Community Legal Centres provide vital frontline help with legal problems
that impact on peoples’ safety, housing, health and financial security.
Studies & surveys show that LGBTIQ+ people experience
family violence
homelessness
poverty
discrimination
and harassment
at higher rates than their cis/straight peers
We also know that LGBTIQ+ people face barriers accessing mainstream support services and most prefer services that specifically cater for LGBTIQ+ people or are visibly safe and inclusive
LGBTIQ+ specialist CLCs provide
culturally safe and accessible
services but are
critically under-funded
The LGBTI Legal Service receives < $300,000 in core funding for legal services.
Which is just enough to pay our rent, bills and employ1 full time lawyer/directo, and 2 part time paralegals
To provide a statewide specialist service
A massive access to justice gap exists Our current fiunding only allows us to help 0.3% of LGB()TIQA+) Queenslanders who experience a legal problem each year.
in other parts of Australia,
the situation is even worse
in 5 States & Territories LGBTIQA+ people have
no access to a dedicated culturally safe legal service.
Most CLCs across Australia have no secure funding beyond June 2025 and
will be forced to close services
early next year if nothing changes.
A recent independent review into legal assistance funding
recognised that LGBTIQ+ people have specific legal needs
and recommended that
LGBTIQ+ people are includedin the list of priority groups
and allocated additional funding
The Federal Government’s recently announced funding package
provides only a fraction of what is needed
to bridge the access to justice gap
It includes just $100m in new funding, to be split across 200+ organisations, which is:
of what the
Productivity Commission
called for a decade ago
of what
frontline workers
said they needed now
short of what the
Government’s own
commissioned economist
advised
Rather than known trusted partners providing a valued service to community, government has treated service providers like sporting clubs tendering for funds to renovate a block of change rooms.
The Federal Government’s funding package contained no announcements for struggling LGBTIQ+ specialist CLCs.
And the recommendation to include LGBTIQ+ people as a priority group?
Crickets.
We are so powerful
When we stand together
