Preferred supplier newsletter — September 2023
This month:
Amendments to the Evidence Act
Under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1978 (‘CLSO’), the publishing of an adult defendant’s identity, prior to the matter being committed, in relation to the certain prescribed sexual offences is prohibited. The Justice and Other Legislation Bill 2023 was passed on 13 September 2023, and contained amendments to the CLSO Act which commenced on 3 October 2023.
The amendments are in response to recommendation 83 of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce Report 2.
From 3 October 2023, the prohibition on identifying an adult defendant charged with a prescribed sexual offence is removed. This applies irrespective of whether:
- The defendant is charged after commencement.
- The defendant was charged before commencement and the charge is ongoing in the Magistrates court; or
- The defendant was previously charged with a prescribed sexual offence but was not committed.
New s.7 CLSO permits an eligible person (being the defendant, prosecution, or the complainant) to make an application to a Magistrates Court for a non-publication order.
Practice Direction No.4 of 2023, published on 3 October 2023, sets out the out the process and annexes a form to use in bringing the application.
Criminal law duty lawyer training
Legal Aid Queensland’s Criminal Law Services will be running their annual Criminal Law Duty Lawyer training course this year on 7 and 8 December at our head office in Brisbane. As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting our preferred supplier law firms, LAQ will be opening up the training to law firms in South East Queensland.
The training is aimed at improving the duty lawyer skills of junior lawyers. The course runs over two days and covers relevant topics such as bail, sentencing, ethics, mental health, and Childrens Court matters. Presenters are drawn from a range of experienced criminal law practitioners and judicial officers. The course also involves a practical advocacy component where participants will have an opportunity to take part in mock advocacy exercises and receive feedback from experienced criminal counsel. Due to the nature of the training, it is only offered face-to-face. The training is free of charge to lawyers in our preferred supplier law firms. Participants may claim a significant number of CPD points.
Depending on the interest and success of the training, LAQ will look at delivering more criminal law duty lawyer training opportunities for other regional locations in future.
LAQ will be running an EOI process in the near future. More details will be provided at that time.
Standardised office opening hours for all LAQ office locations
As of 4 September 2023, Legal Aid Queensland’s 14 offices across the state will now have standardised office opening hours being 8:30am – 4:30pm.
This aligns LAQ’s opening hours with other stakeholders and will provide consistency and continuity for clients and staff. Preferred suppliers should be aware of this change when referring clients to LAQ.
Publications and resources
LAQ produces more than 100 publications and resources from factsheets to posters, brochures, wallet cards and comprehensive legal information guides on a range of topics. You can check out the publications on the LAQ website and they can be ordered online at no cost.
For more information about our publications or to order copies of the duty lawyer session report form, email publications@legalaid.qld.gov.au .
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Looking for professional development opportunities to boost your CPD points? Our CPD seminars are recorded and available on Grants Online under the Information Resources tab.
Feedback
We welcome feedback and comments from clients, the community and our suppliers. As preferred suppliers you play an important role in helping us to provide quality legal services to disadvantaged Queenslanders. If you would like to provide comments or suggestions about our services, policies, processes or staff members, you can complete a contact form or email us at complaints@legalaid.qld.gov.au at any time. We ensure a senior staff member investigates all issues thoroughly and we also analyse all feedback regularly to improve our policies, processes and services. View our Feedback and Complaints Policy.