National Association of Community Legal Centres Graduate Programs and Jobs

The National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC) is the peak national body for CLCs in Australia; NACLC's members are the state and territory peak bodies of CLCs.

Together, these organisations represent around 200 CLCs in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote locations across Australia. Some Family Violence Prevention Legal Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Legal Services choose to join state and territory CLC associations and also come under the NACLC umbrella.

NACLC is established for the public charitable purposes of assisting disadvantaged and marginalised people in the Australian community obtain access to legal services by, including but not limited to:

• supporting and assisting CLCs to provide these services
• providing a national forum for CLCs
• developing and coordinating national CLCs policy, and
• advancing the interests of CLCs within Australia.

NACLC’s vision is:
Achieving rights, fairness and equality for our communities.

NACLC’s mission is that:
NACLC leads, connects and develops CLCs to pursue rights, fairness and equality for all communities.

NACLC’s strategic priorities are to:

• lead in good practice for NGOs by building the long-term viability and sustainability of NACLC’s governance, management and organisational structures
• advocate for access to justice and the promotion and protection of human rights
• proactively identify and respond to the sector-identified and sector-driven needs of CLCs
• develop, maintain and strengthen mutually beneficial collaborations with CLCs and with key stakeholders and peak bodies
• establish and support the operation of the knowmore legal advisory service.

To learn more about NACLC’s vision, values and priorities, please access NACLC’s strategic plan here.

CLCs are independent, non-profit, community‐based organisations that provide free and accessible legal and related services to disadvantaged members of the community, and to people with special needs or who are for other reasons vulnerable and at risk.

There are around 200 CLCs nationally, in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote locations. In 2014/15, the top 3 specialist areas or client groups for CLCs were

• domestic/family violence
• homelessness and,
• family law.

CLCs form part of the broader legal assistance sector. There are four publicly funded legal assistance providers in Australia—CLCs, Legal Aid Commissions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services.

The CLC sector includes generalist CLCs that provide legal assistance in a wide range of areas of law for people in their local communities, including in relation to family law and family violence, credit and debt, consumer law, social security, migration, tenancy, discrimination, employment and child protection.

There are also specialist CLCs which provide services to a particular target group and/or in a particular specialist area of law. For example, there are specialist services for women, tenants, consumer and credit, welfare rights, refugees, older persons, children and youth, and people with disability, among others.

Community legal centres provide legal advice, legal information and referrals and casework. CLCs also utilise a range of early intervention and preventative strategies such as community legal education and community development, individual skill building, systemic advocacy and law and policy reform activities. More broadly, CLCs also play a key role in community engagement, developing and facilitating partnerships between legal assistance providers and legal and non‐legal services, and developing and maintaining referral networks and protocols.

Want to hear about volunteering at a CLC?

An intern from the University of New South Wales, Vanessa Ji, shares her experiences of volunteering with Redfern Legal Centre:

What about working at a CLC?

Hear from Liana Buchanan, then Executive Officer, Federation of Community Legal Centres in Victoria:

What are the benefits of undertaking a PLT placement at a CLC?

Hear from Anne Kinny about her placement at Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre.

To read some examples of the work of volunteers, you may download a publication from NACLC, titled: Working Collaboratively: CLCs and Volunteers.