Legal aid offered 5658 services in the Bendigo region in 2012/13, which grew to 7225 in 2014/15.

The continued use of circuit courts for the County Court and Federal Circuit Court is placing further strain on the system in regional areas, lawyers say.

VLA Bendigo managing lawyer Marcus Williams said the system was creating delays, made worse by a lack of funding.

“There are inherent inequities for people in regional areas accessing the justice system,” he said.

“County Court circuits create real difficulties. Sexual offences take priority because there are time limits in which they have to be heard.

“But if you have a matter like aggravated burglary or another serious offence, you could be waiting a very long time to be heard.

“This can affect wellbeing and mental health, through the stress and anxiety of having this undetermined case hanging over your head without certainty to any outcome.”

Circuit courts operate in blocks of several weeks in regional areas, creating small windows for certain matters to be heard.

VLA is calling for an additional $72 million annually, including $42 million from the Victorian government, to address the increasing demand in regional areas.

While the number of services being offered by legal aid lawyers in Bendigo had increased markedly in two years, the number of unique clients had decreased.

In the same period, the number of new people asking for legal aid assistance decreased from 2586 to 2294.

The figure indicates those already in the legal system are requiring help for an increasing amount of matters in Bendigo.

Mr Williams said people in Bendigo were also missing out on specialist courts available to those in Melbourne.

“While there is great goodwill from all involved to make things work, we still don’t have access to therapeutic programs such as court integrated services or specialist courts like the Family Violence, Koori or Drug Courts,” he said.