What is a community legal centre? Expand Community legal centres play a vital role in ensuring everyday people can access the legal help they need, at the time they need it most. Centres help everyday people and people experiencing discrimination and disadvantage with a range of problems, which means they don’t spiral out of control or create other problems. Community legal centres are independent community-based organisations that provide free, or low cost legal help. This help can include: information, referral, legal advice, non-legal support, duty lawyer services, casework (including representation services) and community legal education. Some centres are generalist centres providing general community legal services for people living in a geographic area, either in the metropolitan area or in regional and remote areas. Others centres are specialist centres providing services within one area of expertise, for example, mental health, tenancy, employment law or consumer issues. Some 'generalist' centres also provide some specialist services. Find a community legal centre
What services do centres provide? Expand Services can include: information and advice; referral; casework and minor assistance; representation and advocacy; duty lawyer services; community legal education; non-legal support; policy and law reform. Each community legal centre may offer different services, depending on the needs of their community. Find a community legal centre
Who qualifies for services? Expand Community legal centres primarily target their services for people who are ineligible for legal aid and who are unable to afford the services of a private lawyer. Some centres are set up to meet the needs of specific people - such as young people, women, or people experiencing homelessness. Most centres have eligibility requirements so you will need to check these when contacting the centre. A community legal centre will not be able to assist you if it is already providing services to another party in a dispute. This is called a conflict of interest. In order to determine if there is a conflict of interest you may be asked a series of questions. If there is a conflict of interest, we suggest you contact another centre, or another legal provider. Find a community legal centre