About KLC
Mission Statement
Community Legal Centre
Clinical Programs at KLC
Mission Statement
Kingsford Legal Centre is committed to social justice and to promoting access to and reform of the legal system. We aim to provide quality legal services to the community and to promote excellence in clinical legal education while fostering a critical analysis of the justice system.
Community Legal Centre
Kingsford Legal Centre is one of over 35 community legal centres in New South Wales. The centre is also a clinical program for the UNSW Law School. Students work with centre lawyers in acting for members of the local community who cannot afford private legal assistance.
The Centre provides legal advice in a wide variety of matters and takes on cases in areas such as domestic violence, discrimination, housing, employment, criminal law, credit and debt and victim’s compensation. The Centre assists over 3, 000 people a year.
KLC receives funding from the UNSW Faculty of Law and both the Federal and State Attorney Generals Department. Income is also received as one-off grants from other funding bodies and generous donations from a range of individuals and organisations. Please see the latest KLC Annual Report for details.
The Centre began operations in July 1981. Five lawyers work at the centre, one of whom, the Director, is a senior lecturer in the Law Faculty. The centre is jointly funded by the Faculty of Law and the Commonwealth and State Attorneys General. In addition, the law firm Freehills maintains a permanent secondment of a solicitor's position to the Centre while Allens Arthur Robinson provides a secondment for 6 months each year.
Kingsford Legal Centre is an accredited legal centre with the National Association of Community Legal Centres and is a member of Community Legal Centres NSW.
Clinical Programs at KLC
Kingsford Legal Centre provides a clinical teaching program for the students of the UNSW Law School. Students are able to analyse the operation of the legal system and lawyer client relationships while working on cases for real clients.
Electives undertaken at the centre include
LAWS3303 Clinical Legal Experience (Intensive)
LAWS3304 Clinical Legal Experience
LAWS3305 Clinical Program Employment Law
LAWS3340 Family Law Clinic
LAWS1214 Foundations Enrichment 2
LAWS1210 Law, Lawyers and Society
Students take instructions from clients, prepare necessary documents, undertake legal research and assist in the preparation of Court hearings. In this way, students can consolidate their study of the law by practical application. Small group classes, daily tutorials and constant consultation with the clinical supervisors who are practicing lawyers provide an opportunity for students to analyse both their role as lawyers and the role of law in society. Over 60 volunteer solicitors and barristers participate in evening sessions and provide a legal mentoring scheme for students at the Centre.
Students enrolled in the course LAWS6210 Law, Lawyers and Society are also given the opportunity to participate in an evening advice session at the Centre, assisting volunteer lawyers.
The Centre is an internationally recognised Centre of excellence in clinical teaching and produces the annual Guide To Australian Clinical Legal Education.
