Legal Services (Distribution of Special Fund) Amendment Bill
Community law centres are places where people can get free legal help. They receive money from a special fund collected from lawyers' bank accounts. This bill makes it clearer that the fund can be used to pay for things like rent and power bills at these centres — not just the direct cost of giving legal advice. At the moment there is some confusion about this, which means the government sometimes has to step in with extra funding. This bill tidies up the law so the fund can cover those everyday running costs.
What this affects
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Community law centres — which give free legal help to people who can't afford a lawyer — will be able to use an existing fund to pay for their everyday running costs like rent and power, not just the direct cost of legal advice.
it is unclear whether community law centres can use money from the Special Fund to meet indirect costs incurred when providing services, such as leases or utilities
The Secretary may, as they determine appropriate, enter into a contract with 1 or more community law centres to— (a) purchase community legal services: (b) fund, facilitate, and otherwise support the provision of community legal services.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 13 August 2025.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.