Across Australia, community legal centres (CLCs), other legal assistance services, peak bodies, governments, pro bono partners and community organisations are grappling with what developments in artificial intelligence (AI) mean for access to justice. For a sector facing intense resource pressures and growing demand, AI may offer opportunities to improve efficiency and increase capacity. Yet it also raises profound questions about equity, accountability, trust, privacy, algorithmic bias, sector resourcing and the future of human-centred legal assistance.

This panel brings together voices from CLCs, research, policy and practice to examine whether and how the sector may realise the benefits of AI while navigating its pitfalls. Panellists will explore emerging uses, lessons from current projects and the practical realities of both client-facing and internal applications of AI. They will give particular attention to the legal needs of CLC clients, and to whether and how technological innovation can advance access to justice without deepening existing inequalities. Rather than offering simple answers or technological optimism, the panel aims to foster informed and constructive debate about the principles, guardrails and collective leadership needed to guide AI adoption in the sector.

The session will also present and explore findings from the report Artificial Intelligence and Access to Justice at the ‘Shop Front’: The Potential and Limitations of Meeting Legal Need Through Technology, by Dr Catherine Hastings, Dr Art Cotterell and Farzana Bruce.

Discussion panel

Dr Warren Mundy – NLAP Independent Reviewer
Dr Catherine Hastings – Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
Dr Art Cotterell – Postdoctoral Fellow, UNSW Law & Justice
Farzana Bruce – Disability Law Supervising Solicitor, Canberra Community Law
Vijhai Grayan – AI regulation and governance specialist and 2025 Justice Fellow
Tom O'Doherty – Head of Innovation & Connections, Justice Connect
Dr Tamika Worrell – Senior Lecturer, Critical Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University

Introduction

Kate Davies – Research Director, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW

Presenting partners

Law and Justice Foundation of NSW

Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University

UNSW Law & Justice

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