The Wire

Cuts to native title funding for defendants will threaten the efficiency and equality of native title claims, say farmers and pastoralists. The Native Title Respondent Scheme, which funded legal representation for people facing native title claims, was cut by the Federal Government late last year.

The government hopes to save $2.2 million dollars over the next two years by making the cuts, which came in to affect last week. Pastoralists and farmers are worried they won’t be able to afford the legal fees, but native title experts doubt the cuts will have any significant impact.