September 09, 2025 | Katie Wand
During the first week of September, representatives from community legal centres across the country descended upon Canberra to learn from and connect with sector experts and peers at CLCs Australia’s National Community Legal Centre Conference.
The conference invited community legal centres and allied organisations to present their experiences, findings, research and successes to the national community legal sector, and was a rare opportunity for community legal centre staff from across Australia – from the Northern Territory to Tasmania (and even New Zealand!) – to come together to connect in person. Across the three-day period, 500 people participated in more than 20 sessions, on a wide range of subjects, catering to the diverse interests and learning needs of attendees.
This year’s theme ‘The Law and More’ resonated strongly across the program, which showcased the breadth of the work – incorporating integrated legal, social, financial and educational services – undertaken by community legal centres to improve the lives and wellbeing of people in our communities. Federation staff enjoyed learning from peers and experts about public interest litigation, First Nations justice, sexual harassment law reform, integrated practice, sustainable governance, futureproofing, legal professional privilege, protecting the rights of the elderly, scams, and much more!
There was strong representation from the Victorian sector at the conference, with many Victorian community legal centre and Federation staff presenting and participating in panel discussions.
As well as the interactive plenary and break out sessions, attendees were able to learn about a range of CLC programs and research through a poster display.
Thank you to all the presenters and panellists who shared their knowledge, experience and expertise with the national sector. And thank you to CLCs Australia, for making this invaluable conference come to life. We look forward to applying the many learnings we took from the conference to our work, to improve the way we serve communities and how they access justice.
