Legal Assistance

Latest release

Experimental statistics about clients who received legal assistance. Includes selected demographics and service characteristics

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Reference period
2024-25 financial year
Release date and time
23/04/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

In 2024–25, 379,265 clients received legal assistance, a 2% (6,297) increase in clients from 2023–24.

  • Over half were female (51% or 192,428).
  • Over a quarter identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person (28% or 103,089).
  • Over a third (39% or 146,318) received services on more than one occasion.

About this release

This publication presents experimental statistics about clients who received completed legal assistance services from a Legal Aid Commission (LAC), Community Legal Centre (CLC), and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (ATSILS) between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.

Key purpose of these statistics

The primary focus of this publication is to provide a national picture about clients who received legal assistance services funded through the National Legal Assistance Partnership (2020-2025) (NLAP). Over time, these statistics will enhance and complement existing data relating to people’s interactions with the justice system.

The accompanying information about services is intended to inform the nature of the legal assistance provided to clients, rather than perform as a comprehensive measure of service provision.

Key data quality improvements

In this release, legal advice services conducted over the phone where the client remains anonymous have been excluded from Legal Aid Commissions (LACs) data to improve consistency in statistical reporting across jurisdictions. Revisions have been made to client and service data for LACs (and subsequently national data) for the period 2022–23 to 2023–24. As such, users are advised to use the updated statistics in this release rather than referencing previous iterations of this publication. For more information, see Methodology.

Data quality and interpretation

This publication presents the third annual release of experimental statistics for this national data collection. While the ABS continues to work in collaboration with the Legal Aid Commissions (LACs), Community Legal Centres (CLCs), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), and other stakeholders to improve the quality and range of data available, further assessment and development is required to enhance the quality and comparability of the national data set. Therefore, the statistics presented are deemed experimental by the ABS.

Users of these statistics should consider the following:

  • The data represent a subset of all clients who received legal assistance. This is due to scope limitations.
  • Differences across the LACs, CLCs, and ATSILS, such as service delivery models, target client populations, funding/resources, and administrative data systems, affect the nature and comparability of the data presented in this publication. As such, comparisons of results across the sector should be avoided.
  • These statistics do not provide a measure of the total workload, efficiency or productivity of the sector in delivering services. Each service is counted once (when it is completed), regardless of the resources or intensity/effort expended to assist the client.
  • These statistics do not reflect the volume or type of legal need (met and unmet) of people across Australia.
  • Clients can receive legal assistance as either the victim/applicant or the alleged perpetrator/respondent in any given legal matter, however the data in this publication does not differentiate between these client types.

Please refer to Methodology for more information to assist interpretation of the statistics presented in this publication.

Australia

Data for legal assistance clients are compiled from the following legal assistance service providers:

  • Legal Aid Commissions (LACs)
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS)
  • Community Legal Centres (CLCs).

Clients

In 2024–25, 379,265 clients received legal assistance, a 2% (6,297) increase nationally from 2023–24.

Across Australia, clients were most commonly:

  • female (51% or 192,428)
  • aged 35–49 years (34% or 129,779)
  • provided a legal advice service (69% or 259,638).

Over a quarter (28% or 103,089) of clients identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person.

Children and young people accounted for 17% (63,618) of clients and most received a legal advice service (50% or 32,008), followed by a duty lawyer service (29% or 18,629).

Services

There were 791,780 services completed for clients, a 4% (31,526) increase nationally from 2023–24.

Of these services completed for clients:

  • almost half (46% or 365,298) were legal advice services
  • one quarter (25% or 198,167) were duty lawyer services
  • 12% (92,655) were representation services, which are often the most resource intensive.
  1. Includes services that were completed during the reference period and were wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP).
  2. Includes representation services not further defined.

Client profile for each service type

This section draws upon client characteristics for each service type. In this data, it is important to note that clients are counted once for each service type they received. If a client received two services – for example, one legal advice and then one legal task – they would be included in each service type. Read more in Methodology, Data processing.

Clients who received legal advice services

In 2024–25, 259,638 clients (69%) received one or more legal advice services.

Of these:

  • 54% (140,893) were female
  • 43% (110,448) were male
  • 12% (32,008) were children and young people
  • 9% (22,073) were older people
  • 16% (41,292) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 23% (60,504) received a legal advice service on more than one occasion.

There were 365,298 legal advice services completed for these clients, a 2% (5,243) increase from 2023–24.

Clients who received duty lawyer services

In 2024–25, 73,977 clients (20%) received one or more duty lawyer services.

Of these:

  • 58% (43,163) were male
  • 41% (30,130) were female
  • 25% (18,629) were children and young people
  • 2% (1,307) were older people  
  • 70% (51,497) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 48% (35,547) received a duty lawyer service on more than one occasion.

There were 198,167 duty lawyer services completed for these clients, a 5% (9,192) increase from 2023–24.

Clients who received representation services

In 2024–25, 67,056 clients (18%) received one or more representation services.

Of these:

  • 49% (32,604) were male
  • 47% (31,283) were female
  • 27% (17,937) were children and young people
  • 3% (2,078) were older people
  • 44% (29,429) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 21% (14,169) received a representation service on more than one occasion.

There were 92,655 representation services completed for these clients, an 8% (6,734) increase from 2023–24.

Clients who received legal task services

In 2024–25, 57,413 clients (15%) received one or more legal task services.

Of these:

  • 51% (29,416) were female
  • 47% (26,785) were male
  • 19% (10,621) were children and young people
  • 7% (3,800) were older people
  • 28% (16,130) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 25% (14,044) received a legal task service on more than one occasion.

There were 86,149 legal task services completed for these clients, a 6% (5,168) increase from 2023–24.

Clients who received non-legal support services

In 2024–25, 16,290 clients (4%) received non-legal support services.

Of these:

  • 65% (10,546) were female
  • 30% (4,920) were male
  • 15% (2,394) were children and young people
  • 7% (1,112) were older people
  • 33% (5,396) received non-legal support services on more than one occasion.

There were 33,887 non-legal support services completed for these clients, a 17% (4,849) increase from 2023–24.

  1. A client is a person, group, or organisation who received one or more completed services wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP). This is a subset of clients and services received during the reference period. Read more in Methodology.
  2. A client is counted once if they received one or more completed services from a single provider during the reference period. Clients who received services from multiple providers (i.e. in different state/territory locations, or across sub-sectors (LACs, ATSILS, CLCs)) will be counted more than once in the combined national data.
  3. Excludes anonymous legal advice services conducted over the phone, for which only limited client information are available. Data for 2022–23 and 2023–24 have been revised to exclude these services. No comparisons to data in previous publications should be made. Read more in Methodology.
  4. Includes dispute resolution, court/tribunal and other representation services.

Legal Aid Commissions

Legal Aid Commissions (LACs) are independent statutory bodies operating in each state and territory. They provide legal assistance services to those facing disadvantage, using funding provided by the Commonwealth Government (via NLAP), State and Territory Government(s) and other sources (e.g., fundraising, donations).

The services included in this publication are currently limited to:

  • Commonwealth family law and civil law matters
  • a small amount of Commonwealth criminal matters
  • state law matters regarding the safety of a person, or child, which are connected to family law proceedings.

Some clients who received representation services, facilitated resolution processes or duty lawyer services for state law matters are not included in this publication.

Read more in Methodology.

Clients

In 2024–25, LACs provided in scope legal assistance to 194,832 clients. 

Of these:

  • 50% (96,953) were female
  • 46% (90,172) were male
  • 17% (33,259) were children and young people
  • 6% (11,509) were older people
  • 13% (25,116) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 33% (65,167) received legal assistance on more than one occasion.
     

Services

Of the 347,593 in scope services completed by a LAC:

  • 60% (209,418) were legal advice services
  • 13% (43,443) were legal task services
  • 11% (38,995) were representation services
  • 7% (22,466) were duty lawyer services
  • 5% (18,882) were non-legal support services.
  1. Includes services that were completed during the reference period and were wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP).
  2. The data presented for LACs in this publication include only those services provided using Commonwealth NLAP funding. As such a proportion of duty lawyer and representation services provided with state funding is not included. Read more in Methodology.
  3. Includes dispute resolution, court/tribunal, and other representation services not further defined.

Problem type

This section presents information about the ‘primary’ problem (as identified by the data provider agency) for each completed service provided to clients during 2024–25. As a single service may involve more than one different problem type, the data reflect a subset of all problems per service. This data also contains high proportions of ‘other’ problem types. Read more in Methodology.

Parenting arrangements was the most common problem type during 2024–25, representing one quarter (25% or 79,610) of services provided by LACs. 

  1. Includes services that were completed during the reference period and were wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP).
  2. The data presented for LACs in this publication include only those services provided using Commonwealth NLAP funding. As such a proportion of duty lawyer and representation services provided with state funding is not included. Read more in Methodology.
  3. Problem type represents the primary problem for each service. Read more in Methodology.
  4. Includes Other family law problem, Other civil law problem, Other criminal law problem.
  5. Includes domestic violence protection orders (civil law) and domestic/family violence offences (criminal law). Refer to Table 15 for more information.
  6. Includes consumer, consumer credit, and credit and debt. Refer to Table 15 for more information.

Parenting arrangements accounted for:

  • over half (57% or 12,785) of all duty lawyer services
  • over half (55% or 21,517) of all representation services
  • 18% (38,138) of all legal advice services.

Client profile for selected service types

This section draws upon LAC client characteristics for each service type. In this data, it is important to note that clients are counted once for each service type they received. If a client received two services – for example, one legal advice and then one legal task – they would be included in each service type. Read more in Methodology, Data processing.

Clients who received legal advice services

In 2024–25, 151,246 clients (78%) received one or more legal advice services from a LAC.

Of these: 

  • 49% (74,733) were female
  • 48% (72,010) were male
  • 15% (22,089) were children and young people
  • 7% (10,379) were older people
  • 13% (19,852) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 23% (35,080) received a legal advice service on more than one occasion.

Of the 209,418 legal advice services completed for these clients:

  • 18% (38,138) related to parenting arrangements
  • 13% (27,623) related to family and domestic violence matters. 

Clients who received representation services

In 2024–25, 32,972 clients (17%) received one or more representation services from a LAC. 

Of these: 

  • 55% (18,019) were female
  • 37% (12,224) were male
  • 27% (9,001) were children and young people
  • 2% (677) were older people
  • 12% (3,782) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 15% (4,796) received a representation service on more than one occasion.

Of the 38,995 representation services completed for these clients: 

  • 55% (21,517) related to parenting arrangements
  • 19% (7,460) involved child representation services or independent children’s lawyers
  • 8% (3,128) related to family property disputes.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) are independent, community-controlled legal services operating in each state and territory, using funding provided by the Commonwealth Government (via NLAP), State and Territory Government(s) and other sources (e.g., fundraising, donations). 

A manifestation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, ATSILS provide holistic legal support that is culturally safe and responsive to their unique priorities, needs, and the contexts of their communities and jurisdictions.

Services delivered by ATSILS are largely reflective of the ongoing demand for legal assistance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are over-represented in the justice system. Traditionally focussed on assisting clients with criminal law matters and providing legal representation in court, ATSILS are also increasingly supporting clients with family, care and protection, civil and human rights law related matters.

Challenges which impact ATSILS ability to provide legal assistance to clients include:

  • increasing demand for services, including holistic responses to complex legal and social issues
  • resource constraints impacting capacity to assist clients across all areas of law and/or types of services
  • demand for services in remote and rural areas can be logistically challenging and resource intensive
  • access to language interpreters
  • balancing access to services in circumstances where two or more parties to a given matter both seek assistance from an ATSILS, especially in regional and remote areas where there is a lack of alternative legal services.

These and other factors impact the ATSILS statistics presented within this publication which are not comparable to other parts of the legal assistance sector and do not represent the true extent of legal need amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally. 

Read more in Methodology.

Clients

In 2024–25, ATSILS provided in scope legal assistance to 68,399 clients. 

Of these: 

  • 66% (45,055) were male
  • 34% (23,128) were female
  • 28% (19,191) were children and young people
  • 2% (1,033) were older people
  • 60% (41,074) received legal assistance on more than one occasion.

Services

Of the 238,792 in scope services completed by an ATSILS: 

  • 67% (160,320) were duty lawyer services
  • 18% (41,739) were representation services, mostly at a court/tribunal (97% or 40,454)
  • 9% (20,251) were legal advice services
  • 5% (11,821) were legal task services
  • 2% (4,521) were non-legal support services.

(a)    Includes services that were completed during the reference period and were wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP).
(b)    Includes dispute resolution, court/tribunal, and other representation services not further defined.

Client profile for selected service types

This section draws upon ATSILS client characteristics for each service type. In this data, it is important to note that clients are counted once for each service type they received. If a client received two services – for example, one legal advice and then one legal task – they would be included in each service type. Read more in Methodology, Data processing.

Clients who received duty lawyer services 

In 2024–25, 49,177 clients (72%) received one or more duty lawyer services from an ATSILS. 

Of these: 

  • 69% (34,112) were male
  • 30% (14,935) were female
  • 32% (15,468) were children and young people
  • less than 1% (328) were older people
  • 58% (28,306) received a duty lawyer service on more than one occasion.

Of the 160,320 duty lawyer services completed for these clients, 91% (145,169) related to criminal law matters.

Clients who received representation services

In 2024–25, over a third (36% or 24,373) of ATSILS clients received a representation service, which are often the most resource intensive service type. 

Of these: 

  • 70% (17,130) were male
  • 29% (7,165) were female
  • 31% (7,486) were children and young people
  • less than 1% (171) were older people
  • 33% (7,994) received a representation service on more than one occasion.

Of the 41,739 representation services completed for these clients, 93% (38,774) related to criminal law matters.

Community Legal Centres

Community Legal Centres (CLCs) are independent, community-based organisations that provide legal assistance to those facing financial hardship (or other barriers to justice) using funding provided by Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments, and non-government sources (e.g., fundraising, donations).

The centres included in this publication are currently limited to those funded using Commonwealth NLAP funding, where they record, or report using the Client Legal Assistance Services System (CLASS) maintained by Community Legal Centres Australia (CLCA). 

CLCs provide a range of services, largely for family and civil law matters, and some centres also operate criminal law practices. 

Individual centres are predominantly: 

  • Generalist: providing assistance for a variety of legal matters to people living in a specific geographic area. Some may also run specialist programs (e.g. for international students); or
  • Specialist: providing targeted assistance to particular client populations or focusing on particular legal fields (e.g. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women and children, people with a disability, human rights, social security, tenancy or animal rights). 

Clients

In 2024–25, CLCs provided in scope legal assistance to 116,039 clients.

Of these: 

  • 62% (72,352) were female
  • 34% (38,963) were male
  • 10% (11,161) were children and young people
  • 11% (13,060) were older people
  • 10% (11,387) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 35% (40,083) received legal assistance on more than one occasion.

Services

Of the 205,395 in scope services completed by a CLC: 

  • 66% (135,629) were legal advice services
  • 15% (30,887) were legal task services
  • 8% (15,382) were duty lawyer services
  • 6% (11,920) were representation services
  • 5% (10,476) were non-legal support services.
  1. Includes services that were completed during the reference period and were wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP).
  2. Includes dispute resolution, court/tribunal, and other representation services not further defined.

Client profile for selected service types

This section draws upon CLC client characteristics for each service type. In this data, it is important to note that clients are counted once for each service type they received. If a client received two services – for example, one legal advice and then one legal task – they would be included in each service type. Read more in Methodology, Data processing.

Clients who received legal advice services

In 2024–25, 95,966 clients (83%) received one or more legal advice services from a CLC.

Of these:

  • 63% (60,119) were female
  • 33% (32,095) were male
  • 8% (8,051) were children and young people
  • 12% (11,126) were older people
  • 10% (9,303) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 23% (21,919) received legal advice services on more than one occasion.

Clients who received legal task services

In 2024–25, 19,786 clients (17%) received one or more legal task services from a CLC.  

Of these: 

  • 64% (12,616) were female
  • 33% (6,503) were male
  • 11% (2,161) were children and young people
  • 10% (2,031) were older people
  • 19% (3,815) identified as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
  • 27% (5,372) received a legal task service on more than one occasion.

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Methodology

Scope

A subset of clients who received legal assistance from a Legal Aid Commission, Community Legal Centre and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, wholly or partially funded under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP).

Geography

Data are available for:

  • Australia

Source

Data are sourced from administrative systems managed and maintained by legal assistance service providers operating across each Australian state and territory. 

Collection method

Administrative data are supplied annually by state and territory legal assistance service providers or relevant peak bodies to meet their obligations under Schedule D of the National Legal Assistance Partnership. 

Concepts, sources and methods

Data are compiled based on the: 

History of changes

Revisions have been applied to the 2022–23 and 2023–24 Legal Aid Commissions data, and to corresponding national data.

View full methodology