Legal aid reforms trigger huge increase in parents seeking help from child contact centres

The number of parents self-referring directly to child contact centres has drastically risen in the last ten years according to new figures released by the National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC).

Self-referrals from separating parents have risen astronomically from 3.7% of total referrals in 2009/10 to 35.8% in 2018/19 in the same period referrals from solicitors have reduced from 67.8% to 21.9%.

The stats released today are a clear indication of the consequences of legal aid reforms for families experiencing separation. 

The consultation process for legal aid reforms started in 2011 and came into force in 2013. Since then legal aid for family law has only been available for a limited range of cases including domestic violence and international child abduction. 

The NACCC accredits 350 centres nationwide run by around 4 000 volunteers and 1 000 staff. Over 17 000 children benefited from accredited services in the past year.

NACCC collected referral data from centres nationwide and found that in 2018/19 3 879 self referrals were made out of a total referral number...

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