Law and Poverty in Australia

This book provides authors and readers with an opportunity to reflect on the achievements and unfinished work of the Sackville Report, an inquiry into law and poverty in Australia produced in the dying days of the Whitlam government. Depending on the authors’ and readers’ place in the legal sector and history, the collection serves different purposes. For those who experienced the waves of change characteristic of the Whitlam era, it is an opportunity to reflect on, and perhaps be a little surprised by, the reforms that succeeded and those that didn’t. For the inheritors of the legacy of the Sackville Inquiry, who may not know any different world, it is an opportunity to learn a foundation story that informs and makes sense of the ways in which the legal assistance sector continues to operate to this day. This understanding is particularly necessary as we face the effects of the fourth industrial revolution and assess which of our established practices must be preserved and which must change to survive and thrive in a disrupted legal landscape. The objective of the Poverty Inquiry - to identify ways of alleviating poverty - remains largely unfulfilled. In the country that holds the world record for the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth, inequality is a growing problem. - Katie Miller, InPrint, Law Institute Journal Victoria, Jan/Feb 2018

Andrea Durbach is Professor and Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at the University of New South Wales.Brendan Edgeworth is Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales.Vicki Sentas is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales.