QCOSS and the legal assistance sector
Our members include Community Legal Centres Queensland (CLCQ), the peak body for community legal centres (CLCs) across Queensland, as well as many of Queensland’s CLCs. We work closely with CLCQ, including through the Queensland Peaks Network. QCOSS is a member of the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum where we bring a cross-sectoral perspective on issues that impact on legal need such as poverty and disadvantage, housing, unemployment, racism and discrimination.
QCOSS endorses CLCQ’s response to this consultation which identifies the needs and emerging issues of the community legal sector and makes practical recommendations aligned to the National Strategic Framework for Legal Assistance.
Our submission provides broader context related to the structural drivers of legal need, some observations about workforce development and a new, innovative data collaboration project by examining:
- Nexus between poverty, disadvantage and legal need in Queensland
- Episodic and emerging legal need
- Queensland’s unique geographic size and location
- Models of legal assistance
- Workforce development
- Innovations, and;
- Government impact on legal assistance