Regional legal assistance forums
Regional legal assistance forums (RLAFs) help to reduce service duplication, encourage working relationships between services and the forums, and provide feedback to the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum (QLAF) on the needs of disadvantaged people.
RLAFs are based throughout Queensland in:
- Cairns
- Gold Coast
- Ipswich and Inala
- Logan
- Mackay
- Moreton Bay
- Mount Isa
- North Queensland
- Rockhampton
- South West Queensland
- Sunshine Coast
- Wide Bay Burnett.
The members in each RLAF are considered the local experts in legal assistance service delivery, therefore regionalised collaborative service planning will be carried out through RLAFs.
Within each of these regions, meetings are held quarterly, and membership is comprised of stakeholders relevant to each RLAF but usually involves participation from Legal Aid Queensland, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (ATSILS) Queensland, local Community Legal Centres and the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services.
Terms of reference
- To promote cooperation and collaboration between service providers to ensure that the legal needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable clients are met with the best and most effective service available to address these individual needs.
- To regularly exchange information and promote communication amongst service providers to enhance the ability of those providers to identify and target services to people at risk of experiencing social exclusion.
- To inform the QLAF so appropriate feedback can be given to governments and other organisations on the needs of those clients and on issues relevant to the practical delivery of legal assistance and representation service.