YouthLaw Aotearoa

Name

YouthLaw Aotearoa

Legal name

YouthLaw Aotearoa

Website

https://youthlaw.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

YouthLaw Aotearoa is a New Zealand incorporated society and registered charity that provides free legal advice, representation, and rights education to children and young people nationwide through a specialist community law centre model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD), Youth-to-Adult Transition & Life Skills (Independent Living, Soft Skills) (EDAAAFAN)

Keywords

• Youth legal services
• Community law centre
• Free legal advice
• Rights education
• Youth advocacy

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ministry of Justice Funding: Primary government funding from the Ministry of Justice to operate as a specialist youth law center providing free legal services.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Receives donations through Givealittle page, payroll giving schemes, corporate sponsorship, and bequests in Wills. Donations eligible for 33.33 cents tax credit per dollar donated.
3. Pro-bono Support: Law practitioners contribute pro-bono legal assistance from time to time.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

YouthLaw Aotearoa is a nonprofit community law centre that provides free legal advice, information, and representation to children and young people throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. The organisation delivers services via a free telephone advice line (0800 UTHLAW), face-to-face support, school-based rights education programmes, and a volunteer legal assistant programme staffed by law students and graduates.

Product overview

YouthLaw Aotearoa is a nonprofit legal services organization operating as a Community Law Centre that provides free legal help for children and young people throughout New Zealand. The organization offers a single unified service focused on free legal advice and representation, supported by a Youth Rights Education programme (including the Youth Law 101 Rights Education Toolkit and the Waha Civics Education Programme) that delivers educational workshops and resources to schools and communities. The organization also operates a Volunteer Legal Assistant Programme that recruits law students and graduates to support the advice line and legal research operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Legal Advice Services
• Youth Rights Education
• Waha Civics Education Programme
• Volunteer Legal Assistant Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of young offenders kept out of courts through Alternative Action Plans and Youth Aid intervention

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Thomson ReuterssupportingTechnology or IntegrationThomson Reuters generously supports YouthLaw by providing improved free access to Westlaw resources, which enhances the organization's legal research capabilities.
• Community LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouthLaw is part of the Community Law network and operates as a specialist youth law center within this ecosystem. Community Law provides referral pathways, shared resources, and collaborative service delivery across New Zealand's law centres.
• Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga TamarikicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki works with YouthLaw through family group conferences for young people involved in more serious offending, representing a key partnership in the youth justice referral pathway.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wellington Community Law Centre: Wellington-based community law centre within the same national network. Operates the same free legal services model with volunteer support and government funding, addressing overlapping client populations including young people.
• Auckland Community Law Centre: Auckland-based generalist community law centre within the same Community Law network. Shares volunteer pipeline (YouthLaw staff previously volunteered there) and provides free legal services to the same Auckland population as YouthLaw.
• Community Law Centres o Aotearoa: National umbrella network of community law centres of which YouthLaw is a specialist member. Operates the same service model of free legal help across New Zealand and shares referral pathways and resources with YouthLaw.

Regional players

• Citizens Advice Bureau Australia: Comparable Australian free legal and general advice provider serving the public across similar issue areas. Useful as a regional reference for the community legal centre model outside New Zealand.
• YouthLaw (Youth Law Center, US): U.S. nonprofit providing legal services and advocacy for youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Comparable in mission (free legal help for children and young people) though operating under a different legal and funding regime.

Broad incumbents

• Barnardos New Zealand: Large New Zealand nonprofit serving children and young people across welfare, education, and family support. Comparable as a youth-focused social services charity that engages with the same vulnerable populations, though its legal services scope is narrower than YouthLaw's.
• Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand: Long-standing national free advisory service covering legal, financial, and consumer issues. Comparable as a free, government and community-funded advice provider to the public, but with broader scope than YouthLaw's youth-only legal focus.

Emerging players

• JustSpeak: New Zealand youth-led advocacy organization focused on criminal justice reform and youth justice. Highly comparable as a youth justice voice working with overlapping populations and government stakeholders, though more advocacy- than direct-service oriented.
• YouthLaw (Australia — discontinued): Historical name coincidence with Youth Advocacy Centre Inc. in Australia, which similarly provides free legal services for children and young people. Useful comparability signal for the youth legal aid category, though based outside New Zealand.

Others

• Te Ara Ture: New Zealand pro bono clearinghouse previously directed by YouthLaw's current General Manager. Operates upstream of YouthLaw in the access-to-justice ecosystem, channeling pro bono legal resources to community organizations including YouthLaw itself.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/YouthLaw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/youthlaw-aotearoa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 YouthLaw Aotearoa