Establishing the Mid North Coast
Community Legal Centre
Report to Legal Aid NSW
August 2010
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
1
Establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
Report to Legal Aid NSW
Contents
Executive Summary ...............................................................................................1
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................4
2. The Level and Distribution of Legal Need in the Mid North Coast Region ..........6
3. Selection Criteria .............................................................................................32
4. Selection Criteria for the EOI Process .............................................................38
Appendices ..........................................................................................................41
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Executive Summary
1. The Commonwealth and Legal Aid NSW have made available $310,000 per
annum to support a community legal centre (CLC) in the Mid North Coast (MNC)
of NSW. This funding is sufficient to employ approximately 3 full time staff
including at least one solicitor.
2. The Centre’s catchment area will be the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of
Kempsey, Hastings-Port Macquarie and Greater Taree. The three LGAs together
have a population of approximately 145,000 people. The population of the area
is growing faster than the NSW average.
3. Legal Aid NSW will call soon for expressions of interest from organisations
interested in operating the CLC.
4. Legal Aid NSW has commissioned this report to identify legal need, and consider
service delivery and location of the new MNC CLC, in order to recommend
selection criteria to be included in that call for expressions of interest. In
preparing the report we have reviewed available demographic information, data
on legal need and relevant literature, and consulted 45 representatives of legal
and social service providers as well as some other people from the region.
5. Each of the three LGAs in the catchment area – Greater Taree, Hastings-Port
Macquarie and Kempsey – has a higher SEIFA level of disadvantage than the
NSW average, with Kempsey being the most disadvantaged of the three and
Hastings-Port Macquarie the least disadvantaged. All three LGAs have higher
rates of unemployment and disability and a higher proportion of the population
in receipt of Centrelink benefits than the NSW average. They have much lower
rates of people from CALD backgrounds than the NSW average.
6. The Kempsey and Greater Taree LGAs have significantly higher rates of
Indigenous residents, welfare recipients, domestic violence, victims of crime and
sole parent families than the NSW average and than the Hastings-Port Macquarie
LGA.
7. Each of the three LGAs has a much higher rate of people over 45 than the NSW
average, with Port Macquarie having a particularly high rate of people over 65.
8. Data on expressed legal need (that is legal services currently being provided) in
the three LGAs shows high numbers of family law matters and a large number of
matters relating to prisoners in Kempsey due to the Mid Coast Correctional
Centre’s presence in that LGA. Wills /estates is the highest civil matter-type
recorded by service providers in the catchment area.
9. Considering the data and views of people consulted, we suggest that the priority
demographic groups for the MNC CLC are:

Indigenous people,
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





People with disabilities,
Single parents,
Young people, especially those at risk of offending,
People who are homeless,
Financially disadvantaged older people, and
Prisoners and their families, in relation to their civil and family law issues,
particularly just before and on release.
10. There are unmet legal needs across a wide range of areas of civil and family law
and some areas of criminal law. The most pressing unmet legal need that the
community legal centre can readily meet is for face-to-face advice and minor
assistance in all areas of civil law relevant to disadvantaged people. There is also
significant unmet need in relation to family law advice and minor assistance. The
MNC CLC will need to find a way to provide or assist clients to obtain initial
family law advice but ensure that the demand for family law services does not
overwhelm other key priorities.
11. There is significant legal need in other parts of the Mid North Coast outside the
primary catchment area for the MNC CLC, in particular in Forster-Tuncurry and
the Nambucca Valley.
12. The key priorities for the MNC CLC should be:


to provide accessible face-to-face legal advice and minor assistance services,
to provide training and telephone support to social services about legal
issues faced by their clients,
 to assist disadvantaged clients locate and use the legal service most
appropriate to their needs, and
 to develop new services in the region to respond to high priority unmet legal
needs.
13. The MNC CLC should prioritise civil law legal issues relevant to disadvantaged
client groups, but should work with other legal and possibly social service
providers to develop strategies to increase access to family law legal services,
and should have the capacity to provide initial family law advice, especially
where no other service is available.
14. The MNC CLC should systematically explore specific local instances of legal need
(for example the needs of former prisoners on release from the Mid North Coast
Correctional Centre).
15. The MNC CLC should explore the feasibility of using pro bono/volunteer lawyers
from the private profession to provide services at a legal advice clinic in Port
Macquarie.
16. The MNC CLC should consider the costs and benefits of creating opportunities
for law students from Newcastle and/or New England Universities to assist staff
in providing legal services.
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17. Wherever the MNC CLC has its main location, it should provide weekly face-toface legal advice services in each of the three LGAs that make up the primary
catchment area.
18. While both Kempsey and Taree LGAs have a higher proportion of disadvantaged
residents with legal need, there are practical and other reasons why Port
Macquarie is probably a better location for the legal service. Location at
Kempsey might also be considered.
19. The MNC CLC and its funding body should ensure that strategies are in place to
avoid the real risk that services are disproportionately provided to residents of
Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA.
20. The MNC CLC should investigate and if warranted trial and evaluate different
ways to provide legal services to a range of locations. In doing so it should
actively learn from the experience of other legal service providers in particular
the CLCs based in Lismore, Armidale and Nowra.
21. The call for expressions of interest in operating the MNC CLC should include
selection criteria that assist potential service operators and the funding agencies
to ensure that the MNC CLC is:




able to meet the priority unmet legal needs identified in this report,
encouraged and able to develop new services in response to increasing
understandings of local unmet legal needs and the opportunities to improve
services,
able to provide services equitably throughout the catchment area, and
operated subject to appropriate governance practices.
22. Legal Aid NSW should make this report available to assist potential applicants
respond to the request for expressions of interest and to assist the successful
applicant establish the service.
1. Introduction
Background
The Commonwealth and NSW governments have announced funding to support a
community legal service to serve the mid North Coast region of NSW. Total funding
for the centre will be $310,000 per annum.
The funding bodies have agreed that the primary catchment area for the community
legal service will be the Kempsey, Port Macquarie-Hastings and Greater Taree local
government areas.
The funding will be provided through the NSW Community Legal Centre Funding
Program administered by Legal Aid NSW.
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Community organisations and local government in the mid North Coast have
advocated for a CLC to be established since at least 2003 and probably since 1998.
Some notes on past advocacy are contained in Appendix C to this report.
This Project
The Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program (CCLSP) Guidelines note
that selection of a new service provider using funding within the program is
managed ‘typically through a tender process which is advertised in local and
national newspapers.’ As program manager for NSW, Legal Aid NSW intends to call
for Expressions of Interest in establishing and operating the Mid North Coast
community legal centre later in 2010.
Legal Aid NSW has engaged consultants, Gordon Renouf and Polly Porteous, to
provide advice in relation to:
 legal need including the demographic and geographic distribution of need,
 legal priorities for the service, including demographic priorities,
 selection criteria for the expression of interest process, and
 the ideal location for the service, including the most appropriate base and
any locations that might be serviced through outreach (based on evidence on
the distribution of legal need).
The consultants were also asked to make observations about the readiness of
organisations that may express interest in operating the service.
The consultants were asked to provide their advice based on:
 a review of relevant data and literature,
 consultation with representatives of existing legal and non-legal service
providers in or to the region, and
 consultation with a small number of similarly sized or located community
legal centres.
The terms of reference for the project are at Appendix A.
Consultations
The following people and organisations have been consulted:
 12 head office and regional staff from Legal Aid NSW,
 five head office and regional staff from the NSW and ACT Aboriginal Legal
Service,
 the chair of the state representative body for community legal centres,
 four staff of the three community legal centres located in adjacent
rural/regional areas,
 the President of the Mid North Coast Regional Law Society,
 LawAccess NSW and the National Children’s and Youth Legal Centre, and
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
36 other people living and/or working in the three LGAs to be served by the
CLC, mainly staff of 22 service provider organisations.
Further details on consultations are provided in Appendix B.
The Community Legal Services Program
The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department funds the Commonwealth
Community Legal Services Program. The objective of the program is “to contribute
to the provision of access to legal assistance services for disadvantaged members of
the community and those with special needs and/or those whose interests should
be protected as a matter of public interest through the provision of funding to
community-based organisations.” 1
The NSW government also funds community legal centres. The Commonwealth and
State funding in NSW is managed as one program by Legal Aid NSW. Funded
services are required to enter into a standard Service Agreement and comply with
the CCLSP Guidelines.
CLCs are one component of Australia’s legal aid system. Australian governments
have entered into a National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services,
which among other things aims to achieve “greater collaboration and cooperation
between legal assistance providers themselves and with other service providers to
ensure clients receive ‘joined up’ service provision to address legal and other
problems.”2 Funded CLCs are expected to work collaboratively and cooperatively
with other service providers.
Community Legal Centres in NSW
There are 39 organisations that belong to Community Legal Centres NSW. Of the 39
centres, 19 are locality-based generalist community legal services located in
metropolitan and regional areas and 19 are specialist services3, most of which serve
the entire state. Of the generalist services, 10 are located outside the Sydney
metropolitan area in Wollongong, Katoomba, Wyong, Newcastle, Lismore, Armidale,
Dubbo, Broken Hill, Nowra and Wodonga (serving Albury and region).
CLCs operate programs funded through the NSW Community Legal Services
Program to provide generalist and specialist legal services, family violence legal
services, welfare rights services, and disability discrimination services. CLCs often
also obtain funding from other sources on a recurrent or project basis to provide
additional services. These services include tenancy advocacy, consumer credit legal
1
Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date) p 4.
2 Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date) p 7.
3 The 39th is Newcastle Legal Centre. Its locality overlaps the area served by Hunter Community Legal Centre and is
primarily focussed on meeting the legal education needs of law students.
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services, financial counselling services and women’s domestic violence court
assistance services.
The Commonwealth Community Legal Centres Program Guidelines provide that
funded community legal centres are expected to meet the program objectives by
undertaking core service activities to assist “clients and communities to access
responsive, respectful, understandable and useful services in relation to legal
issues.”4 The Guidelines further provide that “[c]ore service activities include the
provision of information and referrals, advice and casework on legal or related
matters, and undertaking of community legal education and law reform activities.
CLCs funded under the Program are required to provide a range of reports and data
so that the Department can monitor, manage and account for output delivery and
the achievement of the Program objective.”5
2. The Level and Distribution of Legal Need in the Mid North
Coast Region
Introduction
The CCLSP Guidelines provide that funded community legal centres are (among
other things) required “to provide core service activities in accordance with the
needs of their target client groups”.
In selecting the preferred tenderer, the funding bodies should assess applicants’
ability to respond to the unmet legal needs of target client groups in the region. In
operating its service the MNC CLC should have regard to various sources of
information to assess the legal needs that it should respond to. We imagine that the
non-confidential parts of this report could usefully be made available to the
successful tenderer.
This section of the report considers the following information in order to identify
unmet legal needs that the CLC should or might respond to:
a. The demographic characteristics of the region,
b. Research undertaken into legal need Australia and overseas,
c. Data on current service delivery,
d. The availability and capacity of current legal services and related non-legal
services (tenancy advice, financial counselling, disability advocacy and
domestic violence support in particular), and
e. The views of representatives of current legal and social services providers to
the region.
4
Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date) p 11.
5 Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date) p 8.
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The Mid North Coast region
The mid north Coast Region is defined in several different ways. The Australian
Bureau of Statistic’s Statistical Division includes the LGAs of Clarence Valley, Coffs
Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca, Kempsey, Hastings, Greater Taree, and Lord Howe
Island. Various NSW Government departments extend this definition to include the
Great Lakes LGA.6
The Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre Project (a grouping of local
organisations and individuals) has undertaken work on the basis that the mid north
coast should not include Lord Howe Island and the Clarence Valley (the latter is
included in the catchment area for the Lismore based Northern Rivers Community
Legal Centre) but that it should include the Great Lakes LGA.
The funding bodies have determined, presumably in light of the relatively small
amount of funding available, that the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
should provide services to the three large central LGAs in this area, namely
Kempsey, Hastings Port Macquarie and Greater Taree.
Demographic Characteristics of the region
Table 1 provides selected demographic information for each of the three LGAs and
some individual towns in the catchment area and corresponding data for NSW as a
whole. The table includes the level of socio-economic disadvantage (SEIFA index)
for each LGA: the lower the SEIFA index (below 1000), the higher the disadvantage.
More detailed demographic information at the level of towns and districts of the
catchment area is contained in Appendix D.
Where relevant, the table shows the types of legal problem that people with
particular demographic characteristics are likely to experience, based on one
analysis of available legal needs research.7
The key conclusions in relation to the demographic information are:

Each of the three LGAs in the catchment areas has a level of disadvantage
higher than the NSW average, with Kempsey being the more disadvantaged
and Hastings Port Macquarie the least disadvantaged of the three. However it
should be noted that SEIFA scores at the level of an LGA can hide significant
variations between smaller districts within the LGA. So the SEIFA score for
Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA masks significant pockets of disadvantage in the
LGA, including in parts of Port Macquarie town: see Appendix D for a closer
analysis of these pockets of disadvantage.
6
NSW Government Department of Planning,
http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/midnorthcoast_regionalstrategy_final.pdf; Division of Local
Government, Department of Premier & Cabinet, http://.www.dlg.nsw.gov.au
7 Judith Stubbs and Associates, 2009, Planning for Legal Needs: Legal Needs Assessment Framework (Report I of the
Legal Needs and Strategic Planning Project), Community Legal Centres NSW, Sydney, Table 4.1, Appendix A and
Appendix C
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



All three LGAs have higher rates of unemployment and disability and a higher
proportion of the population in receipt of Centrelink benefits than the NSW
average. They have much lower rates of people from CALD backgrounds than
the NSW average.
The Kempsey and Greater Taree LGAs have a significantly higher proportion of
Indigenous residents than the NSW average and than the Hastings-Port
Macquarie LGA.
The Kempsey and Greater Taree LGAs also have rates of domestic violence,
victims of crime and sole parent families significantly higher than the NSW
average, and higher than the Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA.
Each of the LGAs has a much higher rate of people over 45 than the NSW
average, with Port Macquarie having a particularly high rate of people over 65.
Kempsey and Greater Taree have a somewhat higher proportion of younger
people aged 5 to 14 than the NSW average.
Table 1: Selected demographic and legal needs data8
Demographic
group9
Greater
Taree LGA
Port
Macquarie –
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
Population
45,145
68,434
27,387
Taree: 16,886
Wingham: 4,947
Estimated annual
population growth
projections from
2006-2031
1.6% annual
average
increase with
projected
population by
2031 of 68,456
Indigenous12
1,928
(4.3% of
population)
Port Macquarie:
39,263
Camden Haven
(incl Laurieton):
8,968
Wauchope: 6,218
1.5% annual
average
increase with
projected
population by
2031 of
104,589
1,767
(2.6% of
population)
NSW
6,549,177
Particular legal
issues affecting
adults (aged 15+) in
this particular
demographic10
NA
1.5% annual
average
increase with
projected
population by
2031 of 41,363
0.98%11
NA
2,540
(9.3% of
population)
138,506
2.1% NSW
average
Money/Debt
Employment
Family Law
Discrimination/Huma
Kempsey: 8,137
South West
Rocks: 4,612
8
This table is a selection of data from Judith Stubbs and Associates, 2009, Table 4.1, Appendix A and Appendix C; as
well as other data drawn from the ABS 2006 Census Quickstats.
9 All demographics are from ABS 2006 Census unless otherwise indicated.
10 Judith Stubbs and Associates (hereafter referred to as JSA), Planning for Legal Needs, Table 4.1, summarises the
issues facing each demographic and Appendix A sets out how these indicators were determined from the legal needs
studies conducted in NSW and the UK.
11 Advice from NSW Department of Planning by email to consultants, July 2010.
12 Statistics for the whole Indigenous population (note that JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, Table 4.1 provides the
statistics for Indigenous people over 15)
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Demographic
group9
Greater
Taree LGA
Port
Macquarie –
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
NSW
1251 in Taree
(7.4% of town)
1000 in Port
Macquarie
1394 in
Kempsey
(17.1% of
town)
Disability/Chronic
Ill-health
(measured by
whether on
Disability Support
Pension)13
5.6% of
population
6.2% of
population
10% of
population
4.7%
average for
nonmetropolita
n NSW
4.6%
Sole parent
families14
2,215 families
(17.5% of all
families)
3,059 families
(15.8%)
1,586 families
(21.3%)
15.8%
Unemployed15
1480
7.5%
30.8%
1661
5.7%
36.7%
1009
8.4%
41.7% (3rd
highest of any
LGA in NSW)
163 385
4.6%
23.6%
Victim of crime17
0.95 criminal
incidents per
100,000 people
0.74 criminal
incidents per
100,000 people
1.11 criminal
incidents per
100,000 people
0.86
criminal
incidents
per 100,000
people
Domestic
641.4 incidents
339.6 incidents
752.6 incidents
437.4
On Centrelink
benefits of any
kind16
Particular legal
issues affecting
adults (aged 15+) in
this particular
demographic10
n Rights
Domestic Violence
Housing
Money/Debt
Employment
Discrimination/Huma
n Rights
General Crime
Accident/Injury
Consumer Problems
Neighbour Problems
Tenancy
Money/Debt
Welfare Problems
Housing (Tenancy,
Homelessness)
Family (all types)
Domestic Violence
NA
Welfare Problems
Housing (Tenancy,
Homelessness)
Family (all types)
Domestic Violence
Neighbour Problems
Money/Debt
Neighbour Problems
Money/Debt
Housing (Tenancy)
Unfair Police
Treatment
Family (Relationship
Breakdown, Children
Problems)
Domestic Violence
Consumer Problems
Employment
(as for Victims of
13
Centrelink, Disability Support Pension, in Judy Stubbs and Associates, Report I, Table 4.1 and Appendix C.
These statistics are for sole parent families from ABS Quickstats for each LGA; they are different to the statistics in
JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, Table 4.1 and Appendix C because JSA use lone parent households.
15 ABS Census 2006, National Regional Profile for each LGA.
16 Centrelink, Total pensions and benefits, in JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, Table 4.1 and Appendix C.
17 According to JSA, the best proxy for ‘victim of crime’ is ‘place of criminal incident’ which the Bureau of Crime
Statistics and Research maps as crime rates per 100,000 people: JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, pp 45-48, Table 4.1 p
25, and Appendix C.
14
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Demographic
group9
Greater
Taree LGA
Port
Macquarie –
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
NSW
Violence18
per 100,000
population
per 100,000
population
incidents
per 100,000
population
Social housing
renters
4.6% of
households
3.9% of
households
per 100,000
population
(15th most
disadvantaged
LGA in state)
5.5% of
households
Private Renters
19.8% of
households
21.5% of
households
19.5% of
households
23.6% of
households
0-4 year olds
2483
(5.5%)
6,590
(14.6%)
4981
(11%)
3,545
(5.2%)
8,979
(13.1%)
6,975
(10.2%)
1,603
(5.9%)
4,093
(14.9%)
2,876
(10.5%)
6.3%
Neighbour Problems
Welfare Problems
Housing (Tenancy,
Homelessness)
Family (Relationship
Breakdown, Children
Problems)
Domestic Violence
Money/Debt
Welfare Problems
Housing (Tenancy,
Homelessness)
Immigration
Employment
Family
NA
13.5%
NA
13.8%
25-34 year olds
3,747
8.3%
5,680
8.3%
2,492
9.1%
14%
35-44 year olds
5598
12.4%
8,622
12.6%
3478
12.7%
14.3%
45 – 54 year olds
6636
14.7%
6,405
9,512
13.9%
9,502
4,218
15.4%
3,799
13.8%
Housing (Tenancy,
Homelessness)
Unfair Police
Treatment
General Crime
Traffic Offences
Accident/Injury
[Age Group 2nd most
likely to report legal
problem of any
type]
Family (all types)
Consumer
Money/Debt
[Age Group most likely
to report legal problem
of any type]
Family (all types)
Consumer
Money/Debt
Employment
problems
[no particular legal
5-14 year olds
15 – 24 year olds
55 – 64 year olds
18
5.6% of
households
11.2%
Particular legal
issues affecting
adults (aged 15+) in
this particular
demographic10
Crime)
BOCSAR 2008, from JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, pp 86-88.
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Demographic
group9
65 years and over
Non English
Speaking
Background19
SEIFA
Disadvantage20
(Note: the lower
the value the
higher the level of
disadvantage)
Greater
Taree LGA
Port
Macquarie –
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
NSW
(14.2%)
(13.9%)
(13.9%)
8,716
(19.3%)
3.2%
15,652
(22.9%)
3.6%
4,825
(17.6%)
2.8%
13.3%
942 – LGA is in
the 4th most
disadvantaged
decile of LGAs
976 – LGA is in
the 7th most
disadvantaged
decile of LGAs
nationally
901 – LGA is in
the 2nd most
disadvantaged
decile of LGAs
and is the 7th
most
disadvantaged
LGA in NSW
1000
17.3%
Particular legal
issues affecting
adults (aged 15+) in
this particular
demographic10
issues affecting this
group more than
others]
Wills/guardianship
Employment
Discrimination
Immigration
NA
Legal Needs Research
Over the past ten years various large scale legal needs studies have been undertaken
in the UK, Australia and some other countries. These studies attempt to estimate the
level and type of legal need in a population through various survey techniques.
The Law and Justice Foundation (LJF) of NSW conducted such as study in 2003 in six
disadvantaged LGAs in Australia including Nambucca LGA, immediately to the north
of the MNC CLC’s catchment area.
Key findings of the LJF research across the six LGAs are as follows. Further
information on the study is included in Appendix F.

69.1% of survey participants reported experiencing one or more legal events
in the previous 12 months.

People with a chronic illness or disability had a higher incidence of a wide
range of civil, criminal and family legal events than average.

Compared with most survey participants, Indigenous people had a higher
incidence of family events and a higher incidence of two types of civil events
19
This is a sub-group of ‘Overseas Born Population’ from ABS Census 2006: see JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, pp 8285, Table 4.1 p 25, and Appendix C.
20 Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA): The Australian Bureau of Statistics has four socio-economic indexes for
areas. The one commonly referred to (and referred to in this report) as SEIFA is the Index of Relative Socio-economic
Disadvantage, and it is derived from 17 census variables such as low income, low educational attainment,
unemployment, Indigenous status, households paying low rent, and dwellings without motor vehicles.
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(credit/debt and employment); and were less likely to take action to resolve
a legal problem.21

The most common civil and family law related legal events reported by the
sample overall fell into the broad categories of housing, consumer,
government22 and accident/injury, with wills/estates, credit / debt and
employment also significant (see Appendix F). Importantly, family law was
reported at lower levels than each of these.23
The findings for Nambucca LGA may in some respects be more relevant to this
report than the 6 disadvantaged LGAs taken together, as Nambucca LGA has a
similar demographic to the adjacent Kempsey LGA (in particular it has a relatively
high proportion of Indigenous people and a similar SEIFA score; Nambucca does
however have a larger proportion of over-65 year olds). A comparison between the
survey results for Nambucca LGA and the combined results for all 6 LGAs is
presented as a chart in Appendix F. The main difference is that Nambucca had a
higher rate of family law and wills and estates events and a lower rate of criminal
law events24. The relatively older population in Nambucca may have contributed to
the lower rate of criminal law events.
‘Expressed’ Legal Need
Expressed legal need refers to the services actually sought by and provided to
people with legal needs. The data is strongly influenced by the location of services,
their intake criteria and the way they are marketed.
The NSW Data Digest Online provides data on many but not all legal services
provided by Legal Aid NSW, LawAccess and community legal centres in NSW. It does
not include data on services provided by the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS),
and includes services provided by Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services and
Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services (WDVCAS) only where they
are auspiced by a CLC. We have provided an analysis of the 2006, 2007 and 2008
data from the Data Digest Online (including information on its limitations) in
Appendix E.
The main relevant conclusions are as follows.
 Over the three years, civil law generated 6185 matters across the three LGAs,
family law 4436 and criminal law 3259.
 In civil law:
o there were lower rates (matters per 1000 people per annum) of
almost all civil matters in the three LGAs compared to the NSW
average, except that Greater Taree has higher than average rates of
21
Coumarelos et al, Justice Made to Measure, 2006, Tables 4.3, 6.3 and 7.2.
The ‘government’ category is comprised of four diverse issues: local government, disputed non-traffic fines,
government pensions/benefits and taxation/debt/disputes.
23 See appendix F for discussion. The original data including sub categories is at
http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/report/survey2006/5F19376966B0BFD6CA25713E007D83C5.html.
24 Law and Justice Foundation, Justice Issues paper no. 6.
22
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
14



neighbours/planning/environment matters and
wills/estates/guardianship matters;
o consistent with the experience for NSW as a whole, the legal problems
with the higher rates of inquiry across all LGAs are credit and debt,
housing, employment and government/administrative law; and
o when data from the local tenancy service is added to Data Digest data,
housing has by far the highest rate of inquiry in civil law; the housing
rate is disproportionately high in Port Macquarie-Hastings (where the
tenancy service is located) compared to Taree and Kempsey.
In family law, Greater Taree generated a higher rate of matters across all
categories than the other two LGAs, and for the categories of parenting
arrangements and property/maintenance, higher rates than the state
average.
In criminal law, there is an extremely high rate of prisoners’ matters, which is
no doubt due to the Mid Coast Correctional Centre being located in that
LGA.25
When data from the local WDVCAS are added to the data from the digest, the
rate of domestic violence matters where some level of service is provided
triples.
Because the Data Digest is so influenced by the availability of particular services in
each region, LawAccess data is perhaps a better ‘proxy’ for expressed legal demand
in NSW. Law Access provides legal information and advice to callers to a phone
number accessible to people from all over the state26; its services are not meanstested. Once again the number of matters generated from Kempsey LGA are
significantly higher relative to population and significantly skewed towards
prisoners’ matters.27
Table 2 provides an analysis of the top ten matter types for all inquiries and
Indigenous-specific inquiries contained in the LawAccess data for the most recent
financial year.28
25
The ‘correctional facility’ effect: see JSA, Planning for Legal Needs, p 115 and footnote below regarding the
promotion of LawAccess in prisons.
26 Although access by phone also has its limitations, for example some people cannot afford calls from their mobiles,
many homeless people lack ready access to phones, and other people do not use phones to seek legal information or
advice.
27 The Mid Coast Correctional Centre is located in Kempsey LGA and LawAccess has a high rate of calls from all
prisons (particularly since 2008) which is due to several initiatives, including the inclusion of LawAccess on the
prisoners’ phone cards as a free call; Legal Aid NSW 'Back on Track' DVDs being shown in prisons; posters promoting
the availability of free legal assistance, and Initiatives arising from the NLAF Working Group on Legal Needs of
Prisoners: communication from Jane Pritchard, LawAccess, 27 July 2010.
28 Report Generated by LawAccess NSW on 19/07/2010, File ID: Customers by Region.rpt. Unfortunately LawAccess’
reports providing a regional analysis of inquiries do not group the matter-types into large sub-categories, so the best
analysis that can be done is a ‘Top 10’ of most frequent inquiries.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
15
Table 2: LawAccess NSW Data 2009/2010 for the LGAs of Greater Taree, Port
Macquarie-Hastings, and Kempsey29
Greater Taree
Number of
Inquiries
Rate of
inquiries per
1000 people
Number of
Indigenous
Inquiries
Rate of
Indigenous
inquiries per
1000
Indigenous
people
Call-type
Top 10
matters in
inquiries
from all
callers
Top 5 matters
29
Kempsey LGA
NSW
1256
Port MacquarieHastings
1764
2084
203,269
27.8 inquiries per
1000 people
25.7 inquiries per
1000 people
76.1 inquiries per
1000 people
31 inquiries per
1000 people
71 (6% of total)
69 (4% of total)
306 (15% of total)
8,535 (4% of total)
36.8 Indigenous
inquiries per 1000
Indigenous people
39.0 Indigenous
inquiries per 1000
Indigenous people
120.5 Indigenous
inquiries per 1000
Indigenous people
62 Indigenous
inquiries per 1000
Indigenous people
Information 87%
Advice 13%
Live With (family
law) 9%
Spend Time with
(family law) 6%
Property
Settlement
Married 5%
Money owed by
applicant – non
consumer 5%
Fences/trees/ani
mals 4%
Money owed to
applicant – nonconsumer 3%
Will/Intestacy 3%
Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order Applications
2%
Divorce 2%
Non Domestic
Violence Related
Harassment 2%
Information 81%
Advice 19%
Live With (family
law) 7%
Spend Time with
(family law) 6%
Fences/trees/ani
mals 5%
Property
Settlement
Married 4%
Will/Intestacy 4%
Money owed to
applicant – nonconsumer 4%
Money owed by
applicant – non
consumer 3%
Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order Applications
3%
Divorce 2%
Service Provider –
Legal 2%
Information 94%
Advice 6%
Other Prisoners'
Legal Matter 18%
Non-Domestic
Violence Related
Assault/Injury 6%
Breach
Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order 4%
Parole Authority
Review 4%
Live With (ie Family
law contact) 3%
Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order Applications
3%
Spend Time With (ie
Family law contact)
3%
Break and Enter 2%
Possession/ Use of
Prohibited Drug
(State) 2%
Malicious Damage
to Property 2%
Information 89%
Advice 11%
Live With (family
law) 5%
Money Owed by
Applicant - Non
Consumer 4%
Spend Time With
(family law ) 4%
Property
Settlement
Married 3%
Money Owed to
Applicant - Non
Consumer 3%
Fences / Trees/
Animals 3%
Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order Applications
3%
Other Prisoners'
Legal Matter 3%
Will / Intestacy
2%
Motor Vehicle
Property Damage
2%
Live With (family
Crime (Including
Other Prisoners'
Other Prisoners'
Report Generated by LawAccess NSW on 19/07/2010, File ID: Customers by Region.rpt.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
16
in inquiries
from
Indigenous
callers
Top 5
agencies that
referred
callers to
LawAccess
Top 5
agencies to
which
LawAccess
referred
callers
law) 10%
Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order Applications
6%
Money Owed to
Applicant - Non
Consumer 6%
Benefits/
Allowances/ Other
4%
Dismissal –
Commonwealth
4%
Taree Local Court
43%
Legal Aid Head
Office 8%
Fair Trading
Centres 7%
Fair Work
Australia 4%
State Debt
Recovery Office
2%
Victims
Compensation) 8%
Live With (family
law) 5%
Money Owed by
Applicant - Non
Consumer 5%
Other
Miscellaneous
State Matter 5%
Driving Licence
Offence 4%
Legal Matter 18%
Non-Domestic
Violence Related
Assault/Injury 6%
Break and Enter 5%
Aggravated Robbery
5%
Breach Apprehended
Domestic Violence
Order 5%
Legal Matter 10%
Live With (family
law) 6%
Non-Domestic
Violence Related
Assault/Injury 5%
Spend Time With
(family law) 4%
Parole Authority
Review 3%
Port Macquarie
Local Court 48%
Legal Aid Head
Office 8%
Fair Trading
Centres 7%
Fair Work
Australia 4%
State Debt
Recovery Office
2%
Mid North Coast
Correctional Centre
80%
Kempsey Local
Court 7%
Fair Trading Centres
1%
Legal Aid Head
Office 1%
Fair Work Australia
1%
-
Hunter CLC (15%)
Taree Legal Aid
Outreach – Civil
and Family law
(10%)
Taree Legal Advice
Clinic (8%)
Youth and
Enterprise Legal
Centre (4%)
Law Society of
NSW (Solicitor
Referral Service)
(3%)
Port Macquarie
Legal Aid Outreach
- Child Support
and Family Law
(8%)
Coffs Harbour
Legal Aid Office
(7%)
Youth and
Enterprise Legal
Centre (6%)
Law Society of
NSW (Solicitor
Referral Service)
(5%)
Consumer Credit
Legal Centre (5%)
Prisoners Legal
Service 56%
Coffs Harbour Legal
Aid Office 8%
Kempsey Legal Aid
Outreach - Child
Support and Family
Law 3%
Campbelltown Legal
Aid Office 2%
Parramatta Legal
Aid Criminal Law
Office 2%
-
This table shows that family law matters dominate inquiries in Greater Taree (four
of the top 10 matter-types are family law, a combined total of 22% of all inquiries)
and Port Macquarie Hastings (19%). While prison and criminal law matters
dominate Kempsey’s inquiries, family law matters are the only other matters to
appear in the top-ten list; it is likely that if prisoners’ calls were removed family law
matters would represent a similar or higher proportion of matters as in the other
two LGAs.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
17
Indigenous people have a significantly higher rate of inquiry per 1,000 people than
is the case for all callers30. There are some differences in the matters enquired
about, with victims’ compensation, benefits/allowances and employment featuring
in the Indigenous top 5 for Taree.
Unmet legal need
One analysis that is made possible by legal needs studies (in theory at least) is to
compare predicted legal need based on analysis of survey results with ‘expressed’
legal need, that is, the data on the legal services that are actually requested and
provided to the population.
Not all people experiencing a legal problem have a need for public legal services:
many people are capable of resolving problems on their own without the assistance
of legal or other services.31 However a substantial proportion of people do not even
try to resolve their legal problems – not even by seeking basic help or information.32
In as yet unpublished work based on research by the New Zealand Legal Services
Agency33 the current authors calculated that about 75-80% of people who
experience a legal problem have a need for legal services in relation to their
problem even if the need is merely for legal information (such as that provided by
LawAccess) or do-it-yourself resources. Given the relatively high levels of
disadvantage in the MNC CLC catchment area, the proportion of people requiring
assistance is likely to be higher as there is a correlation between some types of
disadvantage and inability to resolve a legal problem.34
In work for Community Legal Centres NSW in 2009, Judith Stubbs and Associates
(JSA) attempted to predict the number of adults in each LGA in NSW likely to
experience a legal problem, using a formula based on the results of legal needs
surveys (in particular UK surveys) which found that certain demographics
experience legal problems at a greater rate than others.35 JSA then go on to
determine whether particular LGAs have a low or high legal need ratio of expressed
30
The extraordinarily high Kempsey rate is due to the high rate of Indigenous prisoners.
The 2003 NSW legal needs survey found that of the 1741 legal events that had been resolved at the time of the
survey, the most common method of resolution involved the participant resolving the event on his or her own (1274
events of all 1741 events): Coumarelos et al (2006), Chapter 7, Summary, p 145. However, note that 28% of events
were unresolved at the time survey was conducted, so the method by which these events were eventually finalised
was not measured.
32 The 2003 NSW legal needs survey found that 32.8% of survey respondents who experienced a legal problem did
nothing to resolve that problem; 16% handled the problem alone; while 51.2% sought assistance: Coumarelos et al
(2006), Chapter 4, Figure 4.1.
33 Legal Services Agency, 2006, Report on the 2006 National Survey of Unmet Legal Needs and Access to Services,
Wellington; and Legal Services Agency, 2006b, Technical Paper: Defining Legal Need and Unmet Legal Need, 2006
National Survey, at www.lsa.govt.nz/documents/Defining.pdf accessed 27/03/2010
34 For example, in the 2003 NSW legal needs survey, people with a chronic illness or disability had lower odds of their
legal matters being resolved compared with other people: Coumarelos et al (2006), Table 7.2.
35 See Appendix G for a discussion of JSA’s prediction method which is quite a different approach to the Law and
Justice Foundation’s method of predicting legal need based on survey results.
31
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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need (measured through the Data Digest) to predicted legal need as compared to
other regions in NSW. See Appendix G for further discussion.
JSA found that Kempsey generates a greater number of matters when set against
predicted need, compared to Greater Taree and Port Macquarie-Hastings. However
this result is influenced once again by the Mid North Coast Correctional Facility
generating a disproportionately high number of legal services provided to people
residing in Kempsey.
It is important to note that legal needs research does not fully account for the
relative priority of particular legal problems, the level of disadvantage of the person
experiencing the problem nor the difficulty that the people experiencing legal
problems may face in having their legal need met. For example, some people’s legal
needs could be solved through a low level service such as phone information from
LawAccess or a short telephone advice (for example a person who has just
separated may need a short conversation with a lawyer to understand their options
and where to get help should they need it36). The experience of public legal services
is that the more disadvantaged a person is, the greater the need for assistance from
legal services for effective resolution of their problems.37
Priority Client Groups
The legal needs literature suggest that several groups are more likely than other
groups to experience legal problems in general, and some groups are more likely to
experience particular kinds of legal problems. The three groups that experience
more legal problems in general are Indigenous people, people with
disabilities/chronic illness, and single parents.
The demographic analysis of the three LGAs reveals a higher than average
percentage of:
 Single parents,
 Older people,
 Indigenous people,
 People on Disability Support Pension, and
 Unemployed people.
Consultees identified a number of potential priority groups. Those most frequently
or persuasively mentioned were:
 Indigenous people in relation to civil law issues,
36
This is a relatively frequent service provided by the Coffs Harbour legal aid office, both face-to-face an in particular
by telephone: consultation with Jane Corcoran 20 July 2010.
37 Based on authors’ experiences and comments by service providers consulted, particularly but not only staff of
LANSW, See also research into the effectiveness of phone legal advice or information conducted by Elizabeth Shearer
(2003), Report to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia: To study telephone legal advice services for low
income and disadvantaged people, Qld, p14, at
http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/site_media/fellows/Shearer_Elizabeth_2003.pdf.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
19





homeless people,
people with disabilities,
young people and children,
people in or leaving Kempsey prison, especially those with disabilities, and
women victims of domestic violence in relation to family law issues.
Combining these inputs, and noting the available legal, advocacy and support
services, we suggest that in broad terms the priority client groups for the MNC CLC
should include:
 Indigenous people,
 people with disabilities,
 single parents,
 young people, especially those at risk of offending,
 people who are homeless,
 financially disadvantaged older people, and
 prisoners, in relation to their civil and family law issues, particularly just
before and on release.
The report does not explore the specific needs of each of these groups in any detail.
Appendix I includes some comments from the National Children’s and Young
Peoples Law Centre about the needs of children in regional areas and ways of
meeting those needs.
It will not be possible for a small service to directly address the legal needs of all
these disparate groups. Discussion of some specific areas of law, some of which are
relevant to some of these groups, follows at ‘Needs in Specific Areas of Law’ below.
Service Delivery in the Mid North Coast Region
Table 3 sets out the legal and relevant non-legal advocacy and counselling services
that are currently available in the Mid North Coast Region.
Recent work by the NSW Law and Justice Foundation on recruitment and retention
of legal staff in rural and regional areas38 shows that, overall, the mid north coast
has relatively poor access to civil and family law solicitors employed by Legal Aid
NSW, the ALS and CLCs. The report notes that “[t]he Mid-North Coast had just 1.4
public civil law solicitors per 100,000 residents or one civil law solicitor for every
71,000 residents. It also had just one public family law solicitor for every 57,000
residents. It was slightly better off in accessing assistance for criminal law matters
with one resident public criminal law solicitor for every 35,500 residents.” 39 The
38
Suzie Forell, Michael Cain and Abigail Gray Recruitment and retention of lawyers in regional, rural and remote NSW
June (Law and Justice Foundation of NSW 2010)
39 Suzie Forell, Michael Cain and Abigail Gray Recruitment and retention of lawyers in regional, rural and remote NSW
June (Law and Justice Foundation of NSW 2010) p 82
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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adjacent Northern and Hunter Statistical Divisions were also poorly serviced by
publically funded civil lawyers, but better off in relation to family lawyers.
Table 3: Public legal services currently available in the mid north coast, July 2010
TAREE
FAMILY LAW
Phone advice
Specialist
family law
clinics
Child support
& basic family
law clinics
Representatio
n (meanstested)41
CIVIL LAW
Phone advice
Civil law
clinics
PORT MACQUARIE
KEMPSEY
General
Indigenous
General
Indigenou General
Indigenou
specific
s specific
s specific
LANSW Newcastle and Coffs will provide advice, but it is not currently marketed to
the public directly
LawAccess – Information and Advice –urgent matters prioritised; referral to other
legal service providers for advice
Women’s Legal Services NSW (women only) – not well-known
CLSD40 Clinic Many Rivers
(Wauchope
none
MRFVLS
(can take
Family
) Pro bono
main
family
Violence Legal service 2 or
office
appointment Service
3 mornings
s 2-3 days
(MRFVLS)
per month
per month;)
weekly
outreach at
Purfleet
LANSW
LANSW
LANSW
monthly
monthly
monthly
outreach
outreach
outreach
LANSW panels: # of firms
LANSW panels: # of
LANSW panels: # of
Family = 10
firms
firms
Care and protection = 6
Family = 15
Family = 6
Care and protection = 12 Care and protection =
1
General
Indigenous
General
Indigenou General
Indigenou
specific
s specific
s specific
LANSW Coffs provides phone advice by appointment on Tuesday afternoons (4
advices p/w) or urgent
LANSW Newcastle (urgent matters)
LawAccess (Information and Advice -urgent matters prioritised)
Various specialist CLCs provide civil advice on specific topics or to specific groups,
eg Consumer Credit Legal Centre, Welfare Rights Centre, Disability Discrimination
Legal Centre, Aged Care Rights Service, but with some exceptions these are not
well-known to local service providers or the public
CLSD Clinic
Pro bono
LANSW
LANSW
weekly
service 3
weekly
weekly
mornings
outreach
outreach
per month
(main but
not
exclusive
focus on
homeless
40
The CLSD is the Cooperative Legal Services Delivery program operated by Legal Aid NSW.
Note that not all firms on the LANSW panels are actively providing family law representation – for example, in
Kempsey only one firm does so regularly with one other firm taking matters less often and the others not having
taken any matters in the current year. Source LANSW internal data accessed July 2010.
41
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Representatio
n in some civil
matters
(means and
merit tested)
Tenancy
Advice and
Advocacy
LANSW panel: 3 firms
LANSW panel: 2 firms
clients)
Legal Aid Prisoners
Legal Service Civil Law
Outreach @ MNC
Correctional Centre
LANSW panel: 2 firms
Financial
Counselling
Port
Macquarie
Tenants
Service
Salvation
Army
Moneycare
Kempsey
Neighbourhoo
d Centre
(“KNC”)
LANSW panel: 5 firms
Port
Macquarie
Tenants
Service
Centrecare
Port
Macquari
e Tenants
Service
KNC
Civil law
advice for
prisoners
Mental Health
CRIMINAL
LAW
Phone Advice
Face-to-face
advice and
representatio
n
Face-to-face
advice only
Grafton based
service
KNC
LANSW panel: 9 firms
Grafton
based
service
KNC
LANSW panels: no
firms
General
Indigenous
General
Indigenou General
Indigenou
specific
s specific
s specific
LawAccess – Information and advice - urgent matters prioritised
Aboriginal Legal Service for Indigenous clients
Intellectual Disability Rights Service to people with an intellectual disability or their
families in criminal matters
Legal Aid
ALS
Legal Aid
ALS
Legal Aid ALS
(means(means(meanstested)
tested)
tested)
CLSD Clinic: (criminal law
advice available fortnightly42)
(Wauchope) Pro bono
service 2 or 3 mornings
per month
Prisoners
matters
WDVCAS
Grafton
based
service
Yes – Mon,
Tues, Friday
Yes
Legal Aid Prisoners
Legal Service @ MNC
Correctional Centre
Yes
Family Law
Phone advice
Telephone advice on family law matters is available to anyone from Coffs Harbour
and Newcastle legal aid offices. This service is not well known among service
providers in the area, and is not marketed. It is however reasonably well used.
Clients are advised about the service if they make inquiries of the Coffs Harbour
office, which they may do directly or on referral by LawAccess.
42
Jim Corcoran, the solicitor providing the CLSD service at Taree two weeks in four provides a high volume of criminal
law advice, related civil matters (fines) and to defendants to applications for ADVOs.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Representation
Grants of legal aid for representation by private solicitors are funded by LANSW
according to legal aid guidelines. There does not seem to be a large problem finding
a lawyer to take on legal aid work in Taree (8 firms throughout the LGA on the
family panel) and Port Macquarie (15 throughout the LGA). It is more difficult in
Kempsey: although there are 6 firms on the Legal Aid panel, service providers
report that there is only one that regularly takes on matters; another will do a few;
and so many clients need to be referred to Port Macquarie. The Taree WDCVAS
reports some success in obtaining lawyers to provide assistance pro bono.
Face-to-face advice
Taree
 CLSD Clinic: family law advice is provided every fortnight by a private
solicitor from Walker Legal (funded by LANSW); it is also available on some
of the other weeks of the month depending on which solicitor from Hunter
CLC attends the clinic. The waiting list is about 4-6 weeks for non-urgent
matters.
 LANSW child support service provides advice on child support and basic
family law monthly.
Port Macquarie
 LANSW child support service provides advice on child support and basic
family law monthly.
 A pro bono service at Wauchope held 2 or 3 half days per month serves
clients from Port Macquarie as well as Wauchope and region.43
 There are a large number of lawyers in Port Macquarie (15 firms on Legal
Aid’s family panel out of 62 lawyers with practicing certificates throughout
the LGA). We were advised there are many lawyers willing to provide initial
advice free.
Kempsey
 LANSW child support service provides advice on child support and basic
family law monthly.
 Many Rivers Family Violence Legal Service will sometimes advise nonIndigenous women on family law matters.
 The civil clinic in Kempsey operated by LANSW currently can and does
provide basic family law advice.
Indigenous specific
Advice (on family law, care and protection, and domestic violence) and conciliation
services are provided by Many Rivers Family Violence Legal Service (“MRFVLS”) in
Kempsey from their office and at Taree at weekly outreach clinics in Purfleet.44
43
Consultation with Wauchope Neighbourhood Centre.
Does not limit its clients to those facing DV but will provide advice, mediation services and where necessary legal
referrals to any Indigenous person in relation to family law (and in practice advice and where necessary referral to a
good few non Indigenous women). It is also sought out by Aboriginal people in relation to civil law matters such as
44
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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MRFVLS does not undertake ongoing representation and so solicitors would not
have same level of understanding of family law procedure compared to specialist
family lawyers including LANSW staff.45
Civil Law
Phone advice
Legal Aid NSW provides limited telephone advice by appointment to clients who are
unable to attend face-to-face advice clinics. The Coffs Harbour office allocates 4
advices per week, on a Tuesday afternoon, although will do extra if something
urgent arises. LawAccess, the local court and many service providers refer clients to
the service. Staff attend various interagency meetings and provide these details.
Most often service providers will ring the office direct.46 Where a client wishes to
make an appointment for telephone advice, the Coffs office also advises them of
their option for face-to-face advice in Kempsey, and at monthly clinics in Macksville
and Bowraville operated by a private solicitor funded by LANSW. If the client has
documents, they will often take up this option.
The Newcastle office reports that it provides a much lower level of phone advice to
people who cannot come to the face-to-face clinics.47
Specialist statewide CLCs provide advice in a range of civil law areas including
consumer credit, welfare rights and disability discrimination.
Representation
Grants of aid are available to clients that fit within Legal Aid’s means and merit tests,
however there are very few firms in each LGA that take on legal aid work. The
Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service will represent disadvantaged tenants with
matters in the Consumer Trade and Tenancy Tribunal. Some pro bono civil law
assistance is obtained either through direct approaches by clients or arranged by
others including the ALS and neighbourhood centres.
Face-to-face advice
Kempsey
 LANSW operates weekly civil law clinics at Kempsey Neighbourhood Centre
in the mornings and at an Aboriginal organisation, South Kempsey
Community Cottage, in the afternoon.48 The morning session has a focus on
homeless clients but will take appointments from anyone. Legal aid staff at
Coffs report very low socio-demographic profile for clients of both clinics.
debt and housing issues and will generally be able to provide minor assistance. In many ways MRFVLS operates like a
CLC.
45 MRFVLS is not known to Coffs Harbour office staff. There may be a need for improved coordination (for example
involvement in a CLSD).
46 Based on information supplied by Sally Bryant, SIC, Civil Law, LANSW Coffs Harbour.
47 Informaiton supplied by Michael Kozlowski, Newcastle.
48 This has recently changed from using two different Aboriginal organisations as one of them is no longer able to host
the service.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
24


The waiting time for an appointment at the morning clinic is 3-4 weeks
however if there is no available appointment the client is invited to ‘drop in’
and will normally be seen by the solicitor.
MRFVLS also provides some civil advice and minor assistance to Indigenous
clients. Matters have included debts, housing, complaints re harassment and
discrimination.
The field officer at the Kempsey ALS provides assistance with stolen
generations issues.
Taree
 The weekly CLSD clinic at Manning Support Services is booked out up to 6
weeks in advance for non-urgent matters.
Port Macquarie/Wauchope
 A pro bono service at Wauchope 2-3 half days per month serves clients from
Port Macquarie as well as Wauchope and region.
Criminal law
A duty solicitor service and representation is provided at all courts by LANSW and
ALS either directly or by funding private solicitor. LANSW representation is
available only where the matter and client meets the legal aid guidelines. Legal Aid’s
Prisoner’s Legal Service provides advice to prisoners at the MNC Correctional
Centre. The Intellectual Disabilities Rights Service provides phone advice / support
to people with intellectual disabilities involved in the criminal justice system.
Other advocacy and advice services
 Generalist financial counsellors are available in each LGA, and an Indigenous
specialist service based in Kempsey serves all areas. We do not have access
to their casework statistics to determine the level of service provided.
 The Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service based in Port Macquarie serves all
3 LGAs but its caseworks statistics (see section on ‘expressed legal need’ in
this report) suggest it disproportionately serves people from Hastings-Port
Macquarie LGA.
 The Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenancy Service based in Grafton serves all
three LGAs. We do not have access to their casework statistics to determine
the level of service provided. The Taree ALS makes referrals to that service.
 WDCVAS services in each of the main towns attend all relevant court list
days.
 Disability Advocacy provides disability advocacy services throughout the
regions and has staff members located in Port Macquarie and Taree.
Need in specific areas of law
The following discussion identifies specific areas of law, specific client groups and
specific circumstances that appear to involve unmet legal need. We identify the
evidence for this particular need, arguments as to whether it ought to be a priority
for the MNC CLC and ways in which the service could respond to the need.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Family law
For many generalist CLCs, family law is an area of law in which they provide the
highest number of advice and information services. Some CLCs also provide family
law casework. Family law is the most common issue raised in calls to LawAccess
from the Greater Taree LGA (22%) and Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA (19%) and is
probably the most common other than prisoners’ matters from Kempsey LGA.
Family law was raised as an issue by a number of people consulted, in particular
family law staff in Coffs Harbour and Head Office49 who identified the need for initial
advice, and the staff of the Mid North Coast WDCVAS who additionally identified the
need for casework services for people who are not eligible for a grant of aid but
cannot readily afford a private solicitor, particularly those who are also
experiencing domestic violence. Family law was also raised as one of a number of
potential areas of work for the CLC in the Port Macquarie workshop and was
suggested as one of the three areas for the CLC to concentrate on in Disability
Advocacy’s submission to the Attorney General.
CLCs take various approaches to providing family law advice and other legal
services. There is a danger that providing a family law service of any sort could
swamp the CLC and reduce its capacity to provide other needed services, especially
if solicitor recruitment was influenced by a desire to recruit a person with family
law expertise50. For reasons of this sort, Northern Rivers CLC made a decision six
years ago to cease offering any family law services, and has not done so expect in
relation to specifically funded Family Relationship Centre services. That centre
supported this decision with successful strategies to increase client’s access to
family law advice from other sources.
Given its staff levels and the numerous other priorities facing the centre, we do not
think the MNC CLC will be in a position to provide very much more than initial
advice and referral in family law matters. We understand that Legal Aid NSW is
seeking to expand family law outreach services, so any decisions about the degree to
which the CLC provides family law assistance should take into account the degree to
which Legal Aid NSW might be able increase services within the region.
The need for additional family law services varies across the catchment area due to
differences in services available and access to those services. The following text
notes the current services provided, identifies gaps in service provision, and
includes some suggestions of how these gaps may be overcome either by the CLC or
other services.
 Phone advice: Although technically available at Legal Aid Newcastle and Coffs
Harbour offices, LANSW staff do not have much capacity to increase the
volume of telephone advice currently provided.
49
Newcastle family law solicitors employed by LANSW were not consulted as part of this project.
Experience suggests that a CLC’s priorities are often influenced to some extent by the skills and experience of its
legal staff, sometimes excessively.
50
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
26



Face-to-face advice in Taree: While family law advice is provided face to face
at the CLSD clinic, the 4-6 week waiting time for a non-urgent appointment is
a problem. That the WDCVAS in Taree does not refer clients to the CLSD
service, for example, may be a result of not being able to get an appointment
sufficiently quickly. Elsewhere we recommend that the MNC CLC provide
legal advice in Taree weekly, in addition to the CLSD clinic. The CLC should
work with other services providers, most likely through the CLSD program,
to improve the ability of clients to obtain initial advice in family law matters
face-to-face and by telephone.
Face-to-face advice in Port Macquarie: Although there is only one clinic a
month (the LANSW Child Support outreach), there is a pro bono clinic twice a
month for people able to travel to Wauchope, and we understand there are a
large number of private lawyers in Port Macquarie who are willing to take on
at least legally-aided family law matters. This suggests that a CLC may be able
to avoid devoting staff resources to provide a family law service in Port
Macquarie by developing a volunteer roster and/or formalising
arrangements for solicitors to provide first appointments free and undertake
pro bono work in meritorious cases.
Face-to-face advice in Kempsey: Non-Indigenous people in Kempsey have
very little no access to face-to-face family law advice, and there appears to be
little capacity for Legal Aid NSW or the local private profession to service that
need. The CLC should work with service providers to explore ways to better
meet this need.
There is a significant unmet need for family law advice and assistance in Kempsey at
least. We are concerned that given the small size of the MNC CLC that providing a
service that attempted to fully meet the needs for family law advice and minor
assistance would leave little time for other priority work.
We suggest that while the CLC needs to ensure that clients have access to timely
initial advice and limited further assistance in family law, it should place an
appropriate limit on direct family law services. This might be achieved through the
way in which its guidelines are crafted by, for example, giving priority to certain
family law needs (for example those involving children), client types, (service
providers on behalf of their clients, clients at risk of violence) and/or types of
assistance (basic orientation to the family law system, assistance getting access to a
private lawyer or legal aid service). Alternatively or in addition services might be
rationed by the amount of staff time per week available to be provided. Beyond
direct services, and as an equal priority, the CLC should work with other service
providers, particularly LANSW, LawAccess and the private profession to attempt to
increase access to family law services more generally in the region. It might also
consider working with a larger Sydney based pro bono practice. In doing so it
should consult with other CLCs faced with similar problems including Northern
Rivers CLC. Finally we would counsel the CLC not to include family law expertise as
a primary selection criterion when recruiting its principal solicitor, although if it is
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
27
able to afford a second, part time solicitor then perhaps this position may be
recruited on the basis that it has a greater family law focus.
Overall approach to family law
The MNC CLC should not initially provide family law services other than initial
advice and referral, and perhaps ongoing assistance in exceptional matters.
It should avoid the risk of undertaking family law work to an extent that it
diminishes the capacity to meet the other priority needs that we have identified,
Instead the MNC CLC should work with NSW Legal Aid, LawAccess, MRFVLS, the
private profession and the WDVCAS services in the catchment area to develop
arrangements to increase access to face-to-face family law advice, particularly in
Kempsey LGA.
Housing issues
Housing is the single greatest area of legal need identified in the Law and Justice
Foundations 2003 legal needs research, with 23% of all respondents having
experienced an event likely to give rise to a legal need. Note however that in this
research housing included conveyancing as well as tenancy and homelessness.
The three LGAs have a somewhat lower level of social housing and a lower level of
private rental accommodation than the NSW average; nevertheless there are still a
fairly high number of tenants. Some forms of Aboriginal housing and informal
housing such as caravan parks and group houses may not be properly captured in
the census data. Further, there is a growing number of community housing
properties.51
There are two tenancy services currently serving the area, one in Port Macquarie
serving non-Indigenous clients and one in Grafton for Indigenous tenants. The Port
Macquarie service provides a much higher level of service to tenants in the
Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA than the other parts of the catchment area.
Although some people at the Port Macquarie workshop suggested that a MNC CLC
could undertake complex tenancy matters, we suggest that this is a relatively low
priority for the new service. The lawyers are unlikely to have greater tenancy
knowledge than the Tenants Advice Service, which also has access to specialist back
up from the Tenants Union; public interest or complex tenancy matters may also be
eligible for grants of legal aid.
Consumer law and credit and debt
Consumer law is the 2nd highest rating, and credit and debt the 5th highest rating
civil law problem in disadvantaged LGAs according to the Law and Justice
Foundation 2003 research (Appendix D). There is likely some overlap between
these categories. Further, some debt matters were included under government
rather than in credit and debt. Consumer credit including mortgage stress was an
51
Advice from the Northern NSW Aboriginal Housing TAAS, July 2010.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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area of law consistently raised by non-legal service consultees as a high area of
need. Disability Advocacy has identified consumer credit law as one of the three
areas that it believes that the MNC CLC should focus on.52
Accident and injury including victims compensation
Accident and injury was an area of high need (19%) of respondents to the LJF 2003
survey. It is not appropriate that the MNC CLC undertake any great volume of work
in relation to transport and work related personal injuries matters which made up
about a third of this category.
Another third of this need related to motor vehicle property damage. The Magistrate
in Kempsey and the manager of civil law at LANSW both identified the problem of
people litigating matters where one or both vehicles involved in a collision were
uninsured for third party property damage. Consultees suggested some
consideration should be given to efficient ways to meet these litigants’ needs in
relation to completion of court forms and/or settlement of disputes out of court. On
the other hand Northern Rivers CLC suggest that it has tried a number of
approaches but that they have not proved successful, with the only option being to
provide face-to-face advice services to assist. The MNC CLC should consult with
CLCs with experience in this area and consider effective ways to handle clients with
such problems. We would caution against offering to represent any such clients in
court proceedings given the potential drain on resources.
This grouping also includes applications for victim’s compensation. While private
solicitors will often act for victims seeking compensation, there are some types of
matters - in particular more complex out of time matters - which private firms are
unlikely to do. The MNC CLC should consider how it could assist such clients. Acting
as a link to Sydney based pro bono services may be one option. Some Sydney pro
bono practices specialist in sexual assault matters for Indigenous clients
Wills/estates
Wills/estates are an area of law where there are high reported rates of legal need.
Generally this is not an area of law of high importance to the most disadvantaged.
There will be some people from disadvantaged groups that have specific high
priority issues – for example complex guardianship matters for older financially
disadvantaged people.
On the other hand the MNC CLC, especially if located in Port Macquarie, will need to
develop ways to avoid being swamped with wills and estates matters. One strategy
may be to work with the Aged Care Rights Service, LawAccess and/or appropriate
staff from Legal Aid NSW to increase access to relevant services, possibly including
through an invitation to conduct community education in retirement villages,
nursing homes and caravan parks.
52
Submission to Attorney General 21 April 2010.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Employment
Employment rates highly in the Law and Justice Foundations legal needs research in
disadvantaged LGAs. The MNC CLC catchment area has high rates of unemployment;
this suggests there may be significant groups of vulnerable workers. Instances of
exploitation of Indigenous workers were mentioned in consultations. Legal aid is
generally not available in employment matters and there is no state-wide specialist
CLC. If the MNC CLC has capacity for any casework then talking on a small number of
matters in this area should be considered in addition to providing advice and minor
assistance and community legal education. Employment casework matters can
generally be handled over the phone.53
Human rights and discrimination
The Law and Justice Foundation’s 2003 surveys suggested lower rates of demand
for human rights and discrimination matters compared to other civil law matters,
and they do not appear in the top ten matters raised with LawAccess nor the top 5
matters raised by Indigenous callers. On the other hand, discrimination is a key
concern of members of two priority client groups (people with disabilities and
Indigenous people)54 and was one of the three areas of law identified for attention
from a new centre by the Mid North Community Legal Centre Working Group’s April
2010 submission to the Commonwealth Attorney-General. This should be an area of
law in which the centre considers developing some expertise and perhaps taking on
casework matters. The Centre should also establish appropriate protocols with
specialist centres that may assist including the Disability Discrimination Legal
Centre, Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Public Interest Law Clearing House.
Centrelink matters
The Law and Justice Foundation’s 2003 surveys suggested low rates of demand for
(civil law) Centrelink matters, however Centrelink matters are strongly represented,
in calls to Law Access from Indigenous clients in Taree. In addition to disputes about
payments and claims for repayment, it is Legal Aid NSW's experience that most
people don't query a Centrelink prosecution even in circumstances where they may
have a defence or an administrative law remedy. The DPP has a greater than 95%
success rate.
Providing competent advice in Centrelink matters requires a high level of expertise
only likely to come from a degree of specialisation in that area. The CLC should
perhaps act as a gateway to the expertise of the Welfare Rights Centre. One way to
do that would be to work with the Welfare Rights Centre to establish a protocol for
seeking back up advice and making referrals.
Prisoners in, and on release from, the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre
Mid North Coast Correctional Centre is a medium and minimum-security centre for
males and females situated at Aldavilla 14 km west of Kempsey. The Correctional
53
Northern Rivers CLC has found it possible to undertake contested employment matters in this way.
The Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants Service noted they have been asked for advice in relation to being refused
housing on the basis of race: Consultation with Janelle Brown.
54
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
30
Centre houses about 500 prisoners, many of whom were sentenced in courts in the
mid North Coast region and many are likely to reside there on release.55 As shown
by the high rate of usage of LawAccess services, prisoners have many legal queries.
Although Legal Aid’s Prisoner’s Legal Service provides advice on prisoners matters
and also civil law advice, there is undoubtedly a higher demand than can be
currently met. Consultees suggested that these prisoners, many with intellectual
disabilities or mental health problems, also had high legal needs immediately before
and on release.56 Once established the CLC should consider working with other
service providers, particularly the Prisoner’s Legal Service, to develop an
appropriate response to those civil and family law legal needs of prisoners before
and after release not met by other services.
Domestic violence: Unrepresented applicants for ADVOs
The LGAS in the catchment areas have very high rates of reported domestic violence
(Table 1). There are also a high number of legal services provided to victims of
domestic violence (see Expressed Legal Need, above). Both WDVCAS workers
consulted reported a high level of applicants for restraining orders without
representation by the police at Taree and Port Macquarie courts57.
We have been advised that Legal Aid NSW will in early 2011 commence a legal
service in Port Macquarie to provide representation to applicants for ADVOs on the
domestic violence list day. This will not address currently unrepresented applicants’
need for representation in Taree and Kempsey courts nor any related advice or
minor assistance needs not being met by current services including the WDVCASs.
Once established, the MNC CLC should work with relevant social and legal services
to explore the legal needs of victims of domestic violence. These needs may relate to
advice and minor assistance and/or representation. Once identified the MNC CLC
should consider how it can work within its limited resources and with other service
providers to develop a response to those legal needs.
Comments on the Catchment Area
The funding agencies have determined that the catchment area for the MNC CLC
should be limited to the LGAs of Greater Taree, Hastings-Port Macquarie and
Kempsey. A number of agencies consulted raised concerns about that decision,
including Disability Advocacy (who conducted earlier legal needs work), the Taree
Forster WDVCAS, and the Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy
Service among others. We note that we did not consult with any local organisations
in the areas outside the specified catchment area other than those that provide
services to the catchment area.
55
Consultation with Wayne Evans SM. 14 July 2010
Workshop Port Macquarie 13 July 2010
57 The WDCVAS worker at Kempsey was not consulted; while there are higher rates of Indigenous people and higher
rates of domestic violence in Kempsey LGA, the MRFVLS is located in Kempsey.
56
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
31
We note that areas to the immediate south and north of the three LGAs (in
particular Forster Tuncurry and the Nambucca Valley) have high levels of social
disadvantage. We also note that the population to be served by the new MNC CLC is
substantially smaller than the population served by some similarly sized MNC CLCs
– there are around 140,000 people in the three LGAs of Greater Taree, Port
Macquarie-Hastings and Kempsey.58
With the exception of people who live in or close to Coffs Harbour office of Legal Aid
NSW, people in the other LGAs of the MNC do not have access to face-to-face legal
advice services despite the fact that many of the communities in those LGAs have
the same level of disadvantage as those within the catchment area.
On the other hand the budget for the MNC CLC is relatively small, it is unlikely to
have a staff complement of more than 3 FTE with perhaps 1.6 FTE solicitors and it
will not be able to meet all the needs in the specified catchment area. While some
consultees were concerned that particular areas would not have access to the
services of the MNC CLC, most understood the reasoning behind the decision to limit
the catchment area.
The MNC CLC is likely to come under pressure to find ways to provide services
outside its catchment area, either by phone or through seeking additional funding.
We suggest that:
 the MNC CLC and funding bodies review the catchment area in the light of 2
years experience operating the service and any changes to the services
provided by other organisations in adjacent areas, and
 the funding bodies consider specifying a secondary catchment area in which
the MNC CLC would take responsible for promoting access to legal services
and assisting clients find those services (but not to operate any face-to-face
services).
Ongoing review of legal needs by the MNC CLC
While this report presents the information available about legal need based on the
sources above, the CLC should keep the question of unmet legal need under regular
review. It should use its experience, available data and informal and possibly formal
consultations with service providers and residents. In particular we note that the
NSW Law and Justice Foundation is due to publish results from the first extensive
Australian survey and analysis of legal need from 2011. In the following section we
note some particular issues raised by consultees that may warrant consideration by
the MNC CLC during its first few years.
58
Community Legal Centres NSW has roughly estimated the populations covered by regional CLCs, based on
approximate boundaries. Similarly funded CLCs (approx $300,000 p.a. recurrent) include Central Coast CLC, which
covers a population of about 300,000, Northern Rivers CLC, covering about 280,000 people, and North and North
West CLC, covering about 150,000 people.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
32
3. Selection Criteria
Selection criteria will be used to assist organisations expressing interest in
operating the MNC CLC frame their bid and Legal Aid NSW and the Commonwealth
determine which organisation is most suitable to operate the Centre59.
The purpose of the current project is to explore data relevant to an assessment of
legal need and the views of current service providers in order to provide somewhat
more specific guidance as to the services to be provided than has occurred in the
past when a new CLC has been established. While the selection criteria will in effect
set out the funding bodies’ expectations in relation to service delivery they are not
intended and should not inhibit the MNC CLCs role in identifying legal need and
developing innovative ways to respond to it.
The key issues to be addressed by the selection criteria include:
 in broad terms, the service delivery model to be adopted including the key
types of services to be provided, the priority target groups and at a high level
the areas of law that should be covered,
 the location of the service and any outreach services it should provide, and
 key features of governance arrangements that may impact on the nature and
quality of the services provided.
These three issues formed the core of the discussion with most consultees. Each of
these matters is now discussed in turn.
Service Delivery Model
Purpose of Service Delivery Model
Community legal centres are funded as part of the Commonwealth’s CLSP, the aim of
which is to achieve “Equitable Access to legal assistance services for disadvantaged
members of the Australian community and those with special needs60”.
The service delivery model should ensure that the CLC targets its services to
disadvantaged people and those with special needs. Factors that could strongly
affect the services ability to do so include:



whether or not priority client groups are identified,
the location of the main office and outreach services,
the skills and knowledge of the staff and members of the governance structure,
and
59 We note the selection criteria used in similar processes including the 2008 establishment of CALD CLC in Western
Australia and the allocation of WDCVAP funding for the 2009-2012 by Legal Aid NSW.
60
Commonwealth CSLP Program Outcome Statement.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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
the ability of the governance structure and CLC staff to understand and
respond to the needs of priority client groups.
Suggested priority groups and comments on particular matters types were
discussed in the previous part of this report. Issues in relation to location and
governance are discussed in the next two sections.
The service delivery model should also:
 reflect the most efficient way to provide services equitably to the priority
client groups,
 meet community expectations, and
 include the ability to continue to learn about the unmet legal needs of the
priority client groups and the flexibility to develop services to respond to
those needs.
Possible staffing model
The MNC CLC will be able to afford approximately 3 FTE staff. This will need to
include a Principal Solicitor and we suggest a Coordinator/Manager with
responsibilities in relation to service development, the coordination of training and
support to community workers and targeted community legal education in addition
to managerial responsibilities. The precise functions allocated to the remaining
staffing resources will depend on final decision as to service delivery priorities and
the prospect for supplementary funding for the Centre. There is a strong case for
these resources to be allocated in part at least to a second solicitor part-time (who
may or may not have specialist family law skills).
Types of services needed
Based on consultations with service providers and the data and literature
reviewed,61 we think the priority services for the MNC CLC are the following:
1. information, referral, advice and minor assistance in most areas of law,
2. training/legal education and support for community workers to help them assist
clients with their legal problems,
3. community education for members of priority groups, with a focus on assisting
people identify legal problems and then obtain timely help from relevant public
and private legal services, and
4. community development to establish new and effective responses to legal need.
Subject to resources the MNC CLC may be able to establish a limited civil law
casework service. This could cover:
 matters where the client is from a priority group and no other service is
available, and
61
Including the survey reported in Disability Advocacy NSW and the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
Project, 2010, Legal Needs Analysis of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, p 23.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
34

matters that may have some wider ramifications in the catchment area
(without necessarily being public interest cases in any strict sense of the
term). Such matters are particularly likely to be found among employment,
discrimination and perhaps consumer credit matters involving local
companies.
Other areas of demand have the potential to overwhelm the centre if they were to be
taken on routinely, including family, care and protection, minor criminal matters
where legal aid is not available, MVA matters and applications for ADVOs, and
personal intervention orders where the client is not represented by the police.
Enhancing service delivery through partnerships, pro bono and student volunteers
Use of Volunteer Solicitors and Law Students
CLCs are encouraged to use volunteers to enhance their service delivery.62
It’s worth noting, however, that there are fewer solicitors per capita in the in the
Statistical Division of the Mid North Coast than in the three surrounding Divisions
(in each of which is located the MNC CLC’s future neighbouring CLCs) and about the
same as the Central West as shown in Table 5. The rate in the three LGAs to be
served by the CLC may of course be higher or lower than the Statistical Division as a
whole. If it is the same or lower it may impact on the CLC’s capacity to use solicitors
as volunteers.
Table 5: Rates of solicitors per 100,000 population at 30 June 200963
Statistical Divisions
Mid North Coast
Hunter
Richmond-Tweed
Northern
Central West
Rate of Solicitors per
100,000 of population
84.7
124.9
119.0
105.6
85.4
CLC Located in SD
Proposed CLC
Hunter
Northern Rivers
North and North West
Western NSW
As in many rural areas, private practitioners undertake a high proportion of legal
aid work. Consultation suggested that there is an appetite for legal aid work among
solicitors in Port Macquarie but somewhat less so in Kempsey and Taree.
Disability Advocacy has obtained expressions of interest in student placements from
the law schools at the University of New England and the University of Newcastle.
Supervision of law students can, however, place a considerable burden on legal staff.
62
Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date), p 21.
63 Suzie Forell, Michael Cain and Abigail Gray Recruitment and retention of lawyers in regional, rural and remote NSW
June (Law and Justice Foundation of NSW 2010) p 45.
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The MNC CLC may want to take part in organised schemes such as NACLC’s ‘Law
Graduate for CLCs in Rural, Remote and Regional Australia’ project.64
Working with other services
Many CLCs operate particular legal and non-legal services that complement their
generalist legal centre operations. These commonly include tenants advice services
and/or financial counselling services funded by Fair Trading NSW and/or WDVCASs
funded through Legal Aid NSW. More recently some CLCs have been funded to
provide legal services associated with Family Relationship Centres.
Whether or not it is appropriate in the short term to consider co-locating or even
combining the MNC CLC with one or more of these other services, the MNC CLC
ought to work out appropriate cooperative working relationships including in
relation to service promotion and cross referral.
Service Location and Outreach
Location of services has a significant impact on whether the people most in need of
legal services can gain access to those services. JSA found in their research for
Community Legal Centres NSW that high levels of legal inquiries in a particular area
“are associated with proximity to Legal Aid and/or CLC offices and outreaches”.65
The Law and Justice Foundation has also conducted a preliminary analysis of callers
to LawAccess NSW and found that postcodes that contain public legal service office
of any kind (tenancy, CLC, Legal Aid) generate a disproportionate number of
inquiries to LawAccess than postcodes with no such services.66 A local example
appears to be the Tenancy Advice service located in Port Macquarie, which has a
disproportionately high number of clients from the Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA.
Proximity to the ‘on the ground’ legal services is a key access to justice issue
according to many of the Law and Justice Foundation’s research studies.
People with legal need are relatively dispersed through the MNC region. There are
significant numbers of people with indicators of disadvantage located in each of the
LGAs, each of the main towns (Kempsey, Port Macquarie and Taree) as well as in
many of the smaller towns and hamlets (see Appendix D). A number of consultees
from outside the region expressed some concern about the location of the CLC in
Port Macquarie, often based on a view that there is a lower level of legal need in the
town and/or the Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA. There is a danger that this concern
is overstated. While Hastings-Port Macquarie LGA scores better on measures of
disadvantage, the town and the LGA have larger populations (see Table 1) and the
absolute numbers of disadvantaged people and areas of disadvantage are still
considerable. Although Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA has a lower rate of
disadvantage, the actual number of people with particular indicators of
disadvantage is about the same as in Kempsey and Taree (Table 1 and Appendix D).
64
http://www.lawgraduatesrrrclc.com.au/
Judith Stubbs and Associates, Report I, p 115.
66 Communication with Michael Cain, Law and Justice Foundation, 13 July 2010.
65
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36
A regular face-to-face service in the three main towns in the catchment area would
significantly improve access face-to-face services compared to driving to Newcastle
or Coffs Harbour or booking in ahead of time to the limited current face-to-face
services or using the not very well known and not always suitable telephone advice
services. Service providers consulted in the region frequently made comments to
this effect.
However people who do not have access to a vehicle (or money for petrol) face
significant barriers in meeting appointments in any mid-north coast town.
 The Sydney-Brisbane railway line, serviced by the XPT, runs through the
towns of Gloucester, Wingham, Taree, Kendall, Wauchope (the closest station
to Port Macquarie), Kempsey, Eungai, Macksville, Nambucca Heads, Uranga,
Sawtell, and Coffs Harbour. Taree to Kempsey is 2 hours; Kempsey to Coffs
Harbour is another 1.5 hours. Of the 3 daily XPT services each way, two are in
the evening and not suitable for meeting appointments – for example, the XPT
from Sydney stops at Taree at 12.38pm, 5.10pm and 9.33pm.
 The train-line’s usefulness is also reduced by the fact that it does not pass
through Port Macquarie. There are regular buses between Wauchope station
and Port Macquarie but they take an hour each-way67
 Regular express buses between Sydney and Brisbane stop at most main towns
on the Pacific Highway, including Taree and Kempsey, and they also divert to
Port Macquarie; however once again, most pass through key mid North Coast
towns at inconvenient times, eg midnight.
 The Busways company provides local buses in the area, but most are school
runs, usually only one bus a day between major towns, and they are slow.68
Port Macquarie has some clear advantages as the venue for the CLC’s location.
 It is centrally located: Taree and Kempsey can be reached with a one hour and
45 minute drive respectively.
 It has a larger pool of lawyers for referral of legal aid and pro bono matters
and potentially to operate a weekly volunteer advice clinic. Location of the CLC
in Port Macquarie would assist in developing formal and informal
relationships with those lawyers.
 As a larger coastal town with more services including an airport, it may be
easier to recruit staff to be based there.
 Most of the people actively interested in establishing the Centre at the moment
reside in Port Macquarie (although this has been equally true of Taree and
Kempsey in the past).
67
http://www.railmaps.com.au/stationdetails.php?StationSelect=1732
For example, the trip between Kempsey and Port Macquarie takes an hour although it would only take 35-45
minutes on an express bus: http://www.railmaps.com.au/stationdetails.php?StationSelect=1732
68
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
37
The most appealing alternative to Port Macquarie is Kempsey as it is the town with
the highest level of disadvantage and has a low level of other legal services – the CLC
could play an important community development role in this town.
Wherever the legal service is located, it needs to ensure that disadvantaged people
from each LGA have reasonable access to face-to-face advice services. Based on the
research conducted for this project we conclude that this requires:
 weekly advice clinics in each of the three major towns,
 appropriate measures to ensure the clinics are accessible to all priority target
groups, including through choosing a range of locations and using mix of
appointments and drop in access,
 sufficient time allocated to those clinics together with appropriate intake
procedures to keep waiting lists as short as possible, preferably no more than
a week, and
 ongoing consideration and experimentation with less frequent outreach to
other locations likely to be accessible to disadvantaged clients – for example
South-West Rocks, Wauchope, Harrington, Wingham (see Appendix D) - using
a mix of CLE and advice services.
Service Governance
What requirements or limitations if any should the tender documents place on the
governance of the new centre?
The CCLSP Program Guidelines require that funded organisations are incorporated
bodies with a ‘management committee (or equivalent entity) as its governing
body’69. The primary role of the management committee is to sign the CLSP service
agreement and ensure that the organisation complies with and meets its obligations
under that agreement.
Consistent with good governance, the management committee’s role is to focus on
the provision of strategic direction and corporate governance, and not to play an
active role in day-to-day administration of the service.
The Guidelines suggest that an ideal management committee should have
“appropriate representation or input from the target client group’s of the centre” as
well as expertise in or knowledge of the following areas of responsibility:
 legal,
 financial,
 personnel,
 planning and policy, and
 reporting and accountability.
69
Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date) p 20.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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The committee also needs to ensure that conflicts of interest are avoided or
managed appropriately.70
In the case of the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre we suggest that the
governing committee ought to:
 contain the skills necessary to manage a community legal centre as
contemplated by the Guidelines,
 include representation of Indigenous and non Indigenous community
members and/or service providers,
 include at least one person from each of the LGAs with knowledge of the
available services and service delivery needs in the LGA, and
 include at least one private practitioner from the region, and if they are
available a representative from one of the other legal service providers (that is
MRFLS and the ALS).
4. Selection Criteria for the EOI Process
Proposed Selection Criteria
Definitions
Primary Catchment Area The LGAs of Greater Taree, Port Macquarie-Hastings and
Kempsey
Secondary catchment area The LGAs of Great Lakes, Nambucca, Bellingen and Coffs
Harbour
Priority Target Groups
Indigenous people
People with disabilities
Single parents
Financially disadvantaged older people
Young people at risk of offending (sp. in Kempsey)
Prisoners and their families, in relation to their civil and family law issues,
particularly just before and on release.
Priority Legal Areas
All civil law (except tenancy - to be referred to relevant tenants service)
Family law (limited to initial advice and assistance to access appropriate services)
Selection Criteria
1. An incorporated not-for-profit, non-government organisation that is able to
provide or establish a community legal service in the primary catchment area.
70
Attorney-General’s Department, Social Inclusion Division, Commonwealth Community Legal Services Program
Guidelines (no date) p 20.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
39
2. Capacity to implement and operate an effective and efficient community legal
service that delivers the core activities funded under the CLSP, including to
provide the following identified services:
a. regular face-to-face legal advice and minor assistance clinics at an
appropriate accessible location in each of the 3 LGAs in the primary
catchment area,
b. training and education to workers and volunteers at social service
providers in the primary catchment area in relation to legal issues faced
by their clients,
c. telephone support and advice to social services in the primary catchment
area about legal issues faced by their clients,
d. high quality information, referral and assistance to people in the
catchment area to help them locate and use the legal service most
appropriate to their needs, including assistance to access the services of
Legal Aid NSW, state-wide specialist community legal centres and private
practitioners (whether pro bono, on grants of aid or fee based),
e. subject to capacity, ongoing casework services to people in the primary
catchment area in high priority matters where no other service is
available, and
f. subject to capacity, community legal education and community
development activities in the primary catchment area targeted at priority
groups. [See also selection criteria 3.]
3. Ability to identify and target the legal service needs of clients including:
 development of evidence-based service plans, in consultation with
the community and other legal and social service providers, to
meet the needs of priority groups in the catchment area,
 implementation of service delivery programs to meet those legal
needs,
 evaluation of programs to determine effectiveness, and
 further identification of emerging legal service needs of people
and communities in the catchment area.
4. Experience working with some or all of the identified priority client groups.
5. Capacity and willingness to operate the Centre subject to appropriate
governance arrangements including:
a. that the Centre has management skills specified in the Guidelines for the
Commonwealth Community Legal Centres Funding Program;
b. that the interests of priority target groups are adequately represented in
governance decision making, including but not limited to the interests of
Indigenous people living in the primary catchment area; and
c. that the interests of each of the three LGAs in the primary catchment area
are adequately represented in governance decision making
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
40
6. Capacity to manage a community legal service effectively with an appropriate
structure and practices, and to discharge the obligations of the service
agreement, while maintaining financial viability.
7. Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively with key stakeholders to avoid
duplication and to provide services that complement legal services which may
already exist.
8. Ability to identify and take advantage of opportunities to enhance service
delivery and viability for example:
a. seeking additional funding,
b. cooperative arrangements or partnerships with local government or
other service providers,
c. development of appropriate pro bono legal services for example a legal
advice clinic staffed by volunteers, and
d. co-location or auspice of closely related advocacy, legal or social services.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
41
Appendices
Appendix A: Terms of Reference
The consultant will be expected to:
 analyse and summarise evidence of legal need, including the demographic and
geographic distribution of need;
 identify legal priorities for the service, including demographic priorities;
 provide advice on the readiness of local organisations or networks to provide
expressions of interest in providing the service; and
 make recommendations concerning:
o selection criteria for the expression of interest process (based on the
evidence gathered through the project, the NACLC National Management
Guide for Community Legal Centres and State/Commonwealth report
recommendations about establishment of CLCs); and
o the ideal location for the service, including the most appropriate base for
the service and any locations that might be serviced through outreach
(based on evidence on the distribution of legal need).
The methodology for the project should include:
 review of documentary evidence, including the Legal Needs Analysis of the Mid
North Coast Region of New South Wales;
 review of available data, including information available through the Data Digest;
and
 consultations with CLCNSW and local organisations, including potential service
providers, the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre (MNCCLC) Project
Group, the Kempsey Family Violence Prevention Legal Service, ALS Offices at
Kempsey and Taree/relevant Zone Managers in Sydney, Manning Support
Services that hosts a weekly CLSD clinic at Taree and other relevant CLSD
partners as well as staff of the Coffs Harbour and Newcastle offices of Legal Aid
NSW.
A final report should be provided to Legal Aid NSW by 30 July 2010. The consultant
will be required to provide a project plan that allows this deadline to be achieved.
The report should be concise, with a suggested maximum length of 20 pages.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
42
Appendix B: Consultations undertaken
1. Organisations consulted
Organisation
Where
Additional to
TOR (A)
Name
Date
Where
Expressed
interest in
response to
circular (E)
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
Bronwyn
McCutcheon,
Manager CLSP
28 June
Sydney
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
Jenny Lovric,
Manager CLSD
28 June
Sydney
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
Monique Hitter,
Manager, Civil Law
6 July
Sydney
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
Kylie Beckhouse,
Manager Family
Law
6 July
Sydney
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
A
Karen Dassant, CSS
Solicitor
19 July
Telephone
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
A
Jennifer Norris, CSS
Coordinator
19 July
Telephone
Legal Aid NSW
Sydney
A
Michelle Jones,
Manager WDVCAP
19 July
Sydney
NSW ALS
Sydney
John Mackenzie,
Principal Solicitor
2 July
Sydney
CLCs NSW
Sydney
Helen Campbell,
Chair
29 June
Helen
Campbell
LawAccess
Sydney
Jane Pritchard,
Manager
20 July
Telephone
Disability Advocacy
Newcastle
Mark Grierson,
CEO, Catherine
Peek, Deputy CEO
7 July
Newcastle
Hunter CLC
Newcastle
Liz Pinnock,
Solicitor
2 July
Telephone
Hunter CLC
Newcastle
Kym Chapman,
Solicitor
7 July
Newcastle
Legal Aid NSW
Newcastle
Michael Kozlawski,
Solicitor and
7 July
A
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
43
Hannah, Solicitor
Legal Aid NSW
Coffs Harbour
(Kempsey Civil
Outreach)
Legal Aid NSW
A
Sally Bryant, SIC
Civil Law, and
Kimberlei
Goodacre, Solicitor
19 July
Telephone
Coffs Harbour
Gene Roche, SIC,
Family
19 July
Telephone
NSW ALS- Kempsey
Kempsey and
Port Macquarie
Jan McPhillips,
(administrator)
Kevin Henshaw
Ernie Magni
(solicitors)
13 July
Kempsey
Kempsey Court
Kempsey
A–
recommended
by ALS
Taleyah Condi
(Aboriginal Liaison
Officer)
13 July
Kempsey
Kempsey Local Court
Magistrate
Kempsey
Arecommended
by T. Condi
Bruce Evans SM
13 July
Kempsey
The Mid North Coast
Community Legal Centre
(MNCCLC) Project Group
Port Macquarie
(Workshop with 16
people -see
attendees below)
13 July
Port
Macquarie
Port M Neighbourhood
Centre
Port Macquarie
A
Lindy Peck,
Coordinator
14 July
(also at
worksho
p
Port
Macquarie
Mid Coast Tenants Advice
and Advocacy Service
Port Macquarie
A, E
Margaret Howard,
Coordinator
(at
worksho
p & by
email)
Port
Macquarie
Mid North Coast WDVCAS
Port Macquarie,
Taree and
Forster
A
Louise Webber,
Coordinator
20 July
Telephone
9.30 am
14 July
Caroline, Support
worker
Telephone
Northern NSW Aboriginal
Tenants Advice and
Advocacy Service
Grafton
Janelle Brown
16 July
Telephone
Many Rivers Family
Violence Prevention Legal
Service
Kempsey
Kylie Faulkner,
Coordinator and
Geoff Clarke &
Gillian Edgar,
solicitors
13 July
Kempsey
Kempsey Neighbourhood
Centre
Kempsey
Lin Duncan
Coordinator and
Bob Mumbler
Management
Committee
13 July
Kempsey
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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member
MNC Regional Law Society
Laurieton
A
Louise Dix,
President
14 July
Laurieton
Wed 12
Manning Support Services
Taree
A (CLSD clinic
location)
Lorelie Morris &
14 July
Taree
David Kernic
(Manager)
Walker Legal Taree
Taree
Jim Corcoron
27 July
Telephone
NSW ALS- Taree office
Taree
Gail Russell,
Administrator
14 July
Taree
Manning Valley
Neighbourhood Services
Taree
Caron Watkins,
Coordinator
14 July –
Taree
Wauchope
Neighbourhood Centre
Wauchope
A
Julie Murray,
Coordinator
14 July
Port
Macquarie
Paul Batley, Barrister
Bellingen/ Coffs
Harbour
A
19 July
Telephone
North and North West CLC
Armidale
Debbie Clarke,
Principal Solicitor
20 July
Telephone
Northern Rivers CLC
Lismore
Cathy Kerr,
Principal Solicitor
19 July
Telephone
National Children’s and
Youth Law Centre
National
A
James MacDougall,
Director
12 July
Email
Legal Aid NSW
Newcastle
A
Allan Scally, SIC
Low priority
Legal Aid NSW
Newcastle
A
John Mulder, SIC
Low priority
NACLC
National
Julia Hall, Director
Not available
Shoalcoast CLC
Nowra
Kerry Wright,
Coordinator
On leave
North Coast WDVCAS
Coffs Harbour
Not consulted
Conversation with
Mid North Coast
WDVCAS probably
sufficient
Wendy Brodbeck,
Coordinator
Mt Druitt & Area CLC
Sydney
A
Northern Rivers WDVCAS
Lismore
L
Low priority, not
similar
circumstances
Lilian Gomez,
Coordinator
Doesn’t provide
services in the area
Port Macquarie Workshop 13 July 2010 - Attendees
Name
Group
Location
Margaret Howard
Mid Coast Tenancy & Advice advocates
(Port Macquarie)
Lindy Peck
Port M Neighbourhood Centre
(Port Macquarie)
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
45
Lorelie Morris &
Manning Supports Services
(Taree)
David Kernic (Mgr)
Manning Supports Services
(Taree)
Anne Reynolds
No affiliation
(Port Macquarie)
Maya Spanneri
Hasting-Port Macquarie Council
(Port Macquarie)
Mark Grierson
Disability Advocacy
(Newcastle)
Fran Pearce
Disability Advocacy
(Port Macquarie)
Kerry Weston
Centrecare
(Port Macquarie)
Meran McGrath
Centrecare Disability Employment
Cassandra Brown
Family Law Pathways Network
(Port Macquarie)
Cheryl Bateman
Local resident and former CLC worker ACT
(Port Macquarie)
Davis Ledgerwood
Regional Development Australia
Merilyn O’Neil
Grandparents As Parents Again
(Port Macquarie)
Sharon Fuller
State MPs office
(Port Macquarie)
Stacey Hill
Hastings Women and Children’s Refuge
(Port Macquarie)
Consultations on the mid North Coast
Consultations were undertaken in Port Macquarie, Kempsey and Taree on 13-14
July 2010. Consultations comprised a workshop with 16 service providers and other
community representatives and individual consultation with 16 staff from 9 service
providers.
16 community workers/local residents attended a two-hour workshop held in Port
Macquarie. One attendee represented a Newcastle based service provider to the
region, and two attended from a Taree based service provider. One local resident
was a former CLC worker from the ACT. None of the attendees were Aboriginal or
represented an Aboriginal organisation.
Three organisations were consulted in Taree (the ALS, Manning Support Services
and Taree Neighbourhood Centre – the latter is in fact based in Wingham).
Ten representatives of four organizations were consulted in Kempsey, in each case
an Aboriginal staff member or management committee representative participated
in the consultation. The organizations were the Magistrates Court, the
Neighbourhood Centre, the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Many Rivers Family
Violence Legal Service.
Telephone consultations were subsequently undertaken with two staff of the Mid
North Coast WDVCAS and a local barrister who is a former CLC and Legal Aid
employee.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Appendix C: History of Community Advocacy for improved legal services in the
Mid North Coast
Community organisations in the mid North Coast region have promoted the
establishment of a community legal centre and/or increased civil and family law
legal aid services in the region since at least 200371 and probably since 1998.
Over the past two years the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre project has
undertaken community development and legal needs research in support of the
establishment of a community legal centre. The group has engaged with more than
100 individuals and agencies in the region.
In February 2010 the MNCCLC Project and Disability Advocacy NSW jointly
published a Legal Needs Analysis of the Mid North Coast Region of NSW. The
MNCCLC Project includes representatives from agencies throughout the Mid North
Coast region, however we are advised that the most significant engagement in the
project comes from community organisations based in Port Macquarie with
significant leadership from Disability Advocacy, a Newcastle based organisation
with offices in Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Taree.
In a June 2010 note to stakeholders, Disability Advocacy describe the history of
advocacy for the centre as follows:
“For many years local community members and professionals have been concerned about access to affordable legal
representation for disadvantaged communities living on the MID NORTH COAST of NSW.
Approximately eight years ago the Kempsey Neighbourhood Centre, in collaboration with Port Macquarie, Bellingen,
Nambucca Valley, Forster and Yarrahappinni Neighbourhood Centres submitted a joint expression of interest to
access funding for a CLC on the Mid North Coast to the Legal Services Section of the Attorney General’s Department.
No response was received.
In late 2005 a group of interested people, including local solicitors, local government representatives, community
service providers and community members met to discuss the possibility of working towards obtaining ongoing funding
to establish a CLC on the Mid North Coast. For various reasons this group disbanded after approximately one year.
Disability Advocacy NSW which operates 3 offices on the MNC in Port Macquarie, Taree and Coffs Harbour
coordinated a new push for the group to re-form in early 2008.
From the first meeting in March 2008 the Mid North Coast CLC Project Group was re-formed, drawing on a wide range
services, representing many of the groups identified as having high needs as well as the geographical spread of the
Mid North Coast. The number of community services and individuals committed to support the Mid North Coast CLC
Project (approximately 100 individuals) is an indication of the perceived need for a CLC on the Mid North Coast.
The Mid North Coast CLC Project group made an application to the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW in May 2008
for a small grant to prepare a Legal Needs Analysis (LNA) which would require the collection and analysis of statistical
data from across the Mid North Coast region. The Mid North Coast CLC Project group was successful in this
application and in July 2008 began collecting data relating to the legal needs of the people on the Mid North Coast.”
71
For example Legal Aid NSW received a submission from the Taree and Great Lakes Legal Advisory Service in mid
2003: Memo M Hitter to CEO NSW Legal Aid Commission 4 June 2003.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Appendix D: Demographic information on towns and districts in the MNC CLC
catchment area
Table 1 in the main body of the report includes SEIFA scores as a way of showing
comparative disadvantage of each LGA. Each of the LGAs is more disadvantaged
than the average (which is set at 1000). 72 However the overall SEIFA score for an
LGA, particularly where there is a large population, can mask pockets of
disadvantage. This is the case in the Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA, which has
suburbs of relative affluence side-by-side with Department of Housing estates and
low-income households. We therefore have also analysed smaller areas of each LGA,
in most cases census collection districts (several blocks or up to 1000 residents),
but also by postcode (using Tony Vinson’s analysis)73 to pinpoint pockets of
disadvantage. This helps build a picture of the main towns in each LGA.
Greater Taree LGA
Just over half the population of the Greater Taree LGA live in the two major centres
of Taree and Wingham.
According to Vinson, the postcode of 2430 (which covers most the LGA, including
Taree, Taree South, and a large collection of towns stretching to Diamond Beach on
the coast) is relatively disadvantaged, being in Band 6 of NSW’s most disadvantaged
postcodes. Vinson’s analysis is not very useful because of the large population
covered by the one postcode. Disadvantage in the town of Taree can be narrowed
down using SEIFA at the level of census collection districts to several particular
areas:74
 The whole town of Taree has low SEIFA scores; it has an Indigenous
population of around 1250 which is 7.4% of the town’s population; 33% of
the town’s dwellings are rental, compared to 28% which is the NSW average
(mid-north coast average is 26%);

There is a district in north Taree with an extremely low SEIFA score of 553:
here 63% of all properties are Department of Housing and 50% of all
households are low-income; out of a population of 700 there are 204
Indigenous people and 230 people aged under 18;
72
Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA): The Australian Bureau of Statistics has four socio-economic indexes for
areas. The one commonly referred to (and referred to in this report) as SEIFA is the Index of Relative Socio-economic
Disadvantage, and it is derived from 17 census variables such as low income, low educational attainment,
unemployment, Indigenous status, households paying low rent, and dwellings without motor vehicles.
73 Tony Vinson conducted research into disadvantage, considering similar variables to SEIFA but at the level of
postcodes, grouping the top 40 disadvantaged postcodes in each state into 6 bands, band 1 being the most
disadvantaged. Although most postcodes are smaller than LGAs, in some cases they cover up to 20,000 people, as is
the case with the LGA of Kempsey. Vinson maps social disadvantage based on more than twenty disadvantage factors
using data from the ABS, ATO, Centrelink and the Australian Health Insurance Commission. T Vinson (2007) Dropping
off the Edge: The distribution of disadvantage in Australia Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia.
74 The Greater Taree council website features a link to a Greater Taree/Manning Valley Community Profile and
Community Atlas, which has maps at census collection district level, showing a wide range of demographic detail
including Indigenous population, SEIFA, household tenure, age: http://atlas.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=233&pg=2005
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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
Purfleet, just south of Taree, is also extremely disadvantaged according to
SEIFA; it is an Aboriginal community and a former mission settlement with
(according to the census) 169 Indigenous people.75
The next largest town in the Greater Taree LGA is Wingham. There are several areas
in Wingham defined by SEIFA as ‘very disadvantaged’, focused on Department of
Housing accommodation in the town’s east.76 There is a relatively small number of
Indigenous people in Wingham, 150 in town and another 100 in rural areas around
the town.77
The Harrington/Crowdy Bay/John’s River area on the coast (pop 2414) is also
classified ‘very disadvantaged’ under SEIFA and Vinson, with Harrington/Crowdy
Head in Band 3 of Vinson’s most disadvantaged postcodes. There are a large number
of elderly people living in Harrington (29% of its population78) due to a large
residential development pitched at retired people79 and three caravan parks with
around 100 long-term residents.80
Other small towns classified by SEIFA as ‘very disadvantaged’ (with indices of 801880) are
 Eland in the north-western corner of the LGA (pop 275)

Mt George, west of Wingham (pop 135), and

Moorland, on the Pacific Highway north of Taree (pop 287).
An analysis of population growth up to 2006 showed that people moved into the
Greater Taree LGA predominantly from western Sydney and the Central Coast, but
that the LGA lost people to regions further north, including Port MacquarieHastings.
75
ABS, 47050DO004 Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006, Indigenous
classification area of Taree
76 http://atlas.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=233&pg=2005
77 Greater Taree/Manning Valley Community Profile, Area Selection Wingham and Wingham Balance,
http://profile.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=233&pg=138&gid=180&type=enum
78 Greater Taree/Manning Valley Community Profile, Area Selection Crowdy Bay/Harrington/John’s River,
http://profile.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=233&pg=138&gid=100&type=enum
79 Harrington Waters Estate has (or will have soon) 1100 home sites, at
http://www.harringtonwaters.com.au/generalinformation/frequentlyaskedquestions.aspx; the council describes
Harrington as “perfect retirement living - great lifestyle near the water, clubs, restaurants and sporting facilities” at
http://www.gtcc.nsw.gov.au/webcomm/page/page.asp?page_id=767
80 The figure is probably much higher because although some sites may be designated by park owners as short-term
sites, it is often the case that permanent residents occupy them: information on caravan parks and mobile home
villages was provided by the Parks and Village Service (PAVS) from a database produced by Planning NSW
approximately 10 years ago, and may be out-of-date. PAVS advise that the traditional population of caravan parks,
particularly in coastal locations, is majority elderly people on fixed income.
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
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Between 2006 and 2031 the LGA is predicted to have an average annual increase in
population of 1.68%.81 Much of this growth will continue to come from retirees from
areas further south82 settling in coastal areas such as Crowdy/Harrington/John’s
River (average annual increase 2.2%) and Halliday’s Point (2.9%). The population of
Taree and Wingham are not expected to increase significantly, but a new residential
and industrial development in the town of Brimbin83 just north of Taree will see that
town’s population increase to 7,355 residents by the year 2031 (average annual
increase of 13.6%), with young families expected to fuel the growth.84
Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA:
The majority of the LGA’s population live in or around the town of Port Macquarie,
designated by the NSW Government as a ‘major regional centre’ that ‘serves the
Kempsey/Port Macquarie-Hastings subregion’.85 In terms of demographics, Port
Macquarie is a mix of relatively affluent suburbs on the coastal edge and to the
town’s south, and patches of severe disadvantage in the western part of town and
along the Oxley Highway.86 The disadvantaged regions align with a high number of
social housing properties (at a rough estimate there is around 500 social housing
properties in town). There are also high numbers of private tenants in the northeastern part of town including the Flynns Beach area.
Census data shows that about 1000 Indigenous people live in the town of Port
Macquarie. Most live in the western part of town, with several hundred in social
housing around the Oxley Highway. Due to Port Macquarie’s large overall
population, Indigenous people do not make up a significant proportion of any
particular area of the town. Advice from the Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants’
Advice and Advocacy Service is that there are no Aboriginal reserves in Port
Macquarie, rather there are scattered Aboriginal housing properties throughout the
town.
The number of elderly people in the town of Port Macquarie is high. There are
several (at least 10) retirement villages in Port Macquarie,87 some housing as many
81
id consulting, Population Forecasts for the Greater Taree City Council, at
http://forecast2.id.com.au/default.aspx?id=233&pg=5000
82 id consulting, Population Forecasts for the Greater Taree City Council, ‘Summary and Key Results’ at
http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=233&pg=5520
83 http://www.gtcc.nsw.gov.au/webcomm/Page/page.asp?Page_Id=428&h=1
84 http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=233&pg=5160
85 NSW Government, Department of Planning, Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31, March 2009, at
http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/midnorthcoast_regionalstrategy_final.pdf , map at pp12-13
86 Analysis drawn from Community Atlas maps provided by the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council website,
http://atlas.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=2005
87 Derived from various websites including http://www.villages.com.au/s11_Villagelistings.html?search=Port+Macquarie%2C+NSW&distance=25&start=&sort=vil_villages.name&type=ret_village,
http://www.agedcareguide.com.au/residential.asp?stateid=2&suburb=Port%20Macquarie,
http://www.itsyourlife.com.au/retirement_village_locations_nsw.asp?TownSuburb=Port+Macquarie
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as 350 residents,88 and at least 6 nursing homes with a combined total of around
600 beds.89 There are also a considerable number of caravan parks.90
The next largest population centre in the LGA is the Camden Haven (population
approximately 7,50091), on the coast south of Port Macquarie near the border with
the Greater Taree LGA. The postcode of 2443 which mostly covers the Camden
Haven appears in Band 6 of Vinson’s top disadvantaged postcodes in NSW: it is the
only part of the Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA to be included in Vinson’s most
disadvantaged postcodes.
The disadvantage in the Camden Haven appears to be mostly related to a high
population of retirees and elderly people on fixed incomes. There are four
retirement villages and two nursing homes in the area,92 and six caravan parks
(with about 200 long-term sites).93 According to Port-Macquarie Hastings Council,
“Camden Haven has not only the oldest population in the Hastings (37.2% over the
age of 65 years), but with a median age of 56 years it has the oldest population in
Australia per capita.”94
There are around 100-150 Indigenous people living throughout the Camden Haven,
not concentrated in any one town. There is a small Department of Housing estate
(about 40 homes) in Laurieton.
The third largest population centre in the Post Macquarie – Hastings LGA is
Wauchope with around 5,000 people. Most of the town is classified as ‘very
disadvantaged’ under SEIFA, and even a small pocket of ‘extreme disadvantage’
(SEIFA index 821) in the town’s south. This pocket has a high median age of 62,
which reveals that again, at least some of the disadvantage may be due to a number
of people living in the town’s nursing home and retirement village.95 As at the 2006
census there were 264 Indigenous people in Wauchope, not concentrated in any
particular area.96
88
http://www.gardenvillage.com.au/Our_Services/Our_Services.htm
http://www.agedcareguide.com.au/residential.asp?stateid=2&suburb=Port%20Macquarie
90 Advice from Mid-Coast Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service, 6 July 2010; see also
http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/nsw/northcoastnsw/hastings/directory/caravan
91 According to the Port Macquarie – Hastings Council: http://www.hastings.nsw.gov.au/www/html/77-introductionto-hastings.asp; but the boundaries of Camden Haven are vague, so for example the Camden haven Chamber of
Commerce says the region has a population of 16,000 but this includes Kew/Kendall further west and Bonny Hills to
the north: http://www.camdenhaveninfo.org.au/pages/camdenhaven/LivingIn/LivingInIndex.htm. The postcode of
2443 includes Laurieton, Kew, Diamond Head, Camden Head, Bobs Creek, Deauville, Dicks Head, North Haven, West
Haven, Lakewood.
92 http://www.camdenhaveninfo.org.au/pages/camdenhaven/LivingIn/CommunityFacilities/AgedCare.html
93 Information on caravan parks and mobile home villages was provided by the Parks and Village Service (PAVS) from a
database produced by Planning NSW approximately 10 years ago, and may be out-of-date.
94 http://www.hastings.nsw.gov.au/www/html/77-introduction-to-hastings.asp
95 Bundaleer Gardens on Cameron St,
http://www.agedservices.asn.au/ACS/Our_Homes/Bundaleer_Gardens/Bundaleer_Gardens_p1.htm
96 Community Atlas maps provided by the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council website, at
http://atlas.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=2005
89
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The rural areas surrounding Wauchope, for example King Creek, Bago, Rosewood,
Redbank, Rawdon Island, are comparatively advantaged areas with the average
income of employed persons around $500 p/w.
Between 2001 and 2006, people moving to Port Macquarie came predominantly
from the Central West, Kempsey and Gosford LGAs, whereas Wauchope attracted
people from Blacktown, Penrith, and Gosford (from similar LGAs to those drawn to
the Greater Taree LGA).97
The average annual population change between 2006 and 2031 for the whole LGA is
predicted to be 1.5%, but it varies significantly across the different areas. The small
town of Thrumster on the Oxley Highway just out from Port Macquarie is earmarked
for development98 with an expectation that 10,000 people will live there by 2031, an
average annual increase of 20%.99 The rest of the town of Port Macquarie is not
expecting major increases (less than 1% annually) however the Innes Peninsula
south of the town is expected to increase by 4.3% annually.100 There are also new
urban land releases planned near Bonny Hills and around Lake Cathie. 101 The
Camden Haven is expected to experience an average annual increase of 3.8%,102
with a large urban land release planned in the town of Kew.103 Wauchope’s
population is expected to increase by 1.7% annually.104 Rural areas outside these
main towns are barely expected to increase, with only 0.2-0.5% increases
projected.105
Kempsey LGA:
According to Vinson’s analysis, the postcode of 2440 – with a population of 22,334,
covering almost all of the LGA stretching from the coast, through the town of
Kempsey and to Bellbrook in the west – is in Band 1 (the most disadvantaged band)
of the top 40 disadvantaged postcodes in NSW. The postcode of 2431, covering the
town of South West Rocks (and accounting for the majority of the remaining
population of the LGA, some 4,402 people), is in Vinson’s Band 5 of disadvantaged
postcodes. However Vinson’s analysis is not very useful for the Kempsey LGA
because of the large population covered by the one postcode. Using SEIFA at the
level of census collection districts identifies particular areas of disadvantage.
97
Population forecasts are from id consulting’s forecast.id product, available on the Port Macquarie-Hastings website
at http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=5000.
98 Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Draft Local Environment Plan 2010,
http://www.hastings.nsw.gov.au/www/html/3476-thrumster.asp
99 http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=5180
100 http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=5180
101 NSW Government, Department of Planning, Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31, March 2009, at
http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/midnorthcoast_regionalstrategy_final.pdf , map at p 56.
102 http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=5180
103 NSW Government, Department of Planning, Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31, March 2009, at
http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/midnorthcoast_regionalstrategy_final.pdf , map at p 56.
104 http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=5180
105 http://forecast2.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=231&pg=5180
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Much of the disadvantage is concentrated in the town of Kempsey (population
8137), designated by the NSW Government in planning documents as a ‘major town’
but not a ‘major regional centre’ like Taree and Port Macquarie.106 SEIFA shows that
Kempsey has several extremely disadvantaged spots, including South Kempsey
(around 1000 people) and north Kempsey near the racecourse (another 1000
people). There are around 300 Government properties in the town.107 According to
the 2006 Census there were 1394 Indigenous residents, which is 17.1% of the
town’s overall population.108
Just out of Kempsey to the west and south are three Aboriginal reserves, Greenhill,
Old Burnt Bridge and New Burnt Bridge.109 This semi-rural area is home to 373
Indigenous people, 17.7% of the area’s population.110
Nearby at Aldavilla is the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre, a medium and
minimum-security centre for men and women with a capacity of 500 people.111
South-West Rocks appears in Vinson’s 5th band of postcode disadvantage. An
analysis using SEIFA identifies particular spots of disadvantage to the west of the
town, probably the site of an Aboriginal reserve.112 In the 2006 census there were
3,636 people living in South-West Rocks, with 139 Indigenous people, many aged
under 14.113
SEIFA also shows an area of ‘extreme disadvantage’ in the Kempsey LGA’s northwest corner in the town of Bellbrook. Bellbrook is the site of an old Aboriginal
reserve, with many properties now owned by an Aboriginal community housing
organisation.114 Close to Bellbrook is Mirriwinni Gardens Aboriginal Academy, a
primary and secondary boarding school for Aboriginal children, which is now
106
NSW Government, Department of Planning, Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31, March 2009, at
http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/midnorthcoast_regionalstrategy_final.pdf , map at pp12-13
107 Unlike Greater Taree and Port Macquarie-Hastings councils, the Kempsey Shire Council does not have a
Community Atlas available on their website but instead has created several pdfs with Census tables for main towns:
http://www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/library/Census.html .
108 ABS, 2006 Census QuickStats for Kempsey, at
http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areaco
de=UCL143000&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401
109 Communication from the Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service, 16 July 2010.
110 ABS, 47050DO004 Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006; Indigenous
geographic classification of Kempsey.
111 Australian Institute of Criminology,
http://www.aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#mnccc
112 Communication from the Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service, 16 July 2010.
113 ABS, 2006 Census, B07 Indigenous Status by Age by Sex: South West Rocks, at
http://www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/library/STATS/swr_community_profile.htm
114 Communication from the Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service, 16 July 2010.
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insolvent and closed down in June 2010.115 In 2006 the population of Bellbrook and
surrounds was 224 with 157 Aboriginal residents,116 the majority school-aged.117
Population projections to the year 2031 show that Kempsey Shire’s average
population is expected to increase by 1.5% per any given annum to a population of
approximately 41,363.118 NSW Planning documents show that the towns of SouthWest Rocks and Kempsey are slated for urban land releases in the next twenty
years.119
115
Macleay Argus, http://www.macleayargus.com.au/news/local/news/general/bid-to-salvage-closedschool/1862064.aspx
116 ABS, 47050DO004 Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006, for the
Indigenous geographic classification of Mirriwini Gardens/Bellbrook.
117 ABS, B07: Indigenous Population by Age and Sex, Bellbrook, at
http://www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/library/STATS/bellbrook_2006_statistics.htm.
118 Kempsey Shire Council, Kempsey and MacleayValley Economic Brief, March 2009, at
www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/pdfs09/economicbrief_mar09.pdf
119 NSW Government, Department of Planning, Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31, March 2009, at
http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/midnorthcoast_regionalstrategy_final.pdf , map at p 56.
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Appendix E: Summary of relevant data from the NSW Data Digest Online
Another source of data to determine expressed legal need is the Law and Justice
Foundation of NSW’s Data Digest Online, which combines data from community
legal centres, Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW. While it is the most complete and
standardised collection of data on expressed legal need in NSW, some caution must
be exercised when interpreting the data.120 Importantly, it should be interpreted
alongside a detailed knowledge of the actual services provided in the area. For
example, as there is no local CLC covering the mid North Coast:
 the CLC data for this region is mostly from specialist CLCs and is likely to be a
fairly small number – the bulk of the matters would come from LawAccess
NSW and Legal Aid NSW, and
 tenancy and domestic violence matters are likely to be lower than may be
reported in other regions because the local Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy
Service and Women’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Services are not part of a
CLC so their data is not collected by the CLC database and thus not provided
through Data Digest Online.
There were just over 6000 civil law matters from the three LGAs reported by CLCs,
Legal Aid and LawAccess for the 3 year period 2006-2008. The following table
shows the numbers of matters for each sub-category.
Table AE1: Civil law numbers and types of matters in the three years 2006-2008 from
CLCs, Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW121
CIVIL LAW
Accidents/Injury/Victims'
Compensation
Business/Investment
Civil – other*
Consumer
Credit and Debt
Greater Taree LGA
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
165
40
237
189
350
227
42
291
265
538
116
24
233
97
231
106
761
551
1119
120
The Foundation provides the following four qualifications in relation to this data. 1. The data comprises aggregated
data of services provided by Legal Aid NSW, LawAccess NSW and Community Legal Centres (CLCs) from 2006 to 2008.
This data has been derived from the Data Digest Online (DDO) whilst still in its development (beta) phase. While the
LJF has taken all care in preparing this information, the source agencies may not have had full opportunity to check
their data for accuracy and completeness. This is one reason why combined data is presented. At the same time, this
'more complete picture' is likely to be helpful in showing up areas of the State in need of enhanced legal services. 2.
The data reflects only “expressed” legal need. In any given area there will be many other people with legal problems
who did not seek assistance for their problems. Even if these people do seek assistance they do not necessarily use a
qualified legal advisor. Research from the Foundation has indicated that only a modest proportion of people with a
legal problem use the services of Legal Aid NSW, LawAccess NSW and CLCs. In this respect, the data is only a partial
reflection of legal need. 3. The data does not contain data from the Aboriginal Legal Service, nor does it include data
from a range of outreach and court services, including chamber registrar services. 4. The data also does not include
matters dealt with by Legal Aid NSW’s information service, duty solicitors or private solicitors undertaking legal aid
work. 4, The DDO data is based on all legal matters (primary and secondary) instead of primary matters only. This
means that the data from DDO may not be comparable with other sources of published legal services data, such as
the Legal Aid NSW Annual Report.
121 Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report,
DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010)
Report to Legal Aid NSW on establishing the Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre
Totals
508
55
Employment
174
288
119
Government/Administrative Law
148
299
123
Housing
185
273
134
Human Rights & Discrimination
48
57
28
Immigration/Refugee Status
10
24
15
Mental Health
30
51
18
Neighbours/Planning/Environment
181
188
71
Wills/Estates/Guardianship
260
313
103
2017
2856
1312
Totals
* ‘Civil-other’ are usually matters where service providers have provided no information other than
‘civil’ and therefore should be excluded from an analysis of most frequently advised matters.
The most frequently advised subject matter in civil law across all three LGAs is
credit and debt. Other matters frequently dealt with are wills/estates/guardianship,
housing (includes tenancy, buying/selling), employment, and
government/administrative law (including Centrelink issues). The table also shows
that, in line with population sizes, the Hastings LGA generates the largest amount of
matters, followed by Greater Taree then Kempsey.
To provide a better guide as to the relative frequency of each subject matter in each
LGA, the Law and Justice Foundation compiles the data in terms of ‘rate per 1000
people per annum’. We have charted this information against the average for NSW.
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581
570
592
133
49
99
440
676
6185
Figure AE1: Civil law rates of legal problems per 1000 people per annum from CLCs,
Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW122
The chart above shows that there are lower rates of expressed civil need – ie services
actually sought from the three legal service provider types - in the three LGAs
compared to the NSW average in almost all categories, the exceptions being the
higher rates for Greater Taree in the neighbours/planning/environment category
and the wills/estates/guardianship category.
We separately sought data from the Mid Coast Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service
in relation to the tenancy matters they dealt with for the three LGAs. Over a three
year period123 the service advised in relation to 304 matters in Greater Taree, 1199
tenancy matters in Hastings, and 184 tenancy matters in Kempsey. Although not an
approach that the Law and Justice Foundation endorses,124 we have combined this
data with Data Digest Online data as an exercise to see how it may affect rates of
inquiry. The following is the result.
122
Data for the three LGAs is from Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report,
DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010); Data for NSW from Law and Justice Foundation of NSW,
Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report (DDOOverview.NSW.All.Matter.Map, 22/07/2010).
123 The years were 2007/2008, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 so they do not match up with the Data Digest Online’s
years of 2006, 2007 and 2008; however it is unlikely there are significant differences between each 3-year period.
124 For true comparability it would be important to ensure that the collation of inquiries from the TAAP database
matches the Data Digest Online’s method of collating ‘matters’.
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Figure AE2: Civil law rates of legal problems per 1000 people per annum from CLCs,
Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW (Data Digest Online) and from Mid Coast Tenants’
Advice and Advocacy Service125
Including data from the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service makes housing the
most frequently advised matter type across all three LGAs. However, it is likely that
additional data also exists for other legal matter categories (e.g. EmploymentCentrelink dispute records). The level of inquiries for these matters would be higher
if the additional matters were identified and added to the count in the way that
TAAS data has been added to the DDO housing data.
Hastings LGA generated a much greater rate of housing services than the other two
LGAs, despite the fact that it does not have a larger proportion of tenants than the
other LGAs. The fact that the tenancy service is located in Port Macquarie is highly
likely to be the reason for the over-representation of tenancy services to the Port
Macquarie-Hastings LGA.
Family law generated 4436 matters over the three year period across all three
LGAs. Below are details of the matters and also the rates.
125
Additional housing data provided by Mid-Coast Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program, 9/07/2010; Data for the
three separate LGAs from Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report,
(DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010); Data for NSW from Law and Justice Foundation of NSW,
Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report (DDOOverview.NSW.All.Matter.Map, 22/07/2010).
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Table AE2: Family law numbers and types of matters in the three years 2006-2008
from CLCs, Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW126
FAMILY LAW
Greater Taree LGA
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
Care and Protection
46
35
23
Child Support
145
226
84
* Family-other
211
214
96
Parenting arrangements
774
916
398
Property/Maintenance
345
382
155
Relationships
155
175
56
Total
1676
1948
812
* ‘Family-other’ are usually matters where service providers have provided no information other
than ‘family and therefore should be excluded from an analysis of most frequently advised matters.
Total
104
455
521
2088
882
386
4436
FigureAE3: Family law rates of legal problems per 1000 people per annum from CLCs,
Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW127
Greater Taree generated a higher rate of family law matters across all categories
than the other two LGAs, and for parenting arrangements and
property/maintenance, higher rates than the state average.
126
Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report,
DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010)
127 Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report,
DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010, and Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online
(Beta), 2010 report (DDOOverview.NSW.All.Matter.Map, 22/07/2010))
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There were 3259 criminal law matters coming from the three LGAs, with the
Kempsey LGA generating the largest number of matters.
Table AE3: Criminal law numbers and types of matters in the three years 2006-2008
from CLCs, Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW128
Greater Taree LGA
Hastings LGA
Kempsey LGA
Civil Matters Arising from Crime
5
8
12
* Crime - other
107
142
141
Domestic Violence (ADVOs)
144
173
119
Driving/Traffic Offences
251
347
120
Drug Offences
19
28
41
Firearms/Weapons/Explosives
6
15
9
Fraud/Dishonesty
28
19
23
Justice Offences
19
32
67
Offences Against Persons
173
214
249
Prisoners
16
9
452
Property/Environment Damage
16
19
24
Public Order Offences
16
21
16
Robbery
2
2
36
Theft/Break and Enter
35
26
58
Total
837
1055
1367
* ‘Crime-other’ are usually matters where service providers have provided no information other than
‘crime and therefore should be excluded from an analysis of most frequently advised matters.
The number of criminal matters is much higher in Kempsey than the other LGAs due
to the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre in that LGA (as discussed in the main
body of the report). The rates charted below reveal the disproportionate number of
prisoners’ matters in Kempsey.
128
Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report,
DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010)
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Total
25
390
436
718
88
30
70
118
636
477
59
53
40
119
3259
Figure AE4: Criminal law rates of legal problems per 1000 people per annum from
CLCs, Legal Aid NSW and LawAccess NSW129
The high rate of prisoner matters in Kempsey again shows the ‘Correctional Centre
Effect’ on expressed legal need.
We also separately sought data from the Kempsey, Taree and Port Macquarie
Women’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Services. Over the three year period 20062008 the service provided advocacy in relation to 562 domestic violence matters in
Taree, 873 domestic violence matters in Port Macquarie, and 403 domestic violence
matters in Kempsey. When they are included in the rates calculation, the rate for
‘Domestic Violence (ADVOs) increases to around 5.21 matters per 1000 people in
Greater Taree, 5.09 in Hastings, and 6.35 in Kempsey.
Adding the WDVCAP and the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service data to the Data
Digest Online data provides an indication of the susceptibility of ‘expressed need’ to
the actual services being provided (or not being provided) by the types of agencies.
If there is no CLC in an area, as is the case with the three LGAs being studied, there is
a lower rate of expression of the sorts of ‘poverty law’ issues that CLCs routinely
deal with, particularly civil law.
129
Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online (Beta), 2010 report (,
DDOOverview.MNCRegion.All.Matter.Map, 13/07/2010), Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Data Digest Online
(Beta), 2010 report (DDOOverview.NSW.All.Matter.Map, 22/07/2010)
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Appendix F: Justice Made to Measure
The Law and Justice Foundation of NSW’s 2003 legal needs survey of 6
disadvantaged local government areas in NSW, reported as Justice Made to Measure,
included the Nambucca LGA to the immediate north of the MNC CLC catchment area.
Given the similarities in culture and population those findings may more closely
reflect the prevalence of legal issues in Greater Taree, Hastings and Kempsey LGAs
than the overall averages. Nambucca and Kempsey in particular are adjacent, have
high rates of Indigenous population and have similar SEIFA scores.
Chart AF1: Incidence of legal events for Nambucca compared to all six surveyed
regions, 2003 NSW Legal Needs Survey130
The results show that the overall proportion of criminal matters was significantly
lower among Nambucca participants (23.4%) compared with all six regions
(30.2%). The Foundation suggest this may be related to the fact that a greater
proportion of respondents were aged over 65 years in the Nambucca survey
(24.9%) sample than other regions (around 8-15%).131 The percentage of
participants experiencing family law events was also higher than average across all
six surveyed LGAs. In general the Nambucca sample reported civil event groups at a
similar rate to the general sample with the exception of a higher rate of
wills/estates, which again may be due to the older population of the Nambucca
survey participants.
130
Iriana, R., Grunseit, A., Coumarrelos C., Wei, Z. 2008, Justice Issues Paper 6: NSW Legal Needs Survey in
Disadvantaged Areas: Nambucca, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Sydney; Table 6, p 6.
131 Iriana et al, Table 2 and p 7.
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Appendix G: Law and Justice Foundation of NSW: Recruitment and Retention of
Lawyers In NSW
This following material is an extract from the appendices to Suzie Forell, Michael Cain
and Abigail Gray Recruitment and retention of lawyers in regional, rural and remote
NSW June (Law and Justice Foundation of NSW 2010)
Region (SD) MID-NORTH COAST
Availability of legal services
MNC contained 241 (or 1.2 %) of the State’s solicitors but 4.4% of the NSW population.
One solicitor for every 1,180 residents.
No CLC in this region.
(One FVPLS with two solicitors located in West Kempsey)
1.6% of Legal Aid NSW (and CLC) solicitors located in this region.
One Legal Aid (or CLC) solicitor for every 28,500 residents. The per
capita rate of 3.5 Legal Aid or CLC solicitors per 100,000 residents is
much lower than the corresponding State average (9.3 per 100,000).
Eight per cent of all ALS solicitors located in MNC. Indigenous
population of the region is 8.8%.
One ALS solicitor for around every 1,700 Indigenous residents.
MNC had:
10% of civil law panel members
6% of criminal law panel members
9% of family law panel members
11% of care & protection panel members.
Based on population share (4.4%), MNC had a slightly lower share of
the State’s legal aid grants for civil law (3.7%) and care & protection
matters (4.0%) but a higher share of criminal law (9.6%) and family
law (10.5%) grants.
Recruitment issues
Major recruitment issues identified.
Three of 17 (18%) public legal assistance solicitor positions in MNC were vacant – more
than double the state average (7%).
Moderate proportion (18%) of public legal assistance solicitor positions being occupied
by a lawyer other than the incumbent.
No CLC in region. Therefore, no CLC positions to recruit.
Retention issues
No major retention issues identified.
On average, ALS solicitors in the MNC had been in their positions longer (mean=106
months, median=48 months) than ALS solicitors elsewhere in the State (mean=42
months, median=24 months). Length of time in the position for Legal Aid solicitors in
this region (mean=19.8 months, median=11.9 months) were marginally higher than the
state values (mean=18.7 months, median=10.2 months).
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No CLC in region. Therefore, no CLC positions to retain.
Social and economic indicators
Increasing population in 7 of 8 LGAs. One LGA in decline.
Four Inner regional LGAs, 3 Outer regional LGAs and one very remote LGA (Lord
Howe Island).
Generally, economically stable but 5 LGAs in lowest economic quintile (bottom 20%).
Four highly and two mildly disadvantaged LGAs.
Average 5% and up to 10% Indigenous population across the region.
Average 10% and up to 15% unemployment (NSW average - 6%)
Average 17% and up to 21% of families in some LGAs were one parent families (NSW
average - 16%).
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Appendix H: Comments from National Children’s and Youth Law Centre
The development of a new CLC (particularly in an area of clear need such
as the Mid North NSW coast) is a great opportunity to give thought to
service delivery models and meeting the needs of the community using
innovation.
Children and young people continue to be neglected in the delivery of
legal services (and the allocation of funding) because their contact with
the legal system falls outside the traditional lawyer-client relationship.
As clients, they do not come to lawyers. If they do see a lawyer, it is
usually because they have been dragged there by an adult - which
immediately raises questions as to whether they are in charge of giving
their lawyer instructions and indeed whether they are the client.
Even the traditional approach to CLE is often confounded by a young
person's relationship with their world. Publications and workshops are CLE tools drawn
from the adult world associated with schooling - and so many young people with legal
issues have already developed a negative experience of that environment - hardly
a good starting point for an empowering experience.
The most effective work done by CLCs with young people is often based on
the development of respectful relationships often mediated through other
agencies and workers such as community health centres and youth workers.
Online and social media offer enormous opportunities for a generalist CLC
to use and evaluate innovative approaches that could build better practice
not only for children and young people but also for an increasingly
technology-reliant community.
The National Children's and Youth Law Centre is particularly concerned
with the experiences of young people in regional and rural settings that
it hears of from children and young people through its online services.
These experiences include abusive relationships, bullying, family
violence, family conflict, homelessness, exclusion from school, consumer
rip-offs, debt, conflict with police, employment and welfare disputes.
These experiences are compounded by isolation, lack of access and lack of
accurate information and advice from services that young people trust and
respect.
The Centre would be happy to build partnerships with regional centres to
address these concerns with innovative approaches.
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