Chairperson's Report:
I am privileged to be the Chair of the Combined Community Legal Centres' Group (CCLCG).
The CCLCG is a dynamic organisation that is critical to the law and justice sector in New South Wales. As the peak body for 39 member community legal centres (CLCs) in New South Wales, the CCLCG represents CLCs in a diverse range of community and government forums.
The State Office of CCLCG has gone from strength to strength over the past two years. This financial year the State Office was sad to farewell Julie Smith from three years as Administration and Information Officer, but was very lucky to gain Jean Parker in this position. All current staff at the State Office- Polly Porteous, Alison Aggarwal, Carol Roberts and Jean Parker- are committed, vibrant, energetic individuals who have consolidated the work of past years and developed a number of new and innovative projects, such as:
- Organising the highly successful 2005 NSW State Community Legal Centre Conference
- Established the New South Wales Legal Assistance Forum (NLAF)
- Coordinating CLCs response to the Commonwealth/State Review of NSW CLCs
- Research into the staffing conditions of all NSW CLCs and making recommendations for improvement
- Working with the Legal Aid Commission on Projects such as the Co-operative Legal Service Delivery Model (CLSDM)
- Review of all State Office policies and procedures
- Redrafting CCLCG's membership guidelines, policies and constitution
On behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their continued support of the State Office during 2004/2005.
- Dennis Roach, CLC Funding Program Manager, Legal Aid Commission for his continued support of the State Office and the community legal centre program
- Julie Bishop, Director National Association of CLCs
- Ben Benson, solicitor from Henry Davis York for his assistance with redrafting the constitution and rules for the CCLCG
- Geoff Mulherin and Sue Scott of the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW
- Louise Blazejowska and Bill Grant of the Legal Aid Commission
Special thanks to all CCLCG board members for their commitment to the State Office and the CCLCG over the past twelve months. Special thanks are due to Jane Cipants for her work on the CLC Reviewing Steering Committee.
And finally I would like to thank the management committees, staff and volunteers of community legal centres in New South Wales; without their support and commitment we would not be in the strong position we are today.
Michelle Jones
Chairperson