North Queensland Women's Legal Service is a prominent not-for-profit community legal service led by women, dedicated to serving women across North, Far North, and North West Queensland. Established in 1996, NQWLS has delivered over 125,000 legal services, asserting its commitment to high-quality, accessible legal support and advocacy. Focused on empowering women, the service operates with a holistic approach, engaging in both direct client assistance and broader legal education, as well as policy and law reform initiatives to tackle systemic injustices faced by women.
NQWLS embodies a 'no wrong door' policy, ensuring that women seeking assistance receive the guidance or referrals they need across various legal disciplines. While the organisation provides information across a wide array of legal contexts, its primary focus is on family law matters, such as separation, divorce, parenting arrangements, and property settlements. Additionally, the service offers significant expertise in areas involving domestic, family, and sexual violence, child protection, and migration issues.
The service extends its reach through practical assistance channels, including a free 1800 Legal Advice Line and a Domestic Violence Duty Lawyer Service available at the Cairns and Townsville Magistrates Courts. For more intricate casework, NQWLS offers a specialised Domestic Violence Legal Service. The organisation is also keenly involved in community legal education, providing presentations on essential topics like family law, domestic violence, child protection, sexual assault, human rights, and discrimination.
NQWLS advocates for systemic change through law reform efforts while ensuring accessibility with the ability to arrange interpreters and offering appointments via phone, video call, or in person at their Townsville and Cairns locations. Grounded in values such as safety, respect, service, empowerment, and leadership, their vision is to secure access to justice for women residing in rural, regional, and remote areas of Queensland.
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