CLCNSW's volunteer program as a part of university placements is currently on hold. This will be reviewed in August.
Community Legal Centres NSW regularly takes on students on placement as part of a unit for their undergraduate degrees.
The vast majority of community legal centres in NSW also use volunteers, and over 90% of community legal centre volunteers provide client-facing services.
Law students have always been an integral part of the community legal centre sector, but increasingly community legal centres are also engaging students studying social work, community development, communications, IT, and business to carry out a variety of volunteer work.
Volunteer roles vary in each centre, but common tasks are:
- taking instructions from clients (under supervision of solicitors);
- answering phones, making referrals, making appointment bookings, organising interpreters;
- conducting research;
- drafting correspondence; and
- working on community legal education and law reform projects.
Several community legal centres also have evening legal advice sessions with advice provided by volunteer solicitors.
To get in touch about volunteering or carrying out a university placement at Community Legal Centres NSW, contact your university. Community Legal Centres NSW does not take volunteers outside of university internship programs.
For an indication of the community legal centres in NSW currently accepting volunteers, click here.
Alternatively, you can look at the listing of community legal centres in NSW here, and get in touch directly with a centre that you would particularly like to volunteer with.