Community Legal Centre
Encyclopedia
Community Legal Centres are independent organisations aiming to advance legal–and, by extension, social and political–equality by making the law accessible to the poor and otherwise marginalised in Australia. They provide legal advice
to individuals and take on traditional casework. However, CLC workers and volunteers are also active in other, diverse, areas through which they attempt to realise systemic change. For example, they lobby for law reform
, undertake test case
litigation, critique police power
s and behaviours, monitor prisons systems and conditions, and develop community education programs. These programs may include anything from published books and pamphlets to radio programs and conference presentations.
ers, administrators, or ‘everyday’ people with good communicative or special language skills) as well as lawyers. Additionally, their education programs are often preventative: that is, they aim to give people skills to solve their own problems without recourse to lawyers.
). They are also funded by the proceeds of casework. However, they rely most heavily upon the efforts and support of extensive volunteer networks. Without the willingness of both lawyers and non-lawyers to staff them without payment, they would not survive.
that gained momentum in the 1960s and which found expression in the anti-war
and women’s movements, aboriginal rights campaigns, and other pushes for far-reaching social change
in both the Australian and global contexts (Chesterman 1996: 11-43). However, CLCs are a unique expression of these social justice and protest movements
and do not claim particular ties to any other campaigns. Furthermore, while some CLCs have developed close links with others, centres for the most part serve their own particular geographic or special interest communities. This means that throughout their history different CLCs have usually held common platforms in only general, rather than specific, terms.
When the first Victorian CLCs were established, they were often resisted by a legal establishment that was defensive about CLCs’ criticisms of the elitism
or inaccessibility of the legal professions, suspicious of CLCs’ aims and methods, and concerned about protecting profits (Chesterman 1996: 69-70, 77-83; Noone and Tomsen 2006: 73; Greenwood 1994: 3-5). However, soon after the Fraser Liberal government came to power in December 1975, some members of the wider legal profession
had begun to acknowledge the importance of CLCs in improving the public’s access to the law (Chesterman 1996: 87). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, CLCs consolidated their position in the Victorian and wider Australian legal landscape, forging (sometimes fraught) ties with different government and legal organisations (such as various state legal aid commissions).
Today, CLCs hold an established, if in funding terms sometimes precarious, place in the Victorian and wider Australian legal scene and have shaped the legal profession in various ways, although these are difficult to identify and quantify. For example, some larger Victorian law firm
s now permit–even encourage–employees to undertake some voluntary work, most often in the area of individual casework. This certainly testifies to wider community demands for adequate representation for all before the law, and to increasing pressures for law firms to be responsible ‘corporate citizens’, and the former development in particular may be attributed partly to the work of CLCs. However, the private legal profession has arguably been less responsive to CLCs’ attempts to bring about broader and more fundamental changes in the ways the law and lawyers operate.
Legal advice
In the common law, legal advice is the giving of a formal opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law by an officer of the court , ordinarily in exchange for financial or other tangible compensation...
to individuals and take on traditional casework. However, CLC workers and volunteers are also active in other, diverse, areas through which they attempt to realise systemic change. For example, they lobby for law reform
Law reform
Law reform or Legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing changes in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency....
, undertake test case
Test case
A test case in software engineering is a set of conditions or variables under which a tester will determine whether an application or software system is working correctly or not. The mechanism for determining whether a software program or system has passed or failed such a test is known as a test...
litigation, critique police power
Police power
In United States constitutional law, police power is the capacity of the states to regulate behavior and enforce order within their territory for the betterment of the general welfare, morals, health, and safety of their inhabitants...
s and behaviours, monitor prisons systems and conditions, and develop community education programs. These programs may include anything from published books and pamphlets to radio programs and conference presentations.
Ethos
Community legal centres emphasise the demystification of the law and the empowerment of communities in their relation to the law, particularly by encouraging communities to be involved in their activities. For example, they often adopt constitutions mandating close consultation with the communities they serve, and insist upon harnessing the skills and expertise of ‘non-lawyers’ (e.g. social workSocial work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
ers, administrators, or ‘everyday’ people with good communicative or special language skills) as well as lawyers. Additionally, their education programs are often preventative: that is, they aim to give people skills to solve their own problems without recourse to lawyers.
Funding
Community Legal Centres are partly funded by a complex and variable mix of state and federal government monies, offered both directly (e.g. through grants) and indirectly (e.g. through legal aidLegal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial.A number of...
). They are also funded by the proceeds of casework. However, they rely most heavily upon the efforts and support of extensive volunteer networks. Without the willingness of both lawyers and non-lawyers to staff them without payment, they would not survive.
History
CLCs first developed in Victoria in the early 1970s, but spread quite rapidly through the other states. There are currently more than 160 CLCs in operation across Australia (Noone 2001: 132). Although from the outset they shared some similarities with the already established American and British neighbourhood law offices, in their insistence upon effecting systemic change and their largely voluntary support base they had characteristics distinct from each. They can be understood to have grown out of broader concerns for social justiceSocial justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
that gained momentum in the 1960s and which found expression in the anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
and women’s movements, aboriginal rights campaigns, and other pushes for far-reaching social change
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
in both the Australian and global contexts (Chesterman 1996: 11-43). However, CLCs are a unique expression of these social justice and protest movements
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
and do not claim particular ties to any other campaigns. Furthermore, while some CLCs have developed close links with others, centres for the most part serve their own particular geographic or special interest communities. This means that throughout their history different CLCs have usually held common platforms in only general, rather than specific, terms.
When the first Victorian CLCs were established, they were often resisted by a legal establishment that was defensive about CLCs’ criticisms of the elitism
Elitism
Elitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite — a select group of people with intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
or inaccessibility of the legal professions, suspicious of CLCs’ aims and methods, and concerned about protecting profits (Chesterman 1996: 69-70, 77-83; Noone and Tomsen 2006: 73; Greenwood 1994: 3-5). However, soon after the Fraser Liberal government came to power in December 1975, some members of the wider legal profession
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
had begun to acknowledge the importance of CLCs in improving the public’s access to the law (Chesterman 1996: 87). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, CLCs consolidated their position in the Victorian and wider Australian legal landscape, forging (sometimes fraught) ties with different government and legal organisations (such as various state legal aid commissions).
Today, CLCs hold an established, if in funding terms sometimes precarious, place in the Victorian and wider Australian legal scene and have shaped the legal profession in various ways, although these are difficult to identify and quantify. For example, some larger Victorian law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
s now permit–even encourage–employees to undertake some voluntary work, most often in the area of individual casework. This certainly testifies to wider community demands for adequate representation for all before the law, and to increasing pressures for law firms to be responsible ‘corporate citizens’, and the former development in particular may be attributed partly to the work of CLCs. However, the private legal profession has arguably been less responsive to CLCs’ attempts to bring about broader and more fundamental changes in the ways the law and lawyers operate.