Frequently
Asked Questions
Q1 What are CLCs and what
do they do?
Q2 Who are typical CLC clients?
Q3 What sorts of people volunteer?
Q4 What attributes and skills do volunteers need?
Q5 Can students volunteer?
Q6 What particular skills do lawyers need?
Q7 Do volunteer lawyers need current practising certificates?
Q8 What sorts of work do
volunteers do?
Q9 Is it different volunteering in a specialist CLC?
Q10 What rights do volunteers have?
Q11 What obligations do volunteers have?
Q12 What are the benefits of volunteering?
Q13 How do I become involved?
Q14 Where can I get further information about volunteer
and pro bono opportunities at CLCs?
Q1 What are CLCs
and what do they do?
CLCs are independent non-profit community organisations that provide nationally, across a State or Territory or within a region of a State or Territory:
- free legal services including advice, referrals, information and advocacy;
- legal education for organisations and communities;
- lobbying for social justice and access to the legal system, including legislative and policy reform.
They have become an important part of the Australian legal system, bridging the gap for those who cannot afford their own legal representation but for whom legal aid is not available. Centres have developed expertise in areas of law not often well covered by other parts of the legal profession. Some centres provide general legal assistance, on a broad range of legal problems, and operate within particular geographical areas. Others have evolved into specialist centres in order to respond to the needs of particular groups or in specialist areas of law. Examples of specialist areas include women, people with disabilities, young people, social security and immigration law. These specialist CLCs usually provide community legal assistance to the public in the entire State or Territory (and in some cases Australia-wide), but only within the context of their areas of speciality.
There are now well over 200 CLCs throughout Australia. They range from centres with no paid staff (which means these centres rely entirely on the contributions of volunteers) to centres with ten or more qualified employees such as solicitors, social workers, community legal educators and administrative staff.
The philosophy of CLCs is self-empowerment. CLCs aim to empower their clients by informing them of their legal rights and responsibilities and by encouraging them to act on their own behalf as far as possible. CLCs are available for everyone in the community but in particular for those who cannot afford a private solicitor. Subject to their resources and guidelines some CLCs accept cases for individuals. Some may also accept cases for a large group of people (class actions) or 'test cases' where the legal problem has particular significance affecting a whole community.
Most CLCs provide face-to-face legal advice and referral. Many centres also provide legal advice by telephone and some now use email and video conferencing. If required, interpreters can be arranged by CLCs to assist members of the public from non-English speaking backgrounds.
While a majority of CLCs receive government funding, they are not a government legal service such as Legal Aid. For members of the public to qualify for legal aid, income and financial means are taken into consideration, as well as the merits of the client's case. Further, legal aid is primarily available in criminal matters, in family law matters involving children and a limited range of civil matters. Unlike legal aid commissions, CLCs generally do not use formal means tests to establish client eligibility.
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Q2 Who are typical
CLC clients?
Generally, clients are disadvantaged people who are likely to seek
assistance in areas such as family law, credit and debt, housing,
employment, neighbourhood disputes and social security matters.
CLC statistics show that most clients receive social security benefits,
many are unemployed and are commonly between 25 and 59 years of
age. English is not the first language for about one third of CLC
clients and almost half have one or more dependants.
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Q3 What sorts
of people volunteer?
CLCs have historically been built on the work and vision of volunteers
who are often a fundamental part of the service that CLCs provide
to the community. Volunteer assistance supplements and supports
the work of paid CLC staff and is crucial to the survival of CLCs.
A 2002 report on CLC volunteers indicated that two thirds of volunteers
are legal professionals and the rest are paralegal workers. About
half have been volunteering for 2 or more years and many have a
history of involvement with community organisations. They tend to
volunteer on a regular weekly or fortnightly basis with the majority
(47.5%) working 1-5 hours per month but 10% working 30+ hours a
month. Altruism rather than personal or professional goals is rated
a major motivation for volunteer work.
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Q4 What attributes
and skills do volunteers need?
Whether they have legal or non-legal backgrounds, volunteers should
have a commitment to social justice and to the principle of access
to justice. They should have a sense of identification with and
understanding of the community sector. Other important attributes
include:
- a commitment to professionalism and the principles and obligations
of volunteering;
- a desire to learn and an ability to work as part of a team;
- an ability to be non-judgmental and courteous with clients;
- tolerance and patience in different or difficult situations;
- the ability to make a commitment to the CLC;
- an understanding of and willingness to empathise with clients
who have comprehension difficulties such as communication disabilities,
mental health or substance abuse issues, language or literacy
deficiency.
Desirable basic skills include:
- some understanding or experience of, or a willingness to learn,
the legal areas in which the CLC provides legal advice and assistance
to the community;
- basic computer literacy
- some understanding of government funded legal programs (eg
Legal Aid) and not-for-profit legal and community organisations.
Information about the legal aid system is set out in the law handbooks
of each State and Territory.
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Q5 Can students
volunteer?
Most CLCs welcome student volunteers. Where CLCs are affiliated
with universities, students may be able to undertake internships
for academic credit as part of a clinical legal education course.
Other CLCs give students a particular opportunity to work with a
solicitor in a mentor arrangement, and to undertake policy and casework,
depending upon the volunteer student's interest and availability.
Often a CLC will encourage volunteer student involvement from the
3rd year of their degree onwards. Placements may also be available
during university breaks. It is important to note that some CLCs
are very well known among students and it may be difficult to obtain
a volunteer position. Do not be discouraged. If you are not prepared
to be placed on a waiting list, there are many other volunteer opportunities
at other CLCs. Be persistent and proactive in seeking your volunteer
experience.
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Q6 What particular
skills do lawyers need?
Volunteer lawyers usually undertake responsibilities in accordance
with levels of training and experience. While desirable, it is generally
not necessary for volunteer lawyers to have prior legal experience
or to be currently practising in the legal areas which generalist
CLCs provide legal advice and assistance. Volunteer lawyers are,
however, expected to be committed to learn new areas of law and
are often asked to inform their clients at CLCs that they are not
experts in the area of law in which they are providing advice. Some
CLCs have specialist advice nights which may require, or prefer,
their volunteer lawyers to have some experience or at least interest
in that legal area in order to advise clients. Different CLCs have
different policies regarding volunteer lawyers so potential volunteer
lawyers should always seek clarification from the particular CLC
as to their requirements.
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Q7 Do volunteer
lawyers need current practising certificates?
CLCs operate under the same rules as the private legal profession.
Most are covered by a national professional indemnity insurance
scheme that demands compliance with rigorous practice guidelines.
Centres that are part of the professional indemnity scheme have
standard risk management guidelines obliging volunteers who provide
legal advice to hold a current practising certificate. There may
be opportunities for those without practising certificates to assist
in other ways.
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Q8 What sorts
of work do volunteers do?
Different CLCs have different policies regarding the involvement
of volunteers. It is important to contact the centre to discuss
the role and volunteering opportunities at that particular CLC.
The work of volunteers will typically be coordinated and overseen
by CLC staff.
CLCs may offer opportunities for law and social work students, lawyers,
social workers and others with skills that can help the CLC perform
its functions, such as language and cross-cultural skills, social
welfare work experience or training. They may also recruit representatives
of their volunteers and/or seek people from their community who
have experience, knowledge or skills that will be useful to their
board of management.
Volunteer students are often required to assist with administrative
and reception work as well as initial client contact. Depending
on areas of interest and expert, students might also be involved
in:
- conducting initial client interviews, and discussing factual
scenarios with staff lawyers and volunteer lawyers;
- responding to general inquiries about the CLC and its services;
- referring clients to appropriate community and government agencies;
- case management, maintaining client files and documentation;
- assisting in advocacy work of staff lawyers (including attending
courts and tribunals);
- drafting letters and other legal documents;
- researching legal issues, administrative procedures and relevant
policy areas;
- maintaining CLC legal resources, loose leaf services and periodicals.
Students who are not admitted to practice must defer to volunteer
and staff lawyers for the provision of actual legal advice and must
inform clients that they are not qualified to give legal advice
but will refer them to a lawyer or arrange for a lawyer to contact
them.
Volunteer lawyers may be on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly roster
to attend evening shifts in order to advise clients. Some CLCs are
more flexible than others in accommodating lawyers and legal advisers
with an interest, but not necessarily, a strong background, in a
CLC speciality area. Experienced volunteer lawyers may be involved
in mentoring and guiding volunteer students and volunteer lawyers
with less experience.
Non-legal volunteer staff, including volunteer students, may also
be rostered and work with employed CLC staff to provide telephone
referrals to the public, arrange bookings for legal advice nights,
prepare interview, briefing or file notes, conduct follow-up tasks
on client matters such as preparing draft letters and conduct administrative
tasks.
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Q9 Is it different
volunteering in a specialist CLC?
Student volunteers in specialist CLCs that require particular skills
and background knowledge (eg. an understanding of issues for people
with disabilities, victims of domestic violence or knowledge of
the operation of the criminal justice system or the courts), may
be required to show evidence of experience and/or undertake specialist
training courses and be provided by the CLC with ongoing support.
Specialists CLCs can provide particularly interesting and hands-on
experience for student volunteers, but it is very important that
students are not placed in situations that they are not equipped
for. As a general rule, it is recommended that prospective student
volunteers make inquiries into the training programs for volunteers
at CLCs.
Lawyers and legal advisers with an interest, but not necessarily
a strong practising background, in a CLC specialty area may be welcomed
where the centre has the resources and ability to provide training,
support and supervision, and subsequent review of advices. It is
recommended that volunteer lawyers have some expertise in or be
prepared to learn more about the areas that the CLC advises upon.
Clients can present daunting and difficult legal problems to CLCs
that may overwhelm new volunteer graduates and lawyers without the
relevant expertise. Back up support should always be available from
other volunteers or CLC staff solicitors. If in doubt, ask for advice
or guidance.
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Q10 What rights
do volunteers have?
Volunteers are not covered by award conditions or workplace agreements
but they do have rights, some of which are prescribed by legislation
and some of which are the moral obligations of a CLC working with
volunteers. Basic rights include:
- being given accurate information about the CLC and orientation
to its operations;
- sufficient training to do their job;
- working in a healthy and safe environment;
- reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf
of the CLC (this normally excludes travel costs between home and
the CLC);
- a copy of the organisation's volunteer policy and any other
policy that affects their volunteer work if requested;
- not being asked to do the work of paid staff at the CLC during
any industrial dispute;
- not being asked to undertake work that is unethical or contrary
to their professional obligations;
- conducting volunteer work to agreed working hours;
- having access to a grievance procedure;
- being adequately covered by insurance.
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Q11 What obligations
do volunteers have?
At some CLCs, volunteers are required to commit to at least one
shift (commonly around four hours per week), or to commit to regular
attendance for a minimum period of three to six months. Other obligations
include:
- respecting and maintaining the confidentiality of their clients
and the CLC's information;
- respecting the rights, dignity and culture of others and clients;
- acting responsibly and, if reasonably directed by a paid staff
member of a CLC, following such direction;
- becoming familiar with and following any policies or procedures
of the CLC including the risk management guidelines applied as
part of the Centre’s professional indemnity insurance scheme.
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Q12 What are
the benefits of volunteering?
Benefits reported by volunteers at CLCs include:
- Accelerated professional development and broadened career paths—development
of invaluable skills because of the independent, client-focused
and practical nature of CLC volunteer work; realization of a larger
range of career options than previously considered and new insights
what kind of lawyer they wanted to be
- New legal skills and challenges—opportunities to work
in different areas of law areas, and hence gain new skills and
challenges.
- Genuine satisfaction from helping people solve their problems,
from working in a team and from the knowledge that their volunteer
contributions are part of the development of a fair and accessible
legal system.
- Building networks and friendships—meeting like-minded
individuals, broadening both personal friendships and professional
networks.
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Q13 How do I
become involved?
Work out which CLC you are interested in and where your skills are
appropriate. This website provides contact
details and indicates which CLCs are currently calling for volunteers.
Intakes of volunteers may be at specific times of the year and for
a very few CLCs, there can be waiting lists of up to a year for
volunteer positions.
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Q14 Where can
I get further information about volunteer and pro bono opportunities
at CLCs?
You can obtain further information about CLCs from the National Association of Community Legal Centres or contact the State Association of Community Legal Centres in your jurisdiction.
ACT - Tel: 02 93182355
NEW SOUTH WALES - Tel: 02 9318 2355: WEBSITE: www.nswclc.org.au
NT - Tel: 08 8982 1182
QLD - Tel: 07 3254 1811
SOUTH AUSTRALIA - 08 87236236
TASMANIA - Tel: 03 6223 2500
VICTORIA - Tel: 03 9654 2204 WEBSITE: www.communitylaw.org.au
WA - Tel: 08 9221 9322
Here are some other links to other useful volunteer websites :
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