9 March 2026 

Dear Minister 

Community legal centres – legal services and so much more 

I write on behalf of the national community legal centre sector and civil society organisations to respond to your recent comments that “community legal centres are not political campaign vehicles – they are there to provide legal services to the community, nothing more.”  

Community legal centres are politically impartial; we are not ‘political campaign vehicles’. However, we have a long and proud history of advocating for changes to our legal systems that make them fairer and more accessible for people experiencing poverty and disadvantage. Equally, supporting people to understand and exercise their legal rights through established legal processes is a core part of ensuring access to justice and maintaining confidence in the rule of law. 

The first community legal centres were established over 50 years ago by lawyers and advocates frustrated by the injustices faced by their communities. They were responding to the unfairness of a legal system that marginalised poverty and difference. These early centres provided free legal advice and assistance to people in their communities and advocated publicly and directly to governments to change unfair laws.  

Today, community legal centres assist around 200 000 people across the country each year. Their stories show us how legal systems and government policy decisions continue to create barriers to accessing justice for people experiencing poverty or who are marginalised in other ways. For community legal centres, simply assisting people to resolve their immediate legal problems has never been enough.  

Our systems reform work, including through strategic litigation, is core to our mission and helps deliver a fairer legal system for everyone. Community legal centres were amongst the first groups to raise concerns about Robodebt. We have been at the forefront of efforts to address sexual harassment in the workplace. We’ve worked to ensure that the human rights of First Nations people to access Country and to practice culture are considered and protected from the impacts of fossil fuel extraction and climate change. In these, and many other areas, we are a trusted and reliable source of advice to governments.  

The depth and breadth of our sector’s expertise is reflected in Community Legal Centres Australia’s Vision for Justice and Actions for the 48th Parliament, from child protection, criminal law, domestic, family and sexual violence, and First Nations justice, to employment, social security, planning and the environment and immigration. 

Our advocacy is not the only thing that sets community legal centres apart. We have also long recognised that people’s legal problems are often connected to other social and economic problems and that the best supports address all these challenges together. So, community legal centres don’t just employ lawyers and don’t just offer legal services. We also employ counsellors, social workers, tenant and disability advocates, community development workers. This enables us to deliver wraparound services that respond holistically to people’s needs and prioritise trauma-informed and culturally safe practice. We were doing integrated service delivery before it was fashionable or even had a name.  

Community legal centres fill critical justice gaps through our legal services – and so much more. 

Dr Tim Leach 

CEO, Community Legal Centres Australia 

Endorsed by 

Cassandra Goldie, CEO, Australian Council of Social Service 
Andrew Beaton, Campaigns Director, Australian Democracy Network
Sarah Marland, Executive Director, Community Legal Centres NSW 
Ippei Okasaki, Chair, Community Legal Centres South Australia 
Ryan Gilmour, Chair, Community Legal Centres Tasmania
Chelsea McKinney CEO, Community Legal Western Australia 
Caitlin Weatherby-Fell, Chair, Northern Territory Association of Community Legal Centres  
Kate Allingham, CEO, Economic Justice Australia 
Jo Schulman, CEO, Environmental Defenders Office 
Patrick Warner, Acting Executive Director, Grata Fund 
Louisa Gibbs, CEO The Federation of Community Legal Centres 
Caitlin Reiger, CEO, Human Rights Law Centre
Adrianne Walters, Executive Director, Women’s Legal Services Australia