Community Law

What Community Law does

Community Law is a New Zealand not-for-profit charitable organisation operating a nationwide network of 24+ community law centres that deliver free one-on-one legal advice, community legal education workshops, and online legal information resources. Founded in the late 1970s/1980s (with the Community Law Manual dating to the 1980s), the network is coordinated by Community Law Centres Aotearoa (CLCA), headquartered in Wellington, with member centres stretching from Kaitāia in the north to the Chathams in the south, including Auckland (4 locations), Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin and numerous regional towns. Services are targeted at people with limited financial means (benefit recipients, low-income individuals) and vulnerable populations (those facing housing instability or family violence), with explicit exclusion of property and business-related matters.

The organisation's core technology product is the Law Manual Online, a free comprehensive plain-language legal information resource covering more than 40 topic areas of New Zealand law (family, criminal, tenancy, employment, immigration, disability rights, Māori land, consumer, and more), with content accumulated and maintained since the 1980s. Sub-products include the Disaster Relief Guide, Lag Law (prisoners' rights), Schools & Kura resources, the Community Toolkit (covering the Incorporated Societies Act 2022), adaptable Legal Letters templates, and Te Ara Ture — a national pro bono clearinghouse that matches people in need with volunteer lawyers. Underlying infrastructure includes a WordPress-based public website, the separate communitytoolkit.org.nz site, and the Actionstep CMS used across centres.

The business model is a charitable funding model, not a commercial revenue model. All core services are provided free of charge. Income is sourced from individual donations, law-firm and corporate sponsorships (Westpac, TSB, BNZ, ASB, Thomson Reuters, and top-tier NZ law firms), government legal aid and agency relationships (Ministry of Justice, MBIE), and minor revenue from bookshop publication sales and pro bono referral coordination. There are no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, and no private equity involvement; the organisation is community-owned and governed by an independent board under CEO Gwendoline Keel.

Name

Community Law

Legal name

Community Law

Website

https://communitylaw.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Law is a New Zealand not-for-profit charity operating a nationwide network of 24+ community law centres, delivering free legal advice, legal education workshops, and the Law Manual Online to people with limited financial means and vulnerable populations across Aotearoa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Legal Literacy & Public Legal Education (Know Your Rights) (EDAAAFAI), Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL), Protection Services (GBV, Child Protection, Legal Aid) (BPADADAH), Minority, Indigenous & Disability Rights (BPADAGAH)

Keywords

• Community legal services
• Free legal aid
• Legal information resources
• Pro bono referral
• Community law centres

Headquarters

HQ city

Christchurch

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Sponsorships: As a not-for-profit charity, Community Law relies on donations from individuals, law firms, and organizations. The 2023 sponsorship campaign involved law firms sponsoring Community Law Manuals for frontline community organizations including marae, women's refuges, and refugee support services.
2. Publication Sales: Sale of easy-to-read legal guides and books through the Bookshop. However, core resources like Law Manual Online remain free.
3. Legal Letters Service: Provides adaptable legal letter templates such as Limited Licences that people can use to solve problems themselves.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Law is a not-for-profit charity providing free legal help throughout New Zealand through a nationwide network of 24+ local Community Law Centres. Services include free one-on-one legal advice on matters such as employment, family, housing, criminal, immigration, and Māori land issues; the Law Manual Online (a free plain-language legal information resource covering 40+ topic areas); community education workshops; and adaptable legal letter templates, all targeted at people with limited financial means and vulnerable populations.

Product overview

Community Law is a not-for-profit charity offering free legal help throughout New Zealand through multiple interconnected products and services. The core offerings include the Law Manual Online (a free comprehensive legal information resource covering 40+ topic areas), a network of 24+ Community Law Centres providing free one-on-one legal advice, and legal education workshops. Additional products include specialized guides like the Disaster Relief Guide and Lag Law (prisoners' rights), The Community Toolkit for community organizations, adaptable Legal Letters for self-help, and Te Ara Ture (a pro bono clearinghouse matching those in need with volunteer lawyers). The organization also runs the Rights Education Project for community legal literacy. All content is created by the community, for the community, and is not part of the government.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Community Law Manual: A free pool of plain-language legal information available online and as a book. It covers all areas of New Zealand law and is designed to be understandable to ordinary people.
• Law Manual Online
• Te Ara Ture
• The REP: Rights Education Project
• YouthLaw

Products and services

• Law Manual Online A free online pool of plain-language legal information covering 40+ topic areas including family law, criminal law, tenancy, employment, immigration, disability rights, and more. The online edition of the Community Law Manual with history stretching back to the 1980s, designed to be understandable to ordinary people.
• Free Legal Help One-on-one free legal advice provided by lawyers at local Community Law Centres throughout New Zealand, from Kaitaia to the Chathams, for people with limited financial means or who are vulnerable.
• Community Law Centres Network Network of 24+ local Community Law Centres providing free legal services across New Zealand, including specialist centres for youth (YouthLaw), disability law (Aotearoa Disability Law), and Māori legal services (Ngāi Tahu Māori Law Centre).
• Disaster Relief Guide A specialized resource providing legal information for people impacted by natural disasters or severe weather events, covering care of children, insurance, tenancy, employment and more.
• Lag Law: Prisoners' Rights Comprehensive legal information guide for those in the prison system and their families, covering 12 chapters including before prison, housing, family matters, working inside, visits and communication, health, discipline, complaints, transfers, and release.
• The Community Toolkit Legal information resource for community groups covering the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 and how to register or re-register under this Act.
• Legal Letters Adaptable legal letter templates such as Limited Licences that users can customize to solve legal problems themselves.
• Te Ara Ture New Zealand's pro bono clearinghouse referral program where New Zealanders in need are matched with lawyers who provide pro bono legal services. Operated as a national coordinator for pro bono work.
• Rights Education Project (The REP) Rights education program providing legal literacy and education resources to communities.
• Community Workshops Legal education workshops available at local Community Law Centres for community groups and organizations.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• YouthLawcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Specialist community law centre with expertise in legal matters affecting children and young people. Operates as a national centre under the Community Law umbrella.
• Aotearoa Disability LawcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Specialist community law centre focused on disability rights and legal issues affecting people with disabilities.
• Ngāi Tahu Māori Law CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Specialist Māori law centre providing culturally appropriate legal services for Ngāi Tahu iwi and Māori communities.
• Nelson Bays Community LawcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLocal community law centre operating as part of the national Community Law network, providing free legal services in the Nelson Bays region.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Victoria Legal Aid: Government-funded legal aid provider in Victoria, Australia, offering free legal advice, representation, and community education. Covers similar legal practice areas but operates at much larger scale under direct state government funding rather than a charity/donor model.
• Legal Aid Ontario: Government-funded legal aid provider in Ontario, Canada, offering free legal advice and representation for low-income clients. Overlapping mission (access to justice for the disadvantaged) but operates under direct provincial funding rather than community/donor support.

Direct peers

• Citizens Advice (UK): Provides free, independent, confidential advice on legal, money, and other issues across the UK. Direct equivalent in mission and operating model to Community Law, at a much larger scale.
• LawWorks (UK): UK charity connecting people in need with pro bono lawyers, alongside clinics and not-for-profit support. Highly comparable to Te Ara Ture's pro bono clearinghouse model and the network-of-clinics distribution that Community Law operates.
• Community Legal Centres Australia: Federation of independent community legal centres across Australia providing free legal help to disadvantaged people. Sister-network model to Community Law with similar funding model (state/federal grants and donations) and similar client base.
• Pro Bono Net: US nonprofit that runs technology platforms and programs expanding access to justice. Closest international peer to Community Law's combination of self-help information resources (Law Manual Online) plus a pro bono referral engine.
• PILnet (Public Interest Law Network): Global pro bono clearinghouse connecting civil-society organisations with law firms for free legal help. Comparable infrastructure to Te Ara Ture, especially around matching marginalised clients with volunteer lawyers.
• Australian Pro Bono Centre: National clearinghouse supporting pro bono legal services in Australia. Comparable to Te Ara Ture's clearinghouse function, matching people in need with volunteer lawyers across a network.
• Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand: A New Zealand-wide network of free community advice services. Closest domestic peer: delivers free, in-person advice on legal, financial, and social issues to vulnerable New Zealanders, complementing Community Law's free legal help with broader generalist support.

Emerging players

• Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT): Indigenous-led legal aid service in NSW/ACT delivering culturally appropriate legal services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Most comparable international peer to Ngāi Tahu Māori Law Centre given shared iwi-focused cultural-competence model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Community-Law-Canterbury-204868466209562
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-law-waikato

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Law