Aboriginal Legal Access Program (ALAP)
The Aboriginal Legal Access Program (ALAP) develops and maintains links with Aboriginal communities and improves legal service delivery by CLCs for Aboriginal people.
ALAP Workers
Funding enables five ALAP funded centres to recruit dedicated Aboriginal workers in these CLCs to facilitate culturally appropriate services and build lasting relationships between the CLC and Aboriginal communities within its catchment.
These workers play an integral role in community engagement, liaison and in creating a bridge between CLCs and their local Indigenous communities. The success in doing this is evidenced by increased awareness of and access to services by Aboriginal community members since the establishment of ALAP.
The five CLCs that have Aboriginal Legal Access Worker positions include:
- Macarthur Legal Centre
- Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre
- Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre
- Western Sydney Community Legal Centre and
- Illawarra Legal Centre.
ALAP Co-ordinator at CLCNSW
This position provides the five funded ALAP centres with a point of leadership, expertise, coordination and acts in an advisory capacity to the ALAP Workers both individually and as a group. Moreover, the position remains pivotal in maintaining a focus on Aboriginal legal access issues across the broader NSW CLC network, providing a linkage across the CLC sector and the broader justice community in relation to Aboriginal service delivery strategies. This has been evidenced by the work that the Aboriginal Co-ordinator at CLCNSW is doing in relation to embedding Aboriginal Cultural Competency Training within NSW CLCs and with respect to supporting objectives of the new Aboriginal Cultural Safety Standard including supporting CLCs developing Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs).
Contact us
For more information about ALAP, please contact the CLC Program Unit, Legal Aid NSW by emailing clcprogram@legalaid.nsw.gov.au.