Darwin Community Legal Services

Law Reform

The Darwin Community Legal Service undertakes a range of Law Reform activities with the aim of developing a fairer justice system that better responds to our clients' needs. Law reform work is often informed by the legal problems our clients are having.

Law Reform activities can include:

looking at the legal advice and cases we do to find ways in which the law and legal system can be improved
researching the law in other jurisdictions (ie. outside of NT or Australian law)
developing proposals and submission to government to change specific areas of law and/or legal practices
informing the public and providing forums and support for community debate and discussion
initiating and/or supporting actions and campaigns about changing the law or about social justice issues
responding to government and other inquiries and reviews.

Daniel Alderman, Law Reform Activist,
launch of 'all things equal' 2005

Marion Scrymgour, MLA & Caitlin Perry, DCLS Coordinator launch of 'all things equal' 2005

A successful law reform campaign
In 2002/03, DCLS worked with community members and other service providers to develop a campaign promoting equality before the law for lesbian and gay men in the NT. This included participated in research and the development of submissions to government as well as community education and action. This campaign resulted in the passage of the Law Reform (Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Bill 2003 which removed the majority of discriminatory provisions from NT legislation.

Following this successful law reform campaign, DCLS was funded by the NT Law Society Public Purposes Trust to produce a booklet outlining the legal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the NT.