Policy Reform and Advocacy

The Centre develops policy and law reform and conducts advocacy with government, regulators and the private sector in order to encourage participation and and excellence in pro bono.

Please click here to view submissions that have been made by the Australian Pro Bono Centre (formerly the National Pro Bono Resource Centre) to government and other bodies in relation to pro bono legal work.

The Centre has played a key role in the advocacy work which has resulted in pro bono requirements in the Commonwealth, Victorian, South Australian, Western Australian and New South Wales Governments. For details of these arrangements, please click here.

The Centre also regularly conducts other policy and advocacy activities covering a wide range of aspects of pro bono all directed towards closing the justice gap.

Key recent examples of these activities include:

• The Centre prepared a submission and provided evidence about pro bono and family law at the public hearing of the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System (March 2020).

• The Centre co-conducted global research entitled The Nature and Prevalence of Pro Bono Partner Roles Globally (February 2020)  which now provides an evidence base and an advocacy tool to demonstrate the need to appoint a dedicated pro bono partner to ensure the success of a firm’s pro bono practice.

• The Centre has revised the definition of pro bono legal services (July 2018) under the National Pro Bono Target in order to include pro bono work for social enterprises.