The Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) would have been forced to stop representing clients in courts around Dubbo if funding cuts were not reversed, according to ALS chief executive Phil Naden.
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"We were in the process of closing 12 courts across NSW and the ACT. We looked at closing some courts around the Dubbo circuit and the Wagga circuit," Mr Naden said.
The federal government's decision to restore $25.2 million to ALS, Community Legal Centres and Legal Aid for the next two years was made on Tuesday, more than a year since it was announced the funding would end.
Mr Naden said it was "ecstatic news" and he was "jubilated and elated".
"We don't have to visit closing courts or making staff positions redundant or limiting our services."
There are eight ALS offices within the western region including Dubbo, Walgett, Bourke, Broken Hill and Wagga Wagga.
Mr Naden said the Dubbo branch would average around 1,000 clients a week.
"It's been an unsettling time around the funding. They announced the cuts 14 months ago and now that they're reversed, our staff are more settled and the community is more settled," he said.
"The week before the reverse we cut our family law which did outreach to Dubbo. Now we'll have to reevaluate and see if we can reestablish it."
Mr Naden said the funding would be used to sustain and deliver ALS's current programs.
However, the organisation is not out of the woods yet.
Mr Naden said there is still a threat that the custody notification service- a 24-hour legal advice phone line for Aboriginal people taken into police custody- would be cut, as it was funded through a one-off grant from the Attorney General's Department.
More than 33,000 people signed the petition calling for the cuts to be reversed and Mr Naden said he was grateful to all those who gave their support.
"I'd personally like to thank everyone from the western region, particularly those who signed the petition.
"It was only with the help of everyone across the whole network that we were able to keep our businesses going and reverse these cuts."
Funding for the ALS was expected to finish at the end of June.