• Between 2014-15 and 2019-20 Community legal centres were squeezed with no significant increase in recurrent funding.

• In 2018-19:
  • almost one third of community legal centres reduced their public access hours, as they did not have the resources to take on any new clients.
  • centres attracted 70,000 hours in volunteer and pro bono contributions. This is equivalent to almost 40 full time jobs.

• COVID increased the demand for legal assistance. In 2019-20 there was a 200% increase in calls to the Tenancy WA hotline and an April 2020 snapshot showed a 45% increase in demand for law services at the Employment Law Centre.

Prior to Covid-19, community legal centres were already struggling to keep up with the demand for legal help.  Demand increased from April 2020 when the impact of Covid-19 became apparent.  The Covid-19 funding support was welcomed to ensure the services were maintained. 

In 2021 we sought a pre-election commitment for sustainable funding for community legal centres. 

Find out more about  our ask for secure funding: A Just Recovery: Securing legal help for those who need it most. 

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