A snapshot of our services

We provided:

• 190,207 duty services
• 3.8% decrease on the previous year

Of these services:

• 112,275 were provided by Legal Aid NSW lawyers, and
• 77,932 services provided by private lawyers funded by Legal Aid NSW

We offer free, targeted legal advice across many areas of law at our 25 offices, two satellite offices and advice clinics offered primarily over the telephone covering the whole state. In some circumstances, our lawyers will also provide minor assistance by writing a letter or helping clients fill out court documents.

Extended legal assistance was introduced in 2017–2018 with the aim of achieving early legal resolution for people with multiple legal problems, or vulnerable people who had legal problems in priority areas of law.

We held:

• 3,086 conferences
• 6.8% increase on the previous year

We answered:

• 17,974 calls to our hotline for young people
• 11.2% descrease on the previous year

Legal Aid NSW represents eligible clients in criminal law, family law and civil law matters. In most cases, our legal representation services are means tested, and most people who receive a grant of legal aid will be required to pay a contribution towards their grant of aid.

We distributed:

• 299,055* factsheets, brochures and other publications
• 28.8% decrease on the previous year

Resources that were viewed online:

• 663,656 times
• 12.1% increase on the previous year

We provided:

• 797 community legal education sessions
• 38.4% decrease on the previous year

We make duty lawyers available in courts and tribunals throughout NSW to provide free legal help and representation to eligible clients.

We provided:

• 105,655 advice and minor assistance services
• 11.2% decrease on the previous year

We helped parties reach an agreement in 75%* of conferences.

Legal Aid NSW is the largest provider of legally assisted dispute resolution mediations in Australia. We provide family dispute resolution services to help separating families resolve disputes, such as parenting, adoption or property matters early on in proceedings and without the need to go to court.

*This includes family law conferences in both NSW and Commonwealth jurisdictions. The Commonwealth-only settlement rate was 74.7%. The percentage of Commonwealth-only matters was 98%.

We provided:

• 1,149 exstended legal assistance services
• 8.3% increase on the previous year

The Legal Aid NSW Youth Hotline provides legal advice, minor assistance, and information to young people aged under 18. Lawyers are available to answer calls until midnight on weekdays and through the night on weekends and public holidays.

We provided:

• 37, 047 matters 
• 12.9% decrease on the previous year

We provided:

• 10,675 matters and we funded private lawyers too act in 26,372

Provision of resources and our community legal education sessions were impacted by COVID-19.

*This number does not include Legal Aid NSW application forms, which have been included in this figure in previous years.