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Community Legal Services Program Reform Project

The Community Legal Services Program Reform Project created a new framework for funding community legal centres.

Through the Community Legal Service Program, Victoria Legal Aid administers funding to Community Legal Centres (CLCs) and the Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria. We also have funding arrangements with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services – Djirra and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.

In 2017 we reviewed the CLSP to ensure it appropriately supports planning and delivery of legal services and accountability for expenditure of public money.

The reform project aimed to deliver a more streamlined, transparent and accountable framework for funding for community legal centres. The changes to the program were to:

  • provide greater transparency and certainty around funding decisions
  • reduce the administrative burden on CLCs by making planning and reporting easier
  • ensure self-determination of Aboriginal legal services is respected in any changes
  • prioritise an evidence-based approach to meeting legal need
  • foster a focus on monitoring and reporting on outcomes
  • foster a focus on quality performance standards and processes
  • integrate a second funding stream for specific purpose and short-term projects
  • use technology to share information and resources with CLCs.

We worked with Victorian CLCs in all phases of the reform project, in workshops, online discussion groups, calls for submissions, and working groups. We worked with CLCs and government agencies to review the program, agree on actions for improvement, and create a new service agreement that reflected the experiences and needs of CLCs and government.

Review and actions

In phase one, we:

  • completed a review of the current Community Legal Services Program
  • prepared a discussion paper exploring issues to inform the design of a new framework (released May 2017)
Community legal services program reform project – discussion paper
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  • consulted on an options paper putting forward proposals for reform (released August 2017)
Community legal services program reform project – options paper
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The 46 agreed actions for change in the final report from Phase One focused on developing a streamlined, transparent and accountable funding framework and legal assistance services that met the expectations in both the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services at the time, and the Victorian Access to Justice Review).

Community Legal Services Program Reform Project – Phase One final report
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Community Legal Services Program Reform Project – Phase One final report
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You can also read a quick reference of all actions in a single table, with the full report providing essential context for these actions:

CLSP Reform project consolidated table of actions
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Service Agreement 2020–25

In phase two, we developed a new simplified funding agreement and associated documents from 1 July 2020 to coincide with the start of the new National Legal Assistance Partnership.

During this phase, we worked closely with CLCs and the Federation or Community Legal Centres Victoria. The development of the new service agreement and policies and processes was supported by a discussion paper:

Quality and Risk Management – policy discussion paper August 2019
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The paper informed discussions and input from partners including:

  • the federation
  • individual CLCs
  • Djirra and Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
  • relevant parts of Victoria Legal Aid
  • other key stakeholders, including the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS).

Implementation

The third phase of CLSP reform (2020–2022) focused on supporting CLCs to implement the new agreement. We worked with the Federation to look at ways to support capacity building in the sector. We also monitored implementation of the new agreement to confirm the changes contributed to effective service and funding management by CLCs.

More information

For more information about the project, email clcfdp@vla.vic.gov.au

Current documents for the CLSP Agreement 2025–28 can be found on the Community Legal Centres page.

Updated

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