Community Legal Centres Nsw

We are the peak body for all community legal centres in NSW - independent organisations providing free legal help and strategic advocacy on behalf of people and communities who need it.

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The first Community Legal Centre in NSW opened in Redfern in 1977, two years after lawyers, volunteers, academics, social workers and community activists identified a need for accessible community legal services at the Community Control of Legal Services Conference.

Since Redfern Legal Centre began - delivering a model for community legal access and services - CLCs are now operating throughout NSW offering legal advice and assistance to urban, regional, rural and remote people and communities. In 2014-2015, CLCs in NSW provided advice to 58, 428 clients and delivered 74, 754 advices.

Community Legal Centres NSW Inc. (CLCNSW) is the peak body for all CLCs in NSW. Our State Office is a small team providing support to, and representation for, our member Centres, in government and community fora.

New South Wales has a network of 39 Community Legal Centres (CLCs), independent community organisations providing access to legal services throughout the state, with a particular focus on services to disadvantaged and marginalised people and communities, and matters in the public interest.

CLCs have a distinctive role in the NSW community and legal sector by:

- Providing general legal advice and assistance for socially and economically disadvantaged people. This includes taking on strategic casework on matters that may affect many in the community.

- Addressing special areas or specific poulation groups through dedicated Centres (e. g. tenancy, credit and debt, domestic and family violence).

- Encouraging capacity building for people to develop skills for self-advocacy.

- Advocating for improved access to justice and more equitable laws and legal systems.

Centres are committed to achieving systemic change through community legal education, and through law and policy reform.