Quick Exit
Quick Exit

Justice Where We Live

Justice where we live

Justice in regional and remote communities

All people deserve equitable access to justice and due process, wherever we live.

People who live in regional, rural, remote and very remote (‘regional and remote’) communities face unique barriers to accessing justice.

Regional and remote communities are seeing growing numbers of victim-survivors of domestic and family violence in need of support, a deepening mental health crisis, high levels of poverty, an urgent need for support for young people to make safe decisions and avoid contact with the justice system, and an escalating rental crisis. All of these factors, and more, drive high and escalating legal and related need.

The ‘solutions’ governments put forward to justice barriers in regional and remote areas are often one-size-fits-all and can be ineffective. Government funding models for frontline services rely too heavily on population data, and don’t aim to provide full geographic service coverage. They don’t accurately reflect the true cost of delivering effective services in regional and remote areas. This means people in regional and remote communities have less access to services, both in number and diversity of services. Frontline services in those areas are left trying to meet a great number of different needs for people who rely on them, with limited resources.

Community legal centres supporting access to justice and safety in regional and remote communities

There are at least 50 organisations in the community legal centres movement based in regional and remote communities. Most provide services across a very large geographic catchment area, with some making regular road trips of hundreds of kilometres to provide outreach services to the most remote communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. There are a range of statewide and national centres with offices based in metropolitan areas that also do a lot of work supporting people in regional and remote communities, including through regular outreach travel.

Community legal centres travel a combined 1.26 million kilometres a year to provide services to people in regional and remote communities. That’s far enough to travel between Earth and the moon 3.3 times.

The largest area of work for the community legal sector is frontline support for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, making up 40-50% of our work nationally. This rises to 75% for community legal centres in rural, remote and very remote areas.

Use our interactive map tool to learn more about different aspects of the work community legal centres do to support justice and safety for people in regional and remote communities.

A few days in the life of a frontline community legal centre worker.

A client’s journey to access justice and safety with support from their community legal centre.

The centres and workers featured here are just a fraction of the regional and remote community legal sector. There are dozens more centres and hundreds more workers doing similar important work across the continent every day. Some identifying details have been changed to protect privacy and safety for clients and workers.

Note: for best functionality, view the interactive map tool on computer or tablet screen, on full-screen mode. If you want to view pop-up content larger, you can open each in a new window. 

Interactive Image

Pilbara Community Legal Service

Zanoon Butt, Tenancy Advocate

Tile with a photo of Zanoon's face and text "A day in the life with Zanoon"
Quote: I was drawn to this work for the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the community while gaining experience across a broad range of legal and social issues. The diversity of the community and the opportunity to meet people from many different backgrounds is rewarding.
Image of Zanoon and a colleague in front of a community centre, with text "I’m Zanoon. I’m a Tenancy Advocate at Pilbara Community Legal Service, and here are a few days in my life."
Image of Zanoon delivering a powerpoint presentation in a high school classroom, with text "Today I delivered a community legal education session at Hedland Senior High School. I joined the school’s weekly Big Picture Learning Town Hall to talk about the role legal services like Pilbara Community Legal Service play in helping people understand and access their rights."
I explained my own pathway into the legal field, so the students could understand what it takes to become a lawyer and the wide variety of types of work you can do as a lawyer. I went into detail on the different types of courts and the differences between civil and criminal law. I also got a chance to give the students some insights into courtroom procedures, etiquette, and the expectations of people working within a courtroom environment. I wanted to encourage the students to think about the ways they can have a positive impact in their communities.
Image of a bbq at a stall outdoors, with text "Early in the morning, I joined some colleagues to prepare for our Homelessness Week Awareness Campaign and barbecue, where we could connect with members of the community."
Image of Zanoon with two colleagues, with text "In the afternoon, I went on some client home visits around town, including one with my colleague Mary and with the Department of Housing & Works."
Then, I went back to the office to have a few client meetings there. I also had a meeting with the Circle Green Tenancy team, online via Teams. Circle Green is a community legal centre in Perth that has a tenancy specialist service.
Image of Zanoon standing on a verandah, with text "I got to the office early to do some final preparation of the material for the day’s community education event, and for our Case Management Meeting."
I had some initial telephone consultations with new clients and made a call to the Department of Housing & Works. Then, I delivered a Road Safety Presentation at the South Hedland High School, to three different classes in a row. Traffic infringements are a big issue out here because transport options are so limited, and driving is often the only way to get from place to place. After the presentation, I went back to the office for our Case Management Meeting, and for a few client meetings in the office.
Image of Zanoon at a stall at a community event, with text "First thing, I did some preparation for our Wellbeing Squad Meeting and handled some client email correspondence."
I went to the Yaandina Turner River Rehabilitation Centre to deliver a presentation, before spending the rest of the morning doing client home visits around Hedland. I came back to the office in the afternoon for our Wellbeing Squad Meeting, before a few more client meetings in the office.
The biggest win this week was successfully assisting a client with an appeal, resulting in a decision being overturned that would have left them liable for $3,200. The most challenging aspect was supporting a client who failed a housing inspection and received a breach notice. This highlighted the importance of tenant education around property maintenance and tenancy obligations.

Kimberley Community Legal Services

Charlie Beer, Legal Intern — on outreach with Hannah Lethlean, Senior Solicitor, Lina Bleazby, Acting Team Leader – Social Support Service, and Breda Knightly, Case Worker – Social Support Service.

Tile introducing Charlie with a photograph and text "a day in the life with Charlie"
Image of a car and three people on a desert red dirt road, and text "I'm Charlie, I'm a legal intern at Kimberley Community Legal Services, and here's a little taster of three days in my life."
Bright and early, we completed the fuel check, car check and got the satellite phone, and left Kununurra at 6am. We stopped at Warmun, 200km in, at 8:30am. Our drive there had been repeatedly interrupted by road works. At 9am we visited a client in Warmun Community to have her sign some paperwork. Then, we got back on the road.
Image of red dirt road with text "We stopped at Halls Creek to fuel up and were approached by a client who was stuck there."
The client was stuck at Halls Creek because of the lack of public transport. She needed to go to her mother’s funeral in Balgo that day but was distressed to find that the Greyhound bus didn’t go to Balgo. We called Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation to confirm it was still ok for us to come to the community that week. We decided to give the client a lift to Balgo with us. Once we were on the road, the Social Work Team Lead called the Balgo Funeral Director to ask if they could delay the funeral so that our client could get there in time.
Image of a painted fence saying "BALGO", with text "We did the remaining 280km of the drive, on Tanami Road. It’s unsealed, subject to flooding, and generally has poor road conditions. We arrived in Balgo at 4:30pm.
Image of two people sitting at a table outside with text "We set up our outreach desk next to the Wirrimanu Community Store, with Kimberley Community Legal Service bags, notepads, pens, cups, information brochures, and magnetic calling cards with the numbers and addresses of the offices."
The table and biscuits invite community members to come over for a chat – asking us who we are, where we’re from, and what services we can offer. Then, clients who want to speak with a lawyer or social worker in private can go into the private meeting room in the Wirrimanu Community Centre.
Image of painted sign saying "NO GROG, NO GUNJA, NO FIGHTING" and text "Some of the common issues people came to us about were housing and tenancy, care and protection, elder abuse, family and domestic violence, licences, criminal Injuries compensation, and the National Redress Scheme."
Sometimes people would come up to us with paperwork, and we would sit down with them to help them understand what it meant. If someone presented with an issue outside our areas of practice, we would always try to help by connecting them with an appropriate service via phone or email.
Image of a dog on a red dirt road, with text "Mid-morning, we met with Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation about ongoing, chronic issues related to housing maintenance that were impacting vulnerable Elders in the community."
We took on warm referrals for some serious cases, including elders who were living without power and with chronic plumbing or flooding issues. The social work team spoke with three clients about their tenancy concerns – repairs that hadn’t been made by Housing, and housing applications that had been submitted but clients had been given no information about their progress on the waitlist.
Image of a sunset through clouds over the desert, with text "Community members will often submit a housing application but hear nothing back."
We spoke to one client who had originally made a housing application in 2016. I listened to the client’s story and completed the client intake assessment form so that the case worker back in the office could follow up. Often, community members will submit a housing application but hear nothing back about the status, so they are left not knowing if and when a house will be allocated to them.
Image of a sign in front of a building on a red dirt road, with text "Throughout the day, we gave lifts to clients with disability and elders who needed to get back home after their appointments."
Image of a lizard on a rock, with text "In the early afternoon, we met with a family the centre has been representing in an ongoing matter relating to the exhumation and repatriation of their deceased family member who was buried off Country, in Perth."
That afternoon, the team also met with the Department of Communities about a client. The Department was not effectively communicating with our client – a mother – or facilitating meaningful contact between her and her child who was in care.
Image of a truck with logs on it driving on a dirt road with lots of dust, and text "We left Balgo at 7am to drive 110km along the unsealed Tanami to Bililuna."
We set up the outreach desk for drop-ins and then provided some general education to clients. I helped a client make a report to the Department of Housing for urgent repairs that had been reported but not rectified. The Social Work team also provided the client with tenancy education about the most effective reporting mechanism. The lawyer and social team went to a client’s house to go through and review ‘repairs’ that had been done. The safety of tenants and occupants was at risk due to major leaking and water damage, so KCLS opened a legal file to potentially pursue action against the Department of Housing.
Image of a small river with trees beside, and text "Bililuna community members are very concerned about ongoing maintenance issues, where their reports are ignored by the Department of Housing."
Image of three birds, with text "We made a call to Mulan Community because ordinarily on this outreach trip we would visit there next."
However, we were told they were having a cultural celebration out bush, and it wasn’t appropriate for us to attend. Even though we didn’t go into Mulan, Social Lead helped a client over the phone with family and domestic violence supports. We worked with the client on some safety planning and discussed the conditions on her Family Violence Restraining Order, as her ex-partner had been released from jail, and she was worried he would turn up.
Image of a road with roadworks and a diversion, and text "We continued our drive, to Halls Creek. This was another 160km on the unsealed Tanami Road, plus 35km on sealed road. We were delayed by road works but arrived around 3pm."
Image of a worm in some grass and red dirt, with text " We left Halls Creek at 7am to head back to Kununurra."
We stopped at Warmun on the way, and then at a service station to wash the car before arriving back at the office. In the early afternoon we did a debrief on the outreach trip and returned to standard work for the rest of the day.
Quote: Working in a remote community legal centre often extends beyond providing legal advice or structure social work services. Sometimes, the most meaningful support is simply helping a client when they need it most, ensuring they can remain connected to their family, community and culture during significant moments. Our job is incredibly varied. Some weeks are filled with court appearances and formal client appointments. Other weeks we are on the road, trying to find clients at numerous addresses or taking instructions next to a boab tree. No two weeks are the same. Hannah Lethlean – Senior Solicitor
Quote: Regular outreach to remote communities is essential for access to justice. Many clients would never seek legal help if we did not visit their community. There is huge value in long-term relationships, culturally safe outreach, and bringing legal services directly to remote communities. Hannah Lethlean – Senior Solicitor

Central Australian Women's Legal Service

Tully McIntyre, Women’s Safety & Support Coordinator

Keda Ley, Senior Family Lawyer

On outreach with Brooke Forbes, Solicitor.

Tile introducing Tully and Keda with photographs of their faces and "A day in the life with Tully & Keda"
Quote: Every week can look different working remotely. It takes a lot of planning and organising to ensure there are good outcomes. It is also very dependent on the time of year and what is happening in community – if there is Sorry Business, a sports weekend, football etc. Tully
Image of a table with CAWLS supplies, and text "Early Monday morning, we packed up the centre’s four-wheel-drive for our trip to Walungurru."
KEDA This was quite a rigmarole as there was a lot of safety gear that needed to be packed. We also took a fair bit of food with us for ourselves for the week and separately for the community to share during CLE. Tully is a bush trip pro and any nerves I felt leading up to Monday dissipated because I knew we would be safe with her. We stopped by the IGA to buy 5 frozen kangaroo tails to cook with the ladies during our planned community engagement activity. We put them into the esky and set off.
Image of a red dirt road and text "driving, driving, driving..."
We saw the red dirt road right to the horizon in both directions. The bush was looking very healthy with gorgeous diverse fauna. It was a single-lane road, so we would have to slow down and use half the road if a car was coming from the opposite direction, and pull over altogether if a truck was coming or a car wanted to overtake. We had a short stop around midday at Papunya, for lunch and to use the facilities. This is the only amenities stop on the 7-hour journey.
Image of some bushes and trees over red dirt, and text "Keda did the second leg of driving in the afternoon."
KEDA Some parts of the road were very bumpy. I kept my speed to maximum 80kph but made the scary mistake of not slowing down for the first cattle grid I crossed. Luckily nothing bad happened, and I slowed down for each one after that!
Image of a sunset over the desert with text "Later in the day, the sun was getting low, and Tully was worried that vision might be limited because we were heading west. "
Image of a Welcome to Kintore sign, with text "We arrived to Kintore between 4pm and 5pm"
KEDA We went straight to the clinic to meet the staff and collect the keys for our accommodation. My phone doesn’t have reception in Walungurru, so it wasn’t until I was at the accommodation and had Wi-Fi that I saw I had a missed call from a community member. I went to visit her outside her home, and met her daughter, nieces and grandchildren. We discussed the plan for the next day, which included going with her and some other ladies from the community to an outstation to cook roo tails and damper, and yarn.
Image of trees and grasses on red dirt, with text " First thing in the morning, Brooke and Keda did some preparation, before heading to the McDonnell Regional Council building for bush"
KEDA We arrived at Court early to check the list and saw there were two women. Brooke got their contact details of one of the women from a member of the Walungurru Law and Justice Group (WLJG) and called her. She was in Alice Springs for medical reasons and hadn’t been aware she had a matter listed in the Bush Court. She wanted representation, which Brooke took on. The other woman’s name sounded familiar to me. I confirmed her name with a police officer and found out it was a woman I know in the community. She wasn’t at court. I reached out to her, and she also hadn’t known she had a court matter. It’s fortunate we could get in touch with the two women, because otherwise warrants might have been issued for non-attendance.
Image of the Kintore clinic, with text "Tully went to the clinic and Bush Court, and followed up with some clients."
TULLY First thing, I checked my emails and planned the day, then went to the Pintupi Homeland Health Services clinic to speak with the manager to find out if there was anything we needed to be across or potential referrals. From there, I headed over to Bush Court. I supported a client who had been working with our Financial Counsellor to set up her MyGov account with Centrelink and to sort out her IDs – Keda certified copies for her. Next, I followed up with a few clients who had worked with one of the other CAWLS lawyers, not on this trip, to see if repairs had been made on their house.
Image of a car from a distance and of a woman from behind, on red dirt with grasses, with text "We drove to a women’s site at Ngutchul outstation, with one of the women who is a Traditional Owner for the region and her family. We stopped for firewood along the way. "
When we got there, we dug a big hole, and the ladies started two fires. The big fire was to cook the roo tails, and the smaller one was for the billy and the damper. The ladies singed the hair from the roo tails and scraped them, then wrapped them in foil and buried them in the coals. We got out the food we’d brought with us for the ladies and children to have while waiting for the roo tails. On the drive back, we stopped and the ladies showed us some of the women’s sacred sites.
Image of late sunset over the desert, with text "In the evening, we worked remotely from our accommodation, relaxed with cups of tea, spoke to family at home and had our roo tail for dinner. The reality of remote trips is that urgent office-based matters still need to be attended to."
Image of Keda standing with the "Welcome to Kintore" sign, with text "In the morning I worked on two very urgent family law matters based in Alice Springs."
KEDA A vulnerable client had family law documents due to be submitted the very next day, and another client had an urgent recovery application. This work was hard on my laptop because I’m used to having a keyboard, mouse and big screen with multiple documents open, so it took a lot longer than it would have if I’d been in my office. For both clients, I was working alongside another CAWLS lawyer not with us on outreach, so there were lots of phone conversations throughout the day. I took a short break to visit a non-client community member for a chat. I drove to the store to meet her and bought her little girl a juice box and some yoghurt. I continued to work until 10pm, which I don’t always do by any means, but these matters were urgent.
Image of desert grasses with trees in front, with text "Tully: I started my day by checking my emails and planning out my day: mostly who I’d be visiting. "
TULLY I contacted various clients through texts, calls, and visiting their homes. I went to the Housing Reference Group meeting with the Dept of Housing and some community members that are on the reference group, about housing upgrades, maintenance and repairs. In the afternoon, I helped the clinic prepare for a Diphtheria and flu vaccination event. I usually deliver a training on Wednesdays at the clinic, but this was a higher priority. I helped out with the barbecue and by playing music. Well, I recruit people from the community to assist with the playlist, because I am a terrible DJ.
Image of Tully and Brooke standing together on red dirt, with text "In the morning, we went to the aged care service, and I introduced my colleagues to the staff there."
TULLY I supported the lawyers to set up an education session at the clinic. There’s a new Bill that has just passed and will be implemented over the next year, and the lawyers want to communicate to the community about the changes, and that we can offer advice and support. In the afternoon I went to visit two clients. One was at home and one wasn’t. We spent some time talking about non-legal matters and her supports.
Image of long stretch of red dirt road, with text "Early Friday morning we packed the car to drive back to Alice Springs."
We left at about 8:30 and drove from Kintore to Papunya for 270km along the unsealed road. We took a quick lunch stop, got back on the road, and arrived back at the Alice Springs office late in the afternoon. We spoke with the CEO and manager about the trip and then left to unpack and wash the car before clocking out to rest.
Quote: Politicians should understand that systemic inequities facing remote communities are numerous. They are important to raise because they directly limit the opportunities, health and safety of people living in these communities. Tully

Central Australian Women's Legal Service

Felicity Bolles, Community Legal Education Lawyer, Education & Projects Officer

Tile introducing Felicity with a photo of her face and "A day in the life with Felicity"
Quote: Our biggest win this week was definitely the number of new clients we picked up. I picked up eight civil clients, and Jess picked up four criminal clients. It’s always very unpredictable what kind of week it will be. We are reliant on word of mouth or referrals from services in the community.
Photo of Uluru from a distance over desert grasses, with text "I’m Felicity. I’m a Community Legal Education Lawyer, Education and Projects Officer at the Central Australian Women’s Legal Service, and here are three days in my life."
Bright and early at 7:30am I picked up my criminal lawyer colleague, Jess, in the work car. We stopped by Coles to pick up some BBQ supplies, then went to the CAWLS office to pack the car. By 8:30 we were on the road to Mutitjulu! At 10:30 we stopped off at Erldunda Roadhouse for a snack and then got back on the road. We arrived at Yulara at 1pm, grabbed a coffee, and started the drive through Uluru National Park to Mutitjulu.
Image of a BBQ with a dog standing in front, with text "In the afternoon I started up the BBQ and cooked for the community members."
When we arrived, we met up with Headspace staff, Susan and Shepherd. We signed into the community at the council office, said hi to the Mala Rangers, the council team, and Tracey at the Centrelink office. Meanwhile, Jess went to pick up three criminal law clients to speak with them about their matters that were in court the following day. We dropped into the police to introduce ourselves, before driving back to our accommodation at Yulara.
Image of the sunset above a sign for accommodation, with text "We walked up one of the hills to watch the sunset over Uluru, cooked dinner, caught up on some of our Alice Springs work, and went to bed."
Image of a person in a CAWLS shirt crouching down with a dog on red dirt, with text "First thing in the morning, we grabbed coffees in Yulara before the drive into Mutitjulu to spend the day there."
Image of a fence with a Services Australia sign, with text "While Jess went to spend the day at Bush Court, I was out and about in the community."
I held a ‘How to make a will’ Continuing Professional Development (CPD) session at Centrelink After the session at Centrelink, I dropped into Aged Care to drop off some ‘How to make a will’ CPD resources since workers there were at capacity and couldn’t make it to the session. I met some of the staff and received a referral. The woman wasn’t at Aged Care at the time. Staff said that she was walking around the community and might have gone to Centrelink. I went back to Centrelink, but Tracey hadn’t seen the woman that morning. I dropped into Headspace and discussed some possible referrals and child protection issues currently in the community.
Image of Uluru with text "I spent some time doing client work"
I made a call to an ongoing client who had been referred from another CAWLS lawyer. It was her work lunch break, so I went there to meet her. We read through and signed a Domestic Violence Order Affidavit from the car. I visited Jess at Court and picked up two clients who were sitting outside the court, for civil matters. I took their instructions sitting on the ground outside the police station.
Image of a wall with some signs on it, with text "Then it was back to Headspace for a quick lunch"
A police officer came to Headspace to ask about a client who needs to go to Court but hadn’t turned up yet. Headspace staff went out to get the client and bring them to Headspace, and Jess picked her up as a criminal client. I picked up one of her family members as a civil client. In the afternoon, Jess went back to Court for that final client’s matter, and I went to see the Mala Rangers to introduce our services, but they’d finished their day early and gone home. I went back to Aged Care and found the client who had been referred in the morning. I took instructions from her in her room at Aged Care and then went back to Centrelink to discuss her matter.
Image of accommodation sign on red dirt, with text "In the late afternoon, we drove back to the Yulara accommodation."
In our rooms, we got straight into some admin from the day: creating client files, doing file notes, and following up on some Alice Springs client work. We finished the day by having dinner with the judge, court staff and other lawyers who were in town for Bush Court.
4122_clca_justicewherewelive_dayinthelife_instagram_felicity_417
4122_clca_justicewherewelive_dayinthelife_instagram_felicity_418
Image of red dirt road with text "We arrived back in Alice Springs around 4:30pm"
Quote: The hardest part of this week was the very long days. It’s hard to keep up with client work in Alice Springs while also picking up a lot of new work out bush. It often means working after hours to catch up on your ongoing client work.

First Nations Women's Legal Service

Penney Ferguson, CEO

Tile introducing Penney with a photograph and text "A day in the life with Penney"
Quote: I was drawn to working at a regional community legal centre because I believe in access for all people to legal services and support – and access to quality services. Unfortunately, I’ve seen the more remote you go, the more limited access can be.
Image of Penney speaking from the front of a room of people, with text "I'm Penney, CEO of First Nations Women's Legal Service Queensland, and here are three days in my life"
Over breakfast at home, I always check the headlines from my main news sources: ABC, National Indigenous Times, SBS, The Aus, and The Guardian. At 9am every morning at ‘Round Up’ the whole team comes together for updates on movements and availability for the day. Lucky the office is only three blocks away. After morning Round Up, I inducted our new Executive Assistant.
Image out of the window of a small plane, with text "Today, the Principal Solicitor missed Round Up to attend DV Court over on Palm Island"
We have an office based on Palm, but we can only recruit a community development and client support team member on the island, so one of our lawyers needs to attend DV call over fortnightly. The plane is small and only takes about 15 people. In the past, we've had challenges with lawyers coping with the flight because of either claustrophobia or a fear of flying. This has made sharing the trips across the team difficult.
Image of "Welcome to Palm Island" painted on a wall, with text "Now, we ask in interviews if lawyers have flown on a small plane, or if they think they could handle it. This has helped."
Before, we also didn’t have enough cars for staff travelling over for Court, and it was a challenge getting to and from the airport. Thankfully, we secured funding to get a car on Palm Island that can handle the roads, and we use it to help our clients get to Court too.
Image of Penney sitting with another woman outside a cafe, smiling at the camera, with text "Connecting with local services in the community is a big part of what I do"
I started my day as usual reading the news over breaky then headed to the office. I knew I had back-to-back meetings and would not have a lot of down time. This type of day takes a different type of mental preparation. After the morning 'round up', I did some work on accreditation, filing, sorting out our new lease agreement, and preparing for the coming Executive Leadership meeting. I had a quick lunch out of the office with some colleagues from the sector where we shared ideas around service delivery.
Image of a room of people sitting in a room, with text " In the afternoon, we had a big team meeting
We have a new team member, so first we had a welcome tea to meet and greet the team and understand what drives one another better. This helps us as we are working closely together every day to support our clients. We had planned a wellbeing activity, but at the same time there was an urgent child safety removal that took the attention of several team members who were working together for an outcome.
Image of Penney and a colleague working on laptops, with text "The client support team provided safety planning, social and emotional wellbeing support, and relevant referrals"
Meanwhile, the lawyers and paralegals were working on Court docs. The whole team was invested. Our wellbeing activity did not go as planned, but there was a nice togetherness for the afternoon. Before finishing up for the day, I took a moment to reflect and ensure I got the most out of all of the day's meetings and achieved what I needed to.
Image of Penney and a colleague at a stall with an Aboriginal flag, with text "Big day today. From 8am I was at the office organising to travel out to the Deadly Day Out NAIDOC event with the team"
NAIDOC is like Christmas for a community-controlled organisation like ours, and it's a huge event in Townsville. We still had our 9am 'round up' with the whole team – I joined on my phone while driving out to Thuringowa. The stall was already set up when I got there, so we walked down a few blocks to where the march was starting.
Image of children at a NAIDOC march with colourful signs, and text "We joined the march and it was so good to see many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their families, allies, and organisations."
I marched with my niece and nephew and some colleagues who had their children with them. It is such an important event. At our stall, I had conversations with community and mob for a couple of hours. Out of the ten people I personally asked if they had heard of our service, 8 of them said no – so I got to share about what we do.
Image of a model walking in a fashion show, with text "In the afternoon, I made the four hour drive to Cairns. I went for my own personal interest in Indigenous art."
NAIDOC is a time to celebrate Blak excellence, so I always make the most of it. We have been renovating the office since we had the floods in February 2025, and the building caught fire soon after. Alongside the renovations, I've been on a bit of a mission to get some artwork to make our office feel more culturally grounded and celebrate Indigenous artists.
Image of Penney standing next to a woman holding a piece of art together, with text "I met Babetha, a Moa Island artist from the Torres Strait."
Her art stood out, with colouring similar to our branding, and the story behind the artwork describes our organisation: it is called 'Strength', and the dragonfly represents the change of seasons. Our Community Controlled Management Committee, made up of two Torres Strait Islander women and two Aboriginal women, has worked hard to restructure the organisation and to have an identified CEO position. From there, we have done a lot of work internally to strengthen our workforce. Now, our internal structure is settled and thriving, the team is fully equipped, and we can focus more on our public profile in the community.
Image looking out of an office window, with text "With a full team, we are working towards more outreach and being present in our communities more consistently – like delivering in-person legal clinics and going out to NAIDOC events."
Quote: One thing I want people in the cities to understand about my community is that we’re not ‘less than.’ We have a different way of working and living. In the way we work, high performance may look completely different. We rely on relationships and networks here.

Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre

Karisa Hampson, Generalist and Family Law Solicitor

Tile introducing Karisa with a photo and text "A day in the life with Karisa"
Quote: I was drawn to working at a regional community legal centre because I wanted to assist the most vulnerable in our community. It’s made harder by having limited access to resources and not having enough capacity to do casework.
Image of the Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre office, with text "I'm Karisa. I’m a Solicitor at Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre, and here are a few days in my life."
First thing, I woke up and did the morning school run before work. I’m glad to be living regionally where I can do two different school runs and still get to work in under an hour. I said hi to my colleagues, changed the date on my block calendar, and was ready to tackle the day ahead. I started by checking my emails and doing some preparation for my first appointment of the day, with a client who needed assistance in relation to domestic violence and separation.
Image of a street with some signs, with text "After my 10-11am client meeting, I ran out to my car – I don’t want to leave work with a parking ticket!"
I then came back to prepare for a phone appointment at midday. My midday appointment was with a client who needed family law help. Then, I had half an hour to prepare for my next meeting, at 1:30, with another client who needed assistance in relation to domestic violence.
Image of a river with greenery to the sides, and text "I left the office for an hour from 2:40-3:40 for the afternoon school run and to drop the kids at sports and then came back to finish up file notes from the day’s client appointments."
I took a bit of time to look over client matters scheduled for the evening’s Legal Advice Evening. Usually, volunteer solicitors handle these appointments, but I need to be across the issues in case any of the volunteers can’t make it and I have to step in to take the appointment instead. Thankfully, all the volunteers were able to attend, and at 7:30pm I headed home.
Image of a sign displaying distances to Proserpine and Townsville, with text "Early start today for outreach!"
I got to work at 8am and switched into the work car. I filled out the logbook and started the drive out to Bowen.
Image of a road sign showing 62km to Bowen and 252km to Townsville, with text "At about 10:30 I got to the Bowen Neighbourhood Centre and got my laptop set up."
I had my first client meeting at 11am, to assist with a divorce. I had one more client appointment and then shut down my laptop ready for more driving. I drove to Cannonvale and headed straight to the motel, where I spent the rest of my afternoon working on client notes from the day’s appointments.
Image of the Whitsunday counselling and support office, with text "I woke up and grabbed a motel breakfast before traveling to Whitsunday Counselling and Support for the day’s client appointment."
I had four back-to-back hour-long client appointments from 9am to 1pm, all relating to domestic violence and family law.
Image of Proserpine Museum, with text "I got on the road again, grabbing lunch on the way, traveling to the next outreach location, in Proserpine."
I had another client appointment, supporting a client with divorce, before shutting down and traveling back to Mackay. Total distance travelled this week: 421KM, 5HR 30MIN
The biggest win this week was seeing a client go from a highly vulnerable and anxious state to a less vulnerable state after the appointment. The hardest part was back-to-back appointments on outreach.

Western NSW Community Legal Centre — Western Women's Legal Support

Alicia Rowles, Solicitor

Tile with a photograph of Alicia and text "A day in the life with Alicia"
Quote: For people living in regional and remote areas, some of the biggest barriers to justice are the lack of services, lack of knowledge about the services that are available, lack of transport to get to appointments, access to working phones and fear of attending appointments because of the perception that others might find out they’ve sought help.
Image of Alicia in front of a court, with text "I'm Alicia, I’m a solicitor at Western Women’s Legal Support and here are a few days in my life."
I woke up early to pack for a very full outreach week. Last minute, of course, because apparently that is just who I am. I headed into the office to collect the work car and officially kicked off the adventure. First stop was Peak Hill, a one-hour drive away, where I was pulled up by Police for a random breath test (all clear) and then picked up my outreach buddy, Lee, our Community Engagement Officer.
Image of Alicia in front of a big sign saying PARKES, with text "Next stop: Parkes, home of the big dish and Elvis festival."
Image of Alicia with two other people at the library, with text "We arrived just before 10am, said a quick hello to the Parkes Library team and jumped straight into two back-to-back appointments."
While I was with clients, Lee hit the road to deliver flyers, catch up with service providers and connect with the community. After a very welcome sneaky lunch, we travelled another hour and half to Condoblin, the hometown of Shannon Noll.
Image of Alicia in an appointment, with text My afternoon appointments were held at Central West Family Support Group, who kindly welcome me each month."
One client came in face-to-face, while the next could not attend. A quick change of plans meant I could call her instead and make sure she received support without waiting another month. We squeezed in a quick look at Condo’s famous ute display, featuring 20 utes painted by talented outback artists. We finished the day with dinner at the local bowling club, a lot of laughs and some well-earned sleep.
Image of Alicia in a cafe with some coffee, with text "We started the morning with a quick bakery stop for breakfast and hot chocolate. "
Outreach runs on legal knowledge and baked goods! Headed to beautiful Lake Cargeligo, where there were no new client appointments this month. We used the time to visit local services connect with the community and follow up with existing clients.
Image of Alicia in front of the Lake Cargelligo sign by the lake, with text "Naturally we stopped to admire the lake, watch the pelicans and grab a delicious bagel from the coffee van."
Then it was back in the car for the hour-and-a-half drive to West Wyalong. After a quick lunch, I held two back-to-back appointments at Sureway. Both ran overtime, showing just how important it is to have the opportunity to talk things through properly. We checked into the Country Lodge Motor Inn, where I worked on my file notes so future me would be grateful.
Image of Alicia in a green dress smiling at the camera standing by a road, with text "Lee and I headed out for dinner and had a quick drive around town before getting some rest."
Image of a lake with trees, with text "The end of outreach was approaching, but there was no slowing down yet. We left West Wyalong and made the hour-and-a-half drive to Forbes, our final stop."
I arrived at CatholicCare Wilcannia Forbes and immediately launched into three back-to-back client appointments from 10:30am to 1:30pm. While I saw clients, Lee met with local service providers, discussed issues affecting their communities and started arranging future community legal education sessions. Again, outreach was working on two fronts: providing advice now and building pathways for people to access support in the future. After three appointments I was exhausted. Thankfully an emergency snack helped me find enough energy for the two-hour drive home.
Image of a door with painted walls surrounding it, with text "I dropped Lee back in Peak Hill, refuelled the car, gave it a clean for the next solicitor and finally headed home. "
Image of Alicia with horses in a paddock, with text "I arrived physically exhausted but genuinely energised."
Outreach is always a powerful reminder that face-to-face legal support remains incredibly valuable, particularly for people in regional and rural communities. The kilometres are real but so is the difference this work can make.
Image of Alicia in front of a display of boomerangs, with text "After three days on the road, more than 700 kilometres of travel and nine clients, day four brought me back to my beloved cubicle."
The pace was slower, but the work was not. I finalised my appointment notes, completed follow-up tasks and debriefed with my team about what I had seen and heard during outreach. There is something comforting about returning to familiar surroundings and a team that understands both the work and the weight that sometimes comes with it. I had one client not make it to their appointment today, which gave me a rare pocket of time to power through the absolute truckload of follow-up work waiting after outreach.
Image of some grain silos with text "Lee and I shared lunch together, caught up properly and appreciated a day without having to calculate everything in driving time."
Image of Alicia in front of a car painted as a vegemite jar, with text "Day five was a special one because it was my birthday. The team celebrated with cake and their traditional birthday circle, where everyone takes a turn saying what they love about the birthday person."
Those who know me will understand that standing in the middle of a kindness circle is somehow more uncomfortable than travelling 700 kilometres for work. Still, my team were incredibly generous, and it was a lovely reminder of how lucky I am to work alongside such thoughtful people We handle some incredibly serious matters in our specialist domestic, family and sexual violence legal unit. The work can be heavy, but our team looks after one another. They check in, particularly after outreach, and make the difficult days feel a little less difficult.
Image of rocks with a metal sculpture, with text "My bosses gave me an early mark, so I headed to the airport and flew to Sydney to celebrate with my family over the weekend. The best part? The flight took just one hour. That was roughly the same length as my shortest driving stint during outreach – what a luxury."
Quote: The best part about my work is being able to assist people who need help but can’t afford it and watching clients escape bad situations and slowly regain control over their lives.

Hume Riverina Community Legal Service

Kristi, Senior Lawyer, Family Law Family Violence

Tile introducing Kristi, with text "Justice Where We Live", a photo of Kristi, and "A day in the life with Kristi"
Hume Riverina Community Legal Service is strategic in providing legal services to people who otherwise may not access it, by partnering with local community, education, health and specialist family violence in our region. We collocate, we have embedded referral pathways, and we provide legal education and secondary consults to our partners. Health Justice Partnerships mean we reach people most in need and can wrap around supports to make them safe.
Photograph of a woman standing outside in a jacket, with text "I'm Kristi. I’m a Senior Lawyer in the Family Law Family Violence practice at Hume Riverina Community Legal Service. I’ve been here five years, and here’s a few days in my life."
Before relocating to the Victoria-NSW border, I worked in Criminal Law for a private firm in Melbourne. I work in a Health Justice Partnership. It is an integrated family violence partnership between Hume Riverina Community Legal Service, the Strengthening Families Team at Upper Murray Family Care and a local family violence service provider, in a program known as BRAVE (Building Rights, Advocacy, Voice and Empowerment). BRAVE provides trauma-informed, holistic legal assistance to people experiencing or at risk of family violence in Northeast Victoria.
Image of three people sitting talking together at a table, with text "I’m in the Wodonga office today, checking in with clients on the phone before our weekly Family Law Family Violence Casework Meeting, where we review legal advices, tasks and cases, share learnings and work through complex current matters."
On Tuesday afternoons I hold urgent client appointments at our office. Today I saw a new client. She is a victim-survivor of family violence with three children. I provided advice on planning separation in the context of family violence to ensure safety, Family Violence Intervention Orders, and Family Law relating to children’s matters including parenting plans. My client is at risk of homelessness and is having trouble with her car, so I’ll follow up on referral pathways for urgent housing assistance with my colleague Kat, our Housing Collaboration Coordinator, and provide details of the lemon car issue to Consumer Action Law Centre.
Image of trees next to the water, with text "It’s an early start today as I head out to Myrtleford. I’m the duty lawyer for the Intervention Order list today. Myrtleford is in the Ovens Valley which sits at the foot of the Alpine region."
The view of the snow-capped mountains is stunning and the weather is cold. Last week, the Northeast experienced significant rain and some areas reached major flood levels. I worked in this community and in others across the Towong and Alpine Shires following the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. The town is small but busy, and the Court is old but important. There is very limited public transport in this region so for people experiencing barriers to justice compounded with DFSV it’s incredibly important that the Court remains as a place they can get information, file intervention order applications, and have their matters heard.
Image of a bench and table outside on some grass, with text "Today I see four people, three affected family members and one respondent to a Family Violence Intervention Order. I meet them in the Court House entrance and go outside to take instructions at a park bench."
Each person is at different stages of the order process, and they are all uncomfortable and unsure about what happens next. I spend about 30mins with each of them to understand the incident, the history of behaviour, what they need to ensure their safety and their expectations. I explain options and make suggestions. I take this information to the other parties’ lawyers and the Police, go back to the clients before getting called into the Court room to appear on their behalf and make submissions. I take file notes at Court and complete these back at the office. I’ve flagged one person as requiring Family Law advice at a future date.
Image of a mountain with grass and a tree in front, with text "My colleague Debbie, a Lawyer in the Civil Law Practice at Hume Riverina Community Legal Service is also in Myrtleford once a month."
She provides legal assistance to the community as part of an outreach program funded by the National Assistance Justice Partnership Victoria. In Myrtleford, she has appointments with vulnerable community members from the offices of one of our key health justice partners. This outreach program is focused on reaching and supporting people in remote and regional Northeast Victoria, including communities that have experienced natural disaster. Debbie provides a wide range of advice - from separation and family law issues to advice on consumer issues, debts and fines.
Quote: Cross-border communities find themselves in a very challenging position. Different people can experience different legal outcomes based solely on what side of the border you live on. Even as a practitioner, I find it extremely challenging to navigate the complexities of this landscape. I’ve heard from people who have had intervention orders made in Victoria that now don’t know where to apply for extra support because they’ve moved interstate." - Debbie
Quote: I’ve seen clients lose all rights to bring a claim for victims of crime compensation because the crime happened in NSW and not VIC (where they would have still been eligible). There are family violence services that exist in one state and not the other, leaving me with an uncertainty about where to refer people for critical support. All communities deserve consistent and reliable access to services and fair legal outcomes regardless of what side of the border you live on”. - Debbie
Image of Kristi outside, with text "I’m at the Upper Murray Family Care office in Wangaratta today seeing clients. I alternate each week between Wangaratta and Wodonga."
Seeing clients at Upper Murray Family Care makes it easier on clients, it’s safe, familiar and reduces overwhelm. It can also be beneficial for clients to access their case managers if they need support. I tend to see clients from Mansfield, Benalla, and the rural areas around Wangaratta when I’m down here. As well as seeing clients, today I’ve had some secondary consults, providing advice to case managers who have questions about possible legal pathways for their clients. The case managers will take information back to the clients and will let them know their problems do have legal solutions that I can advise on.
Image of Kristi in front of a powerpoint presentation, and text "I’m also involved in providing legal education sessions to our BRAVE partners. This week I presented on Intervention Orders to 8 social workers from Upper Murray Family Care."
Graphic of problems Hume Riverina CLS helps with, with text "I have a litigation matter fast approaching in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia."
I spent a couple of hours drafting documents for this in the Wodonga office, before working on a Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme application for a client I have helped with a family law advice and FVIO advice, she’s from a refugee background.
Quote: "Working in small communities is rewarding, but it can be tough. People are resilient and grateful, but they need more help. Access to pre-court and post-court assistance would be a great benefit for people accessing duty lawyers in regional courts. It would improve safety outcomes and catch people who need additional help, particularly with Family Law." - Kristi

Uniting Communities Community Law Centre

Murtaza Dostdar, Solicitor and Cheryll Rosales, Solicitor

Tile introducing Murtaza and Cheryll with photographs and "a day in the life with Murtaza and Cheryll"
Images of Murtaza and Cheryll smiling at the camera, with text "We’re Murtaza and Cheryll. We’re solicitors at Uniting Communities Community Legal Centre and here’s a day in our lives."
We arrived at the office bright and early, thankful for the preparation we’d done that meant we didn’t need to get in even earlier. Part of the challenge in regional work is the travel. If we have a 10am court appearance, we need to leave the office by 8 so planning ahead becomes particularly important. We got on the road out to Mount Barker, where Murtaza would be serving as duty solicitor, and Cheryll would be handling the walk-in service at the community centre.
Image of Mount Barker sign, with text "Mount Barker, on Peramangk Country, is one of Australia’s fastest-growing regional centres."
The rapid growth is increasing pressure on housing, health, and community services. Demand for legal help continues to grow. People living outside metropolitan Adelaide deserve the same access to justice and legal support as people living in the city. This area was also significantly impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. Many people are still experiencing long-term legal and recovery issues from the fires, in areas like insurance, rebuilding, and financial resilience.
Image of Murtaza out in front of a courtroom with text "Serving as a duty solicitor once or twice a week is a highlight of my work."
MURTAZA We work alongside the other duty solicitors and help people with a wide variety of legal matters. It’s rewarding to be able to help clients who need immediate legal assistance, and work as part of a supporting team.
Image of Murtaza with the Mount Barker Courthouse sign, with text "Every court has its own dynamic."
MURTAZA Working across different regional courts allows me to work on ongoing files, while also appearing before different magistrates and meeting a broad range of people. I have the opportunity to work with different court staff, different clients, and different legal practitioners.
Image of Murtaza sitting at a desk working on his laptop, with text "I think access to legal assistance has improved over time, but there are still significant challenges, including for multicultural communities living in regional areas."
MURTAZA It can be difficult for people to access legal information and support in their own language. Many migrant workers live in regional areas and may need to go to the local court if an incident occurs nearby. It can be challenging to access appropriate legal support. Many migrant workers also live or work in regional areas and may need to attend the local court if an incident occurs nearby. Accessing appropriate legal support can therefore present additional challenges.
Image of Cheryll at the reception of Mt Barker Community Centre, with text, "I spent the day at the Mount Barker Community Centre providing a walk-in service. "
CHERYLL What really stands out to me is that people are looking for help wherever they can find it. Even when they aren’t looking for legal assistance, people still come to our outreach service because they know we are here to help, and they hope we can connect them with the right supports. Someone came in today looking for financial advice and financial counselling. During the conversation, I discovered they also did not have access to enough food. I was able to connect them with a service where they received a food hamper with enough food to last the week.
Image of the front of the community centre, with text "Another matter I took on today was around the NDIS."
A person wanted support with the Administrative Review Tribunal, seeking to have family members recognised as paid supports. One of the reasons I took on the matter was because the client lives in a very remote area, where access to legal assistance was very limited.
Image of Cheryll standing out front of the community centre, with text "One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is knowing that every single client can make the outreach worthwhile."
CHERYLL We may spend between $1500 and $2000 travelling to a remote location and only see one person, but for that individual, receiving legal help can make all the difference. The hardest part about this work is not having enough services and resources available for people. There are very few places you can realistically refer people to that are both appropriate and accessible.

Community Justice Services South Australia

Radhe Kharel, Solicitor

4122_clca_justicewherewelive_dayinthelife_instagram_southaustralianmurraybridge_4
4122_clca_justicewherewelive_dayinthelife_instagram_southaustralianmurraybridge_42
4122_clca_justicewherewelive_dayinthelife_instagram_southaustralianmurraybridge_43
Image of a building with a Murray Bridge sign, with text "Murray Bridge, or Pomberuk in Ngarrindjeri language, is a regional community of about 22,000 people, around 75km south-east from Adelaide."
Community Justice Services SA does regular outreach travel here to provide legal assistance, from the Murray Bridge Community Centre. There were a few different wins this week. I was happy because one family law property and children's matter was finalised. I was also able to get permission to represent someone in the Fair Work Commission.
4122_clca_justicewherewelive_dayinthelife_instagram_southaustralianmurraybridge_36
Image of a boat on the river, with text "Murray Bridge is a major service centre for the wider Murray River region."
Many people in the area still experience long-term legal and financial challenges related to the flooding. Other key issues out here are housing affordability, family violence, financial hardship, youth disengagement, mental health, transport barriers, and legal problems around tenancy, debt, employment, and family law. There are challenges with access to services generally, not just legal services. People also struggle to access counselling, financial counselling and other supports.
Image of lots of bread on a shelf, with text "I really like working from this community centre because so many people come here. There is a food bank, and there are a range of community services."
So many of the people who use those other services are also the people who need free legal assistance. They already know about the location, which makes it easy for them to access us. Travel can be difficult. We don’t have a permanent office in Murray Bridge, so if someone needs to meet with us in person they may have to travel to our Noarlunga office. That makes accessing legal help more difficult than it is for people living closer to the cities. People also often have to travel long distances to attend court. Even when hearings can be conducted online, not everyone finds that easy.
Image of Radhe standing outside smiling at the camera, with text "I enjoy travelling out to regional areas. Many people I see have been referred from one service to another before finding us. Being able to fill that gap is really rewarding."

Launceston Community Legal Centre

Marjana Lima, Solicitor

Tile introducing Marjana with a photograph and text "A day in the life with Marjana"
Quote: I was drawn to working at Launceston Community Legal Centre because of the opportunity to improve access to justice and make a meaningful impact in the community. I was seeking a more purpose-driven legal career where I could use my skills to support people who may otherwise face barriers to obtaining legal assistance.
Image of the Launceston Community Legal Centre doors, with text "I'm Marjana. I’m a Solicitor at Launceston Community Legal Centre, and here’s a few days in my life."
First thing in the morning, we had our weekly team meeting, followed by a case conference. Case conference is where we discuss any complex matters we’re dealing with, seek guidance from more experienced colleagues, and share our perspectives on other team members’ matters. This is part of our team-based approach to case management and client support.
Image of a lift, with text "Later in the morning, I had two client appointments."
The first client was seeking help and advice to apply for a restraint order, while the second needed assistance to make an application for a review of a guardianship order. In the afternoon, I attended to some outstanding file work and prepared client advice sheets arising from the appointments earlier in the day.
Image of a little shop, with text "Then, I went to a meeting with the CEO and some of our Board members to plan the Launceston Community Legal Centre’s 40th anniversary celebrations!"
Image of a wooden road sign in front of a green field, with text "First thing in the morning, I went to collect the work vehicle and my laptop and then prepared for the drive."
I travelled from Launceston to Scottsdale, where I’d be meeting clients at Dorset Community House. The drive took much longer than it should have because of heavy rain and bad conditions on the roads.
Image of a brick building, the Dorset Community House, with text "I had two client appointments in Scottsdale, but both had to be pushed back by half an hour because of the driving delays."
I wasn’t able to phone ahead to let the clients or Dorset Community House know about the delay because there’s no phone reception out on those roads. Thankfully, the clients were understanding of the circumstances. The first client meeting was in relation to a restraint order, and the second was about a consumer law issue.
Image of grass, in front of a road, in front of a forest, with text "I took a short break to eat before the long drive back to Launceston."
On my break, I picked up a First Aid Kit set made of several locally made balms. The muscle rub was especially helpful, providing relief from back pain that had worsened during the drive. On the drive back, driving conditions were still terrible. In some areas, visibility and the water on the roads meant we had to reduce the spe2d to 20km/hour.
Image of an office waiting room, with text "I spent the morning training with Legal Literacy Volunteers. The Legal Literacy Volunteer program strengthens our community legal centre’s ability to help more people."
Through a volunteer roster, community members can assist with things like filling out forms and preparing documents like letters and simple affidavits, under direction from Launceston Community Legal Centre lawyers. In the afternoon, I took some time to sort out my outstanding file work and legal research, and to prepare client advice sheets that came out of the Scottsdale outreach clinic.
I would like people living in cities to understand that regional communities are diverse, capable and resilient. They are not simply smaller versions of metropolitan communities, and solutions that work well in cities do not always work well in regional areas. I would like politicians to understand that regional communities need sustained, long-term planning. Genuine consultation helps ensure initiatives are responsive to local needs and more likely to succeed in practice.

Ms Tracey's journey

Ms Tracey’s journey to bring Leo safely home to live with her on Country, with support from Central Australian Women’s Legal Service.

Part 1: Introduction — Why Ms Tracey needed community legal support

Part 2: Ms Tracey preparing for the hearing with support from her community lawyer

Part 3: The hearing

Central Australian Women's Legal Service client journey

One woman’s journey to access housing justice and safety from abuse with support from Central Australian Women’s Legal Service.

Gerry's journey

Gerry’s journey to seek justice and bring his deceased brother’s body home for burial on Country in remote Western Australia, with support from Kimberley Community Legal Services.

Mary's journey

Mary’s journey to seek justice and safety for herself and her children following domestic violence, with support from Pilbara Community Legal Service.

Anne's journey

Anne’s journey to seek justice following an unfair government decision, with support from Launceston Community Legal Centre. 

Emily's journey

Emily’s journey to access justice and safety for her family following their experience of abuse, with support from her community legal centre.

The numbers

Open in a new window

People in regional and remote communities

7 million people, or 27% of the population in Australia, live in regional and remote areas.

First Nations people in regional and remote communities. 30% of people living in remote and very remote areas are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. 15% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in remote and very remote areas.

A greater proportion of people living in regional and remote areas report having a disability than people living in cities.

Graphic showing income & wealth in rural & remote communities. 15% less household income per week than in capital cities. 22% less mean household net worth than people in capital cities. 1 in 4 women in regional and remote areas have a personal income under $400 per week.

People living in very remote areas are hospitalised at almost twice the rate of people living in major cities. People living in remote areas are hospitalised at 1.3 times the rate. For preventable hospitalisations, the rates are 2.8 times as high for people in very remote areas, and 1.8 times as high for people in remote areas, as compared to people in major cities.

The rate of family and domestic violence hospitalisations for people living in very remote areas is 41 times higher than for people living in major cities. 23% of women living outside major cities have experienced partner violence compared to 15% of women living in major cities.

Community legal centres in regional and remote communities

According to our most recent State of the Sector survey…

Graphic about regional & remote community legal centres. 50+ community legal centres in regional and remote communities. 36 identify as regional. 5 identify as rural. 7 identify as remote. 4 identify as very remote.

About 80% of the regional and remote centres in our membership are ‘generalist’ centres, assisting people in their local area with a broad range of legal and related problems.

About 20% are specialist centres, which help people in a particular area of law, or help people from a particular demographic group.

Graphic about the average regional or remote community legal centre. 60+ outreach trips per year. 30+ community legal education sessions delivered per year. 22 people turned away who need help every week.

Collectively, community legal centres travel 1.26 million km a year to reach people in regional and remote communities.

Graphic about outreach distance, showing a rocket traveling between the Earth and the moon. 1.26 million km travelled every year to provide services to people in regional and remote communities. 3.3x the distance between earth and the moon.

People we support

Graphic about people supported each year. 52,000 people living in regional and remote communities supported per year.

The top five most common things community legal centres help people living in regional and remote communities with are:

  • Domestic and family violence and domestic violence protection orders
  • Parenting arrangements
  • Other civil law problems
  • Housing
  • Victim and injury compensation.
Graphic about need for support in remote and very remote vs other areas. 2x family law problems, double the national average. 3x victim & injury compensation, triple that of clients in cities, mostly related to domestic and family violence.

Our workforce

Around 1,000 people work at regional and remote community legal centres.

Over 4 in 5 are women and nonbinary people.

Workers at regional and remote community legal centres are almost twice as likely to be Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or South Sea Islander people than workers at metropolitan centres.

Over half of regional and remote community legal workers hold a Legal Practising Certificate. Lawyers make up 35% of the regional and remote community legal centre workforce. Most other Legal Practising Certificate holders are in leadership roles, like Principal Solicitor or CEO.

1 in 11 are allied professional workers, like social workers, financial counsellors and tenant advocates. Another 1 in 11 are in legal support roles, like paralegals.

Workers at regional and remote centres who hold a Legal Practising Certificate are over 40% more likely than those at metropolitan centres to have held their certificate for under two years.

Graphic about workers at regional & remote centres.

Outreach

Open in a new window

For many people, the only way they can access the help they need is by community lawyers and social workers driving hours to their remote communities to see them face-to-face.

A lot of time on the road

Many clients of regional and remote community legal centres don’t have reliable access to a car, or even a mobile phone. Often, the only way people access support is by community lawyers and social workers driving hours to their remote communities to see them face-to-face.

Most community legal centres provide services across a very large geographic catchment area, with some making regular road trips of hundreds of kilometres to provide outreach services to the most remote communities, including remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. 

Workers can spend six or more hours driving to, carrying out, and travelling home from, a single client meeting. For outreach to communities more than a few hours away, community legal workers have to stay overnight, or for several nights, away from home.

Long distances between remote communities can be exacerbated by poor road maintenance, making journeys more difficult than they need to be. Many regional and remote community legal centres need to have and maintain four-wheel-drive cars.

At some centres, all lawyers, social workers, community education workers and others that go on outreach have to do special off-road driving training because the communities they serve are only accessible via unfinished roads.

Building trust in remote communities

Working with people in remote communities requires time to build trust. It’s unfortunately all too common for organisations, including government agencies, to visit a remote community once or twice, making promises to help, but then not come back again.

Community legal centres serving these communities know they might need to spend months demonstrating regular on-the-ground presence, showing up when and where they say they will, before people will start trusting them with their problems.

When a centre first starts providing outreach to a community they haven’t been to before, workers might do several outreach trips in a row with very few people coming to speak with them. These repeated, reliable outreaches are crucially important to building the trust that will make people feel safe seeking help in future.

Funding models aren't fit for purpose

Community legal centres travel a combined 1.26 million kilometres a year to provide services to people in regional and remote communities. That’s far enough to travel between Earth and the moon 3.3 times.

Centres often have to budget for four-wheel-drives, petrol, off-road driving and bush first aid training, accommodation, and sometimes flights for workers to travel to very remote communities in their catchment area. Communications infrastructure can be patchy in regional and remote areas, so some centres have to invest in satellite phones. This is all part of necessary spending to deliver effective services to people in regional and remote areas.

Centres have to budget significantly more staff time to account for the extra time needed to build trust and provide effective services to people in regional and remote communities. It’s often unsafe to send one worker alone on long drives in the bush, so centres will generally send at least two workers on every outreach, which also increases the time-cost to the centre.

The National Access to Justice Partnership (NAJP), the main funding source for the community legal sector, does not reflect the significantly higher costs of delivering services, or heightened legal and related need, in regional and remote communities.

Housing and childcare

Open in a new window

The shortage of housing and childcare in regional and remote communities undermines safety, wellbeing and access to justice, and contributes to the community legal sector workforce crisis.

Regional and remote housing crisis

Regional and remote communities are facing a worsening housing crisis.

Rental vacancy rates are hitting record-lows while rent prices are rapidly increasing. Public housing is limited or non-existent in regional and remote areas, and in remote and very remote communities is often very poorly maintained.

Housing diversity is lacking, with a dominance of detached housing, which limits options for households on single- or lower incomes. 

Government approaches to housing are city-centric and generally fail to address the needs of regional and remote people and communities.

For people who live in regional and remote areas, this means that it can be hard – or even impossible – to find a home to live in, let alone one that is affordable.

The appalling housing conditions in remote communities are confronting and, frankly, a national disgrace.

Respected Elders who are frail and have limited mobility are being forced from their homes because severe plumbing and electrical faults have made them unsafe to live in. Despite repeated reports, repairs are delayed or poorly completed, with little accountability for substandard work.

One Elder we spoke to had moved out of her home for five months, waiting for works to be completed and during that time was still paying rent (we will open a file to pursue compensation).

Community members are understandably frustrated and have lost confidence in the current maintenance system. Meaningful reform is urgently needed to ensure repairs are timely, of an acceptable standard, and genuinely improve living conditions.

Hannah Lethlean, Senior Solicitor, Kimberley Community Legal Service

Housing overcrowding in remote NT communities remains among the worst in the country. As at September 2021, 54 per cent of houses in remote Indigenous communities in the NT were considered overcrowded, and more recent figures show over half of all remote community homes remain overcrowded today, with 97.6 per cent of people living in severely overcrowded dwellings being Aboriginal.  While government investment has increased housing supply in recent years, the scale of the shortfall means overcrowding continues to directly undermine health, safety and wellbeing in these communities.

Research into family violence and housing has found regional and remote locations suffer from acute shortages in crisis, transitional and long-term housing, resulting in Indigenous women and children escaping family violence being turned away from safe houses that are already at capacity. There is no safe house for women and no women’s centre in this community, services that other remote communities do have access to.

Tully McIntyre, Women’s Safety and Support Officer, Central Australian Women’s Legal Service

Shortages of early childhood education and care in regional and remote communities.

Early childhood education and care options tend to be limited and expensive in regional and remote communities.

Some of the reasons for this are high operational costs, workforce shortages, and infrastructure gaps.

In fact, regional and remote early childhood education and care providers face many of the same challenges as do regional and remote community legal centres.

A lack of available or affordable childcare contributes to the gender pay gap and can heighten risk factors for domestic and family violence through leaving victim-survivors isolated at home caring for children.

Access to early childhood education and care drops sharply with remoteness. National research has found remote and outer remote areas have the highest levels of childcare deserts, at 87.5 per cent and 79.9 per cent respectively.

More than two thirds of priority communities experiencing early childhood disadvantage in childcare deserts are in regional or remote areas, with a significantly higher representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children among them.

This matches what is being observed locally: a childcare building exists but the service is not operating, and it is unclear whether this reflects a funding gap or an implementation failure.

Tully McIntyre, Women’s Safety and Support Officer, Central Australian Women’s Legal Service

Housing, childcare, and the community legal centres workforce crisis

The shortage of housing and childcare in regional and remote areas combine with chronic underfunding to drive an acute workforce crisis for community legal centres and other local services. Staff shortages then leave people and communities without access to the help they need and workers at risk of burnout and vicarious trauma in the face of overwhelming demand.

Community legal centres’ lack of resourcing to pay sufficient wages combine with low rental availability and high rent costs to leave frontline workers struggling to find a place to live. Limited childcare options can be another insurmountable barrier for regional and remote community legal sector workers who have children.

Systemic racism

Open in a new window

Sovereignty has never been ceded. We acknowledge the hundreds of First Nations Countries and cultures that have lived on this land and beside its waters for millennia.

Australia was established based on the false claim of terra nullius, which was used to justify colonisation and genocide. 

The ongoing impacts of dispossession, the Stolen Generations, and systemic racism mean that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience much higher rates of poverty, gender-based violence, housing insecurity, physical and mental ill-health, and child removals than non-Indigenous people. 

The Stolen Generations have never ended: the systematic removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from family, kin, Country and culture continue. This is a root cause of governments’ failure to deliver on Closing the Gap targets. 

Politicians often think about youth justice in isolation from child safety in isolation from the family law system in isolation from domestic, family and sexual violence. Our clients are often impacted by all of these at the same time.

There needs to be more resourcing for services that understand these intersections, and the systems themselves need to improve their understanding of each other. Our lawyers are often asked to educate child safety workers on how the family law system works. The burden should be on those systems to properly understand the intersections themselves.

Penney Ferguson, CEO, First Nations Women’s Legal Service Qld

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face systemic racism and discrimination accessing mainstream health and mental healthcare services. The high cost of specialist healthcare and long waitlists for public services create extra barriers to accessing services. This contributes to poorer health outcomes and higher mortality rates for First Nations people. Culturally appropriate support to access healthcare, including mental healthcare, is lacking for First Nations people of all ages. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled services are underfunded to stem the tide of poor health outcomes for First Nations peoples.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience harsher policing and far higher rates of imprisonment and deaths in custody than non-Indigenous people. Governments spend huge sums of money policing and jailing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, while underfunding evidence-based community-led solutions to justice problems. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have provided governments with hundreds of recommendations over many decades to narrow the gap. Governments have too often ignored them.

Systemic racism drives legal need

The impacts of systemic racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can cause or worsen legal problems.

Racism in child removals systems means First Nations people are more likely to need legal support for child protection matters.

Racism in policing and prison systems means First Nations people are more likely to need criminal law assistance.

Racism that drives economic and health inequity means First Nations people are more likely to need legal and related support across a whole range of areas, like housing, employment, social security, and more.

Meanwhile, Aboriginal community-controlled legal assistance providers often tend to be the poorest funded and with workers paid the lowest wages. 

Our centre does incredible work holding systems accountable, particularly when it comes to First Nations women, children, and families. When families have autonomy and support to create safety for themselves, we see better outcomes across family law, child safety, and domestic violence.

Our communities need to have a say and a share in the decision-making, when decisions directly affect us. The people living here care far more about the state of our community than any person whose job it is to make decisions from afar about our lives.

Penney Ferguson, CEO, First Nations Women’s Legal Service Qld

Systemic racism drives geographic discrimination in remote communities

The proportion of First Nations people within the population increases with distance away from metropolitan areas. Government decisions that harm people in remote communities disproportionately harm First Nations people. This means geographic discrimination can be a proxy for racism.

The lack of funding for services that are meant for all people in Australia impacts those who live in regional and remote areas. Aboriginal people in these areas experience racism and discrimination based on their postcodes. Torres Strait Islander communities also face discrimination around food prices, fuel and flights. For example, a packet a biscuits that costs $3 in a city can cost upwards of $7 in a remote community. 

Challenges are not due to a lack of willingness by community members, but rather a lack of essential infrastructure and service flexibility of government and non-government agencies. Clients are sent letters from various government departments asking them to log-in to portals, witness documents, or provide written responses. For many clients, English is their second language, and many communities lack the support and infrastructure for clients to complete these tasks. Seeing these systemic barriers continue to affect remote communities in this era is frustrating.

Hannah Lethlean, Senior Solicitor, Kimberley Community Legal Service

The decision to live in remote, regional, rural or very remote communities is multi-layered. Proximity to traditional Country ensures that cultural and ceremonial customs and traditions can continue. Older generations can teach and pass on these practices to younger people.

In living on and caring for Country, First Nations peoples continue traditions and culture that address environmental, water management, animal and land care practices. The way in which First Nations peoples honour care for, and connection to, Country, builds intercultural understanding, respect and pride. It provides vast opportunity to educate all people — migrants, new citizens, settler folk and visitors — about the deep benefits of looking after and connecting to place.

Geographic location, including living on Country, can be a crucial part of identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Government decisions often treat where a person lives as ‘just a choice’ and therefore a reasonable ground for unequal access to services, justice, wellbeing and safety. This undermines the right of all people, and particularly First Nations people, to live in their home communities. 

Climate and disasters

Open in a new window

Climate change is a justice issue, and it disproportionately impacts people in regional and remote communities.

Regional and remote community legal centres adapt to weather and climate conditions

Regional and remote community legal centres adapt their service delivery in response to climate and weather patterns. Some of this is not necessarily attributable to climate change: centres plan outreaches around wet and dry season. Weather conditions and a lack of appropriate infrastructure can limit people’s access to justice if a centre is unable to do a planned outreach.

Climate change drives increasing severity and unpredictability of weather patterns, which can exacerbate these challenges.

Climate disasters create and worsen legal problems

Climate change is already driving more frequent and worsening climate disasters like fires, droughts, heatwaves, cyclones and floods. As governments continue to expand the fossil fuel industry and sideline climate mitigation measures, its impacts are set to worsen.

Disasters create and worsen legal problems related to people’s housing and tenancies, social security, debts, insurance, experience of domestic, family and sexual violence, and child protection. These problems can impact people’s lives, and entire communities, over many years.

Climate change compounds structural barriers. Disasters and the harshest extremes of day-to-day weather conditions most severely impact people who experience social and economic barriers to equality, and who are most often failed by our laws, policies, and justice systems. This includes people experiencing poverty, people living in regional and remote communities, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, for whom climate change can impact cultural and spiritual connections to land and waterways, as well as physical wellbeing.

Legal help for people impacted by climate disasters

Empowering communities to avoid legal problems

Community legal centres deliver community education on disaster-related legal issues to support people to prepare for disasters. This risk reduction education includes topics like housing and tenancy laws, social security, financial literacy, preparing important documents, and insurance. This kind of education helps to insulate communities from the ripple effects of disasters.

Supporting people to recover after a disaster

Need for community legal help skyrockets after a disaster. People need community legal centres to help them in areas like housing and tenancy, insurance, social security, domestic and family violence, child protection, and more. People need help immediately, as well as throughout the ‘long tail’ of the disaster, in the months and years following.

Community legal centres have been a critical part of disaster response following disasters like the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20, and unprecedented flooding disasters across NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland in 2021 and 2022 — just to name a few.

Many centres are in communities that have been hit by multiple disasters over the years. For example, Townsville Community Law has responded to monsoonal and flooding events in 1998, 2010-11, 2012 and 2019, and tropical cyclones in 1997, 2000, 2006 and 2011.

In many instances, community legal centres and staff are directly impacted by climate disasters, as well as contributing to response and recovery efforts.

This experience has taught us that communities value place-based services, from local organisations they already know and trust to be around long-term. People impacted by disasters benefit from the holistic, integrated, trauma-informed model we provide. Our support helps people manage the full range of legal and related needs impacting their lives during and following disasters.

Solutions to deliver justice where we live

There are several straightforward solutions that the Federal Government can immediately implement to improve access to justice for people and communities in regional and remote areas.

Our sector is very highly educated. Over half (55%) of the workers in our sector hold a graduate degree, master’s degree, or higher. However, university is expensive. People are graduating carrying large and growing debts.

To help incentivise people to choose to work at a regional or remote community legal centre, the Federal Government should establish a university debt forgiveness scheme. 

The independent review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) recommended a HECS-HELP Forgiveness Scheme for remote and regional lawyers who work in the community legal sector:

“Existing literature suggests financial incentives, such as loan forgiveness schemes, can be effective tools for attracting new entrants to the workforce in regional and remote areas (Yong, J, et al. 2018). This is not a new proposition for bolstering key workforces in regional and remote Australia. The Commonwealth currently supports two similar initiatives: HELP for Rural Doctors and Nurse Practitioners, and Reduction of HELP debts for teachers in very remote areas.

“These two initiatives provide assistance for eligible recipients through two mechanisms. The first is a waiver of indexation on accumulated HELP debt, and the second is a reduction of accumulated HELP debt. The aim of the schemes is to increase the number of people in these roles living and working in rural, regional and remote Australia.”

The recommended scheme has not been implemented. This is a straightforward step the Federal Government should take to improve access to justice in regional and remote communities.

To further strengthen this initiative, the Federal Government should seek to support universities to formally partner with regional and remote community legal centres to provide paid placement opportunities for students to support future recruitment.

Students on placement can provide valuable contributions to regional and remote community legal centres. Beyond this, the experience of doing a placement at a regional or remote community legal centre can be life-changing for young people, opening their eyes to the kinds of work these centres do and in many cases causing them to seriously consider long-term careers working at regional or remote community legal centres.

Service delivery regional loading

Funding models for community legal centres don’t reflect the significantly higher costs of delivering services, or heightened legal and related need, in regional and remote communities.

Governments should do the work required to map legal needs and develop a funding model that reflects the true cost of delivering high quality, trauma-informed and culturally safe services to regional and remote communities.

In the meantime, the Federal Government should provide regional loading payments of at least 20% of total current funding to every regional and remote community legal centre.

Some examples of the kinds of things centres may spend the payment on include petrol and staff time for outreach trips, development of a new program or service, establishing a new collaboration or partnership, or making insecurely funded programs or services permanent.

Workforce regional loading

Community legal centres in regional and remote areas are experiencing a workforce crisis exacerbated by the cost-of-living and rental crises, sector under-resourcing, growing volume and complexity of legal need, a shortage of services in regional and remote areas, and more.

In 2024, the Queensland Government provided a $12.4 million funding uplift to improve wages and conditions for community legal centre workers. Community Legal Centres Queensland data from 2025 demonstrates that in the wake of the payment, worker retention, worker wellbeing, and sector capacity have all improved.

To address the acute workforce crisis the Federal Government should invest an additional $17 million to improve wages and conditions for community legal centre staff working in regional and remote communities.

Some examples of the kinds of things centres may spend the payment on include a wages uplift for all staff, relocation payments, additional professional development opportunities for staff, providing or contributing to housing or childcare for staff, and increasing the leave available to staff, like study leave, parental leave or cultural leave.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia consistently reports that around 80% of family law matters it deals with involve family violence. Rates are similarly high in the Family Court of Western Australia. However, too many victims-survivors, especially in regional and remote areas, face the family law system without the community legal help they need.

The family law system itself is chronically under-resourced, which can heighten the risk of harm and systems abuse. Community legal centres that provide free, specialised family law advice and representation services in regional and remote areas remain significantly under-funded to meet need.

Improving access to safety and justice for victims-survivors of family violence in the Family Court requires increasing investment in the family law system itself, and in regional and remote centres’ family law and family violence service capacity.

The Federal Government should increase resourcing for the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Family Court of WA to address backlogs, implement trauma-informed processes, and improve cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Federal Government should also invest an additional $15.8m a year for regional and remote community legal centres to deliver family law assistance.

Download the policy briefing paper
Download the policy paper 2-page summary