Accreditation

The National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC) National Accreditation Scheme for community legal centres (NAS) is designed to promote best practice and consistent high-quality services by member community legal centres around Australia.

Accreditation for community legal centres in NSW is a joint process between the NACLC and Community Legal Centres NSW.

To become accredited, a community legal centre must demonstrate compliance with nationally consistent service standards. In order to become a full member of Community Legal Centres NSW, a centre must satisfy all of the requirements of the National Accreditation Scheme.

Community Legal Centres NSW employ a Regional Accreditation Coordinator (RAC) who conducts on-site visits with every community legal centre in NSW. The RAC makes assessments and recommendations for whether the centre meets the requirements of the National Accreditation Scheme. The state Certifier makes the final certification decision.  All full members of Community Legal Centres NSW have achieved Accreditation Certification. Currently centres are submitting updated improvement plans on a six monthly basis to the Regional Accreditation Coordinator to demonstrate ongoing quality improvements during the three years of the Accreditation cycle. 

Centres in NSW who were certified in 2016 will be due for re accreditation in 2019. The NAS is now under review and revision. Centres can expect a more streamlined assessment process when Accreditation phase 3 is implemented in 2019. 

Further information about the National Accreditation Scheme is available on the NACLC website.