The General Fee is paid to Community Legal Centres Australia by community legal centres and other organisations that are members of their respective state or territory CLC association, and are thus eligible for services provided by CLCs Australia.

These services include:

All centres are asked to complete an assessment survey so that their General Fee can be calculated. The assessment process begins in November for the current financial year. Once the response is processed, an invoice will be issued to the centre. More information about this process is available in the documents below.

General Fee in 2022–23 and beyond

During 2022, the Community Legal Centres Australia Board initiated a review of the General Fee in response to concerns from the sector. 

As interim measures for 2022-23 financial year, the Board decided to reduce the cap (maximum fee payable) from $9600 to $8600 and to waive the Auspiced CLC Fee for all organisations that would have been liable for it under the existing General Fee Policy. These adjustments were made on a one-off basis while the review was being completed. The rate at which the General Fee is calculated remained unchanged at 0.5% of total income, as defined in the policy.

The review was carried out by a General Fee Review Group consisting of representatives from the sector and CLCs Australia. With that review complete, the following changes were announced for the 2023-24 financial year.

  • The rate at which the General Fee is calculated remains unchanged at 0.5% of total income.
  • There will be no Auspiced CLC Fee
  • The minimum General Fee was increased from $50 to $500
  • The maximum fee was reduced from $9600 to $6000.

The CLCs Australia Board approved a revised General Fee policy reflecting these changes in October 2023.

General Fee 2024–25

Collection of the General Fee in 2024–25 will begin in the week commencing 25 November 2023, with assessment forms (and any waiver applications) due 16 December.
Please see the FAQ for information about the process, or contact David Herrero, david.herrero@clcs.org.au


General Fee Policy
General Fee Waiver Policy
General Fee FAQ 2024-2025