Local CLC Impact Report
Local CLC provides free legal help to anyone in who lives, works or studies in the Local area, or otherwise has a connection to this community. Our services are designed to be appropriate to the needs of the Local community, and effective so that they have a positive impact for clients.
Our volunteers
This year, volunteers at Local CLC provided 8,455 hours of support and assistance to Local CLC and our clients. Local volunteers come from a range of different backgrounds and bring a wealth of skills, knowledge and expertise:
- 40 experienced solicitors attended our weekly drop-in service and fortnightly duty lawyer service on a rotating monthly basis to provide legal advice on family law, tenancy, and elder law issues
- 5 barristers provided pro bono court support in complex representation matters
- 10 paralegals triaged clients, liaised with court staff and assisted our volunteer solicitors at our fortnightly duty lawyer service
- 26 hardworking law students held down the front reception, offering administration and research support on a weekly roster, ensuring the service ran smoothly from Monday to Friday
- 2 final year social work students completed their 4 week placement with us and gained important hands-on client experience.
What our volunteers say
Every year, Local CLC surveys its volunteers to better understand how Local CLC can leverage volunteer support and the impact volunteering has on the volunteers.
Over 50% of respondents were students, the remaining respondents being lawyers. Surveyed volunteers were regular volunteers at Local CLC, with 44% respondents volunteering once every month, and another 44% of respondents volunteering fortnightly. Most volunteers surveyed provided between 1 and 3 hours every volunteering session. The remaining 12% volunteered on a project or ad hoc basis.
There were 35 respondents to the volunteer survey, which is just over 40% of the Local CLC volunteer group. The survey results do not contain any responses from social work student volunteers.
The survey results indicated that:
Local CLC volunteers told us about their experience of volunteering:
Over 50% of respondents were students, the remaining respondents being lawyers. Surveyed volunteers were regular volunteers at Local CLC, with 44% respondents volunteering once every month, and another 44% of respondents volunteering fortnightly. Most volunteers surveyed provided between 1 and 3 hours every volunteering session. The remaining 12% volunteered on a project or ad hoc basis.
There were 35 respondents to the volunteer survey, which is just over 40% of the Local CLC volunteer group. The survey results do not contain any responses from social work student volunteers.
The survey results indicated that:
- 89% of volunteers agreed or strongly agreed that their volunteering offered them a unique opportunity to gain experience in new and different areas of law
- 89% of volunteers agreed or strongly agreed that they had been able to improve their understanding of broader community issues through their volunteering experience
- 86% of volunteers agreed or strongly agreed that they had been able to improve their practice as a result of their experience at Local CLC
- 77% of volunteers agreed or strongly agreed that their experience at Local CLC had enhanced their career prospects.
Local CLC volunteers told us about their experience of volunteering:
The people are genuine and easy to get along with, the work gives great insight and has opened my eyes to the big issues that the wider community are facing, real knowledge and skills that I won't be able to get from studying a degree.
Great colleagues and an overall great experience.
I would agree more with these comments for junior lawyers or students. I have been practising 12 years so I don’t get these benefits anymore.
Volunteers provide vital support at Domestic Violence Court
Local CLC was funded to provide duty lawyer services at the Local Magistrates Court on the call over list day for domestic violence applications.
It is always busy on call over day at the Court and one CLC solicitor has to rush through the list of women, resulting in a back log of administration tasks and sometimes not being able to make referrals to other community services.
Through the Local University law school, Local CLC advertised for law students interested in doing volunteer paralegal work on the duty lawyer court day. Local CLC was overwhelmed with student interest and was able to select, induct and train appropriate student paralegal volunteers. Every week at court, there is now a rostered paralegal volunteer.
This has enabled the administrative tasks to be undertaken in a timely manner, and there has been an increase in referrals of women to other relevant community support services. The volunteer paralegals are keen to remain on the roster, as they see volunteering as being directly relevant to their future legal careers, providing them with invaluable work experience.
One of the volunteers stated:
It is always busy on call over day at the Court and one CLC solicitor has to rush through the list of women, resulting in a back log of administration tasks and sometimes not being able to make referrals to other community services.
Through the Local University law school, Local CLC advertised for law students interested in doing volunteer paralegal work on the duty lawyer court day. Local CLC was overwhelmed with student interest and was able to select, induct and train appropriate student paralegal volunteers. Every week at court, there is now a rostered paralegal volunteer.
This has enabled the administrative tasks to be undertaken in a timely manner, and there has been an increase in referrals of women to other relevant community support services. The volunteer paralegals are keen to remain on the roster, as they see volunteering as being directly relevant to their future legal careers, providing them with invaluable work experience.
One of the volunteers stated:
I really like helping out at the Magistrates Court as a court paralegal. The Domestic Violence solicitors are so busy, so it's great knowing that my volunteering means that more women receive advice and representation.
Our impact on volunteers
Overall, Local CLC was able to leverage a substantial amount of resources for the community this year through harnessing the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of our 80 volunteers. Many of the volunteers, through the survey, have indicated that their volunteering experience at Local CLC provided positive benefits to their professional development, particularly for students and professional early in their career.
The challenge for Local CLC in the future is to ensure that we continue to engage experienced volunteers and that their volunteering experience at Local CLC is professionally fulfilling and productive.
The challenge for Local CLC in the future is to ensure that we continue to engage experienced volunteers and that their volunteering experience at Local CLC is professionally fulfilling and productive.