Community Legal Centres Australia

Community legal centres are independent, not-for-profit, community-based organisations that provide a range of services to everyday people, including people experiencing discrimination and disadvantage. We assist communities across Australia. Each year Centres help hundreds of thousands of people through providing a range of services for individual people as well as more broadly for the community. Centres provide a range of legal services as well as undertaking early intervention and preventative strategies such as community legal education and community development and individual skill building. Community legal centres also play a key role in community engagement, advocacy and law and policy reform. More broadly, Centres work to develop and facilitate partnerships between legal assistance providers and legal and non-legal services (for example, domestic violence organisations, community health organisations, housing services and drug and alcohol services). This allows the Centres to provide holistic help to people and is designed to avoid escalation of legal problems. Centres provide services in offices, communities and health care settings across Australia. Centres also work together in National Networks to share information and good practice and undertake policy and advocacy work. Community Legal Centres Australia's members are the eight state and territory community legal centres associations. Together, we represent nearly 180 community legal centres across Australia. Only some associations have a funded Secretariat with dedicated offices and staff (NSW, VIC, QLD and WA).