The NSW Government has failed to distribute $3-3.5 million promised to community legal centres under the National Access to Justice Partnership, leaving people in need without access to legal help a year after the funding was announced. After the NSW Budget 2026-27 was released today, those people are still waiting.
The unpaid funding would support community legal centres to reach the increasing number of people experiencing legal issues including domestic and family violence, housing insecurity, discrimination, natural disasters and other legal problems. At a time when cost-of-living pressures are pushing more people into crisis, access to free legal help has never been more important.
"People cannot pay their rent with promises, and community legal centres cannot deliver services with funding that has never arrived," said Sarah Marland, Executive Director of Community Legal Centres NSW.
The Budget’s increased funding for six domestic and family violence programs, as well as health services and infrastructure, and travel affordability, is necessary and welcome. But once again, the community legal centre program has been left out of greater investment in DFV services. Increasing funding to programs that refer victim-survivors to legal assistance but not increasing funding to the community legal centres that provide victim-survivors with that legal assistance, will not meet those clients' legal needs.
In its Pre-Budget 2026-27 submission, Community Legal Centres NSW called for increased baseline funding for community legal centres, as well as targeted investment to:
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respond to rising legal need in regional, rural and remote areas;
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fill gaps in geographic coverage meaning that some people cannot access community legal support because of where they live;
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provide specialist and culturally safe legal assistance to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees;
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provide specialist legal assistance to LGBTIQ+ people;
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respond to emergencies including natural disasters.
In addition to the $3-3.5 million in National Access to Justice Partnership funding that remains undistributed a year after it was announced, the NSW Budget contains no significant investment to address growing legal needs of people across NSW.
Community Legal Centres NSW is calling on the NSW Government to urgently release the promised funding and commit to sustainable investment in community legal centres across the state.
Every dollar invested in legal assistance services delivers many dollars’ worth of benefits to clients, communities, and governments. Today's Budget is a missed opportunity to strengthen frontline legal assistance services at a time when legal need continues to grow, and many people are unable to access legal help when they need it most.
Quotes attributable to Sarah Marland, Executive Director, Community Legal Centres NSW:
"A year after this money was announced, people across NSW are still waiting for the legal help it was supposed to provide."
"Community legal centres are often the last line of defence for people who cannot afford a lawyer and have nowhere else to turn."
"When people miss out on legal help, the consequences can include homelessness, family violence going unaddressed, worsening debt and deeper financial hardship."
Media contact
Indre McGlinn
Media and Communications Manager
Community Legal Centres NSW
0434 462 229