Overview

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    The Community Legal Education (CLE) Collaboration Fund was launched in 2011 as part of our CLE strategy.

    Community Legal Centres and Regional Legal Assistance Forums can apply for a grant to deliver CLE projects that help vulnerable people identify legal problems early, understand their legal rights and responsibilities and how to access legal help. Applications are assessed against strict criteria and should be collaborative, client focused and responsive to community need.

    Community Legal Education Collaboration Fund—2023 recipients announced

    Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Community Legal Education Collaboration Fund:

    Sunshine Coast Regional Legal Assistance Forum (RLAF)

    For one day in October 2023, the Sunshine Coast RLAF is visiting the Baringa, Nambour and Maroochydore neighbourhood centres to give legal information, advice and referrals for the community.

    RLAF members taking part include Suncoast Community Legal Service, Legal Aid Queensland Maroochydore office, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, Sunshine Coast Law Association, Uniting Care and Relationships Australia.

    Hub Community Legal Centre (CLC)

    Hub CLC is partnering with Multicultural Australia and Multicultural Justice Involved Network to help diverse communities navigate Queensland’s justice and forensic mental health systems.

    They are developing community-led, accessible, targeted information in Dinka, Swahili, Sudanese Arabic, Samoan and Tongan. This project connects with and empowers community leaders to improve their understanding of Queensland’s justice landscape, and to share this with their communities.

    Youth Advocacy Centre

    An animated video will teach young people about their rights and Queensland’s legal process.

    The video aims to build young people’s confidence to attend Childrens Court and help them participate more fully and effectively.

    Women’s Legal Service Queensland (WLSQ)

    WLSQ and the Refugee and Immigration Legal Service (RAILS) deliver the Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot Project to give family law and immigration legal support for financially disadvantaged women on temporary visas who experience domestic and family violence.

    This project provides in-language information materials to explain the pilot project to its target audience, and to the community service providers who support these women. WLSQ will also hold a workshop for community service providers to help them refer clients to the service.

    Caxton Legal Centre (Caxton)

    This series of meetings (known as ‘Talanoa’) with Pacific Island community leaders and members will focus on how community can use the law, specifically human rights law, to their advantage.

    The learnings from the Talanoa will help Caxton create a resource community leaders can use to help their communities engage with human rights law. Caxton will also hold a CLE/continuing professional development event to share their learnings with other CLCs and service providers.

    Caxton is partnering with Multilink, Multicultural Australia, Pacific Island Council of Queensland and UQ Pro Bono Centre to deliver this project.

    Refugee and Immigration Legal Service (RAILS)

    Law Drums engages culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people in workshops where they create and perform music and moves, while dialoguing about law. This drumming circle process teaches CALD people about the law and legal processes, identifies their legal issues, and provides them with information. The workshop outputs will be used to compose legal and life skills messages and create short videos shared via social media.

    RAILS is collaborating with Queensland African Communities Council to deliver the workshops and is also partnering with the African Youth Support Council and QUT Law School student placements.

    This project is a development of RAILS’ 2021-23 CLE Collaboration Fund project (‘Civics Skits’).

    LGBTI Legal Service Inc.

    The LGBTI Legal Service is creating an interactive web-based legal tool for people with non-binary genders. The online resource is about enforcing legal rights, addressing discrimination faced by LGBTIQ+ people, and informing employers, schools, universities and others about their obligations to create a welcoming space for non-binary people.

    Project partners are TranzAustralia, the T Cottage, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and the Queensland Council of LGBTI Health (formerly Queensland Aids Council).

    Past projects

    View some of the CLE resources which have been produced as part of the fund.

    Past projects have covered areas such as:

    • child protection
    • relationships and separation
    • Australia's legal system
    • domestic and family violence
    • elder abuse and Queensland's guardianship framework
    • money and debt
    • cyber bullying and sexting
    • human rights and anti-discrimination
    • neighbourhood issues and disputes
    • personal injuries
    • youth justice and dealing with the police
    • other common legal issues.

    Examples of Community Legal Education projects  

    Email the Community Legal Education team for more information about the collaboration fund.

    Last updated 6 July 2023