The Australian Legal Assistance Forum has been established to enable the members to consider and address Australian legal assistance issues in a co-operative way and to make recommendations on those issues in a co-ordinated fashion.

Who is ALAF?

The Australian Legal Assistance Forum (ALAF) is an organisation whose participants are representatives of the following organisations (the Parties):

  1. National Legal Aid representing the directors of all legal aid commissions in Australia, and through them those commissions.
  2. Law Council of Australia representing Australian lawyers and their state and territory representative bodies.
  3. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services across Australia.
  4. Community Legal Centres Australia representing community legal centres throughout Australia.
  5. National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum representing the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services across Australia.

Objectives, intended activities

  1. To promote co-operation between legal assistance service providers to ensure that clients’ individual legal needs are met with the most appropriate and effective service available.
  2. To regularly disseminate information and promote communication amongst the service providers on issues of mutual concern to enhance the ability of those providers to address client needs.
  3. To actively demonstrate support for the Parties and their respective roles in the delivery of effective legal assistance services across Australia.
  4. To inform governments and other organisations on the needs of legal assistance client groups and on issues relevant to the practical, effective and sustainable delivery of legal assistance and representation services.
  5. To assist governments and other organisations in the development of policies to enhance access to justice for all people in Australia.

Contacts

Australian Legal Assistance Forum
Secretariat: Louise Keenan
GPO Box 1422 Hobart TAS 7001
Phone: 03 6236 3814