 (Cth) to Parliament. If passed, it will abolish the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and establish the new Administrative Review
Resource
PIAC has made a joint submission with the Grata Fund to a Commonwealth parliamentary inquiry into proposed legislation aimed at reforming the way legal costs are awarded in federal discrimination law
News
Yesterday evening, the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee released its report into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. The Committee’s report paints a damning picture

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