Community legal centres in New South Wales help tens of thousands of people each year, particularly those affected by domestic, family, and sexual violence, or facing housing crises. They assist with a range of everyday legal issues, including relationships, debt, and discrimination.
But community legal centres are in a critical funding and workforce crisis, preventing them from being able to meet demand in a time of grave cost-of-living pressures and growing demand for free legal assistance.
We call on the NSW Government to contribute more funding to community legal centres to ensure that people in crisis have somewhere to go.
What we need
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Doubling of existing funding from the NSW Government for community legal centres in NSW. This includes ensuring all community legal centres in NSW have adequate baseline funding from the NSW Government.
This will help to:
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Ensure more people in need can access legal assistance. Services are currently unable to meet skyrocketing demand – which increased by 24% in the last financial year.
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Help address workforce issues by enabling pay increases. Community legal centre staff are seriously underpaid compared to Legal Aid lawyers.
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- Survey on unmet legal need to attain better data for free legal services in the state.
- Complete geographic coverage of community legal centres across NSW.
What can you do to help?
What community legal centres and other organisations can do to support the campaign
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Meet with your local MP.
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Encourage your local MP to write a letter to the NSW Attorney General.
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Request that your local MP highlight the experience of their local CLC in parliamentary speeches and in their public activities (including their local newsletters and socials).
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Share CLCNSW campaign posts on social media, or make your own and link to this campaign page. Use the hashtags #SaveCommunityLegalCentres, #CommunityLaw and #FundFrontlineServices, and tag your local MP in your posts. Follow and share us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
Let CLCNSW know when you are having meetings with MPs so we can share information! Just email clcnsw@clcnsw.org.au.
What parliamentarians can do to support community legal centres in New South Wales
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Relevant Ministers: Work through budget and Cabinet processes to secure increased, reliable base funding for community legal centres and other legal assistance services.
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Government MPs: Make representations to their Ministerial colleagues and in caucus to advocate for community legal centres.
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All Parliamentarians: Make speeches and put motions in parliament calling for greater support for community legal centres.
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All Parliamentarians: Take a photo with a ‘Save Community Legal Centres’ campaign sign, encouraging the government to adequately fund community legal centres in NSW, and post this on social media with the hashtags #SaveCommunityLegalCentres, #CommunityLaw and #FundFrontlineServices.
This is the New South Wales-based community legal centres funding campaign. To learn more about the national Save Community Legal Centres campaign, visit the national campaign website here.