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Legal Aid News Issue 17 << Back to index Grants revamp moves into top gear Centrestage to change in the Legal Aid Commission is the evolution and consolidation of a new Grants Division. In our May newsletter we featured the main changes that are taking place. However, in the past six months further action to implement the Division’s new structure and direction have taken us much closer towards achieving our goals. On 17 September 2001 the new structure became operational. This means that the old Referrals Sections no longer exist. The new structure puts into place Operations, Policy, Audit Panels and Professional Standards, Records and Office Services Branches. Full implementation of the new structure will happen over the next 12 months. During this interim period additional resources will be employed in the Division to ensure that appropriate service delivery to internal and external clients is maintained. Six teams of grants officers are undertaking the determination of non complex family and criminal law applications. The determination of complex family, criminal and civil law matters will remain with legal officers in the Division. Policy issues on the agenda Priorities in the policy area include developing lump sum fees across all law types, simplifying the means test and developing a Commission-wide conflict policy. Consultation has taken place and continues with the Law Society and Bar Association in terms of processes to establish and operate practitioner panels. A program for the development of practice standards within the inhouse practice has commenced, the intention being to apply such standards to panel practitioners. Managers Mary Whitehead, Dora Dimos and Lyndsay Brooker consult on priority tasks for implementing processes in the new Grants Division. Team leaders Christina McAuley, Joy Gimbert and Charles Caldarei consider file allocation for their teams. Applications go live over the Net The moment everybody has been waiting for. On 29 October 2001 a pilot for the lodgement of applications for legal aid over the internet commenced in the Grants Division. The pilot will run until the end of February 2002 and signals the Commission’s determination to embrace e-commerce initiatives to achieve efficiencies in processes and procedures connected with the granting of legal aid. Stage one of the pilot will involve two teams in the Operations Branch, the Family Law inhouse practice in head office and two regional locations (Bankstown and Parramatta), and a small number of private firms with family law practices. Stage two will involve a rollout of electronic lodgement, over a period of some 10 to 12 months from the end of February 2002, to all areas of legal practice funded by the Commission whether inhouse or assigned. Both stages will involve the rollout of: - electronic lodgement of initial applications and extensions for aid - electronic proforma invoicing for assigned and inhouse cases. Director of the Division, Bernadette Grant says, "The success of the pilot and the roll out of electronic lodgement within and outside the Commission will add context to the Division’s new structure. The simplification of policies and processes is necessary for electronic lodgement. The trade off for simplification and speedy decision-making both in terms of applications and payment of accounts is the audit of practitioner files." The centralisation of the determination of grants within the Division will occur as the roll out of electronic lodgement takes place given the need to ensure timely responses to all applications. Bernadette Grant welcomes any inquiries regarding the operation of the Division and the pilot for electronic lodgement. Tel: Angelique Barnes on 02 9219 5887 Email: bernadette.grant@legalaid.nsw.gov.au Team members Mary Whitehead, Margaret Bible and Francis Decena group together to receive the very first electronic application for Legal Aid. Seconds later Francis starts processing it under the approving eye of Acting CEO Bill Grant. |
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