Vulnerable Tasmanians seeking legal aid won't be impacted by extra COVID-19 payments under new eligibility guidelines.
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Financial support provided during the pandemic could put an applicant over the current threshold, but Legal Aid director Vincenzo Caltabiano said the board would now be able to disregard some of those payments.
"The new guidelines enable us to disregard some types of the COVID-19 financial assistance in assessing eligibility for aid, including JobKeeper payment or assets received as part of the Coronavirus Stimulus response," he said.
The Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania is jointly-funded by the Federal and State governments, with more than $5 million in grants provided to private lawyers through legal aid during the last financial year.
The majority of clients seeking out the service were said to be from vulnerable backgrounds, with the commission recording a 38 per cent rise in mental health and disability-related legal services during 2018-19 period.
There was also a 15 per cent rise in grants for child safety cases, and a 70 per cent increase in Family Advocacy and Support Service duty lawyer services.
Criminal cases rose 8 per cent.
Concerns about federal funding for the sector were raised by Tasmania's law society last year, with lawyers arguing legal aid rates had "barely changed in over a decade".
But Legal Aid this week announced a 2 per cent increase in hourly fees for private lawyers representing those in need.
Counsellors who represent clients eligible for legal aid in the Supreme Court would be entitled to $163.20 per hour, while solicitors would receive $142.80 per hour.
While both counsellors and solicitors would receive $142.80 per hour for Magistrates Court work.
A lawyer engaged through a private firm, and paid directly by a client, would generally earn about $200 to $350 per hour, while the price for a senior partner or principal sits around $600 to $700.
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"Private practitioners play an important role in delivering services to vulnerable Tasmanians," Mr Caltabiano said.
"The increase passes on the indexation received by Legal Aid from the Commonwealth and State governments and maintains the value of fees."
Legal Aid has offices in Burnie, Launceston, Hobart and Devonport.