Advocacy
Our national advocacy, policy and law reform work is critical to our core function as a national representative voice for the community legal sector. Our movement has a vision for justice which will only be realised through progressive law reform, and through adequate resourcing for our sector so that the people and communities we work with can access the legal supports they need.
This work involves:
- Giving voice to the people and communities our centres work with so that their experiences of the justice system can drive system reform.
- Coordinating sector views so that we can, wherever possible, speak with one voice, particularly when advocating to the federal government and other national-level justice stakeholders.
- Amplifying the advocacy, policy and law reform work of both the state and territory peaks and individual centres and, where we can, supporting them with strategic advice and resources.
- Building understanding of and support for our sector among federal parliamentarians and other national-level decision-makers.
Read below about some of the important federal law reform issues our sector advocates on, or see our Advocacy archive for older advocacy work.
Community Legal Centres Australia welcomes ALRC report on justice responses to sexual violence
Community legal sector says you don’t secure a safety net by cutting holes in it; you don’t rush life-threatening decisions
The community legal sector has issued a condemnation of the Government’s handling of proposed changes to the NDIS. Concerns include the substance of the bill itself, as well as the process of its introduction.
Community legal sector statement on the NDIS Bill
You don’t secure a safety net by cutting holes in it.
You don’t rush life-threatening decisions.
All people deserve autonomy, safety, and fair access to community life. The Federal Government’s NDIS Bill will give effect to changes that would deny these rights to many people with disability and rip gaping new holes in our essential safety net. All people deserve to have a say on the laws and systems that impact our lives. The process and timeframe for consultation don’t allow for anyone – least of all the people with disability it is most important for the government to listen to – to fully engage with the bill and provide meaningful input.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Network submission to the inquiry into racism, hate and violence
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Network made a submission to the Inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The submission explains that racism targeted at First Nations people is not just one-off incidents of racist individuals using violence, discrimination, or harmful words. Racism is structural: driven, endorsed, emboldened and facilitated by powerful institutions including governments. Initiatives to effectively combat racism are those that fundamentally reshape the material conditions that drive systemic inequity.
In times of national hardship, we can’t leave women and children in the regions behind
Economic hard times drive higher rates of family violence and other legal problems. Community legal centres have begun seeing spikes in domestic violence, in acute financial stress, and in other flow-on legal problems. This is likely to increase further in coming months. More people will need our support, right when we have less capacity to help.
We acknowledge the important steps the Federal Government has taken to address intergenerational inequality through tax and trust reform, but these kinds of measures must be supported by investment in a strong, stable safety net of community supports.
Submission to the Inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by the National Community Legal Centres Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Network
Legal services and so much more: Thirteen organisations sign onto open letter responding to Minister Madeleine King’s recent comments about community legal centres.
In recent comments, Madeleine King MP stated, “Community legal centres are not political campaign vehicles – they are there to provide legal services to the community, nothing more.”
Community Legal Centres Australia has penned an open letter responding to the minister’s comments and highlighting the community legal centres’ sector’s unique work to remove justice barriers.
Submission to the Senate inquiry into offshore processing and resettlement arrangements
Australia must step up and keep kids safe
As Australia’s appearance before the United Nations Human Rights Council for its Universal Periodic Review draws near, Candice Hughes, Principal Solicitor at YFS Legal, shares some reflections on her work with children impacted by the child detention system, and the Australian Government’s obligations to keep kids safe.
Submission to the inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system
Vision for Justice
Our Vision for Justice sets out some of the greatest justice barriers community legal centres see impacting people’s wellbeing, and the sector’s vision for what things could look like if governments and communities came together to overcome those barriers.
It will take many years and lots of hard work to achieve our Vision for Justice: a society in which everyone is treated fairly and can access justice regardless of income, race, gender, disability, or any other systemic barrier. As a first step, we’ve identified some actions the 48th Parliament can take to bring communities closer to achieving our vision.
The Vision for Justice and connected actions reflect community legal centres’ work across all jurisdictions and many areas of law, from child protection and criminal law, to employment, social security and immigration.
Australia’s human rights record under scrutiny through 2025–26 UN Universal Periodic Review
Australia’s human rights record will face scrutiny in 2025-26 when the Australian Government appears before the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in Geneva for its major human rights review, known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Community Legal Centres Australia is a member of the coordinating committee alongside the Human Rights Law Centre, Indigenous People’s Organisation-Australia, and Kingsford Legal Centre to lead the NGO Coalition report and advocacy.
Australia’s fourth Universal Periodic Review: Joint NGO report on behalf of the Australian NGO Coalition
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community legal sector workers issue a call to action to newly elected Federal Labor Government: “finally end the Stolen Generations.”
A new national First Nations Justice Network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers in the community legal sector have issued a call to action to the Federal Labor Government to deliver systemic and structural transformation for First Nations people in this term of government.
A truth-telling document created by First Nations staff from across the continent asserts that regression on Closing the Gap targets (on out-of-home care, adult incarceration, and suicide) is driven by deliberate government choices and demonstrates that the Stolen Generations never ended.
Submission to the Fair Work Commission’s gender undervaluation priority awards review
Bail saves lives: Poccum’s Law is the way forward
Today, Community Legal Centres Australia stands with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and 92 representatives of ACCOs, community services, family violence and legal sectors to launch joint open letter ‘Bail saves lives: Poccum’s Law is the way forward’.