Volunteering

Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley relies on volunteers to provide our essential services. We could not operate without their support. Volunteers are involved in various projects across our organisation, particularly our free drop-in legal advice sessions.  

Volunteering at Community Law is a great way to meet people who care about justice. The work you’ll be involved in directly contributes to upholding the mana in our communities. You’ll get some practical experience giving legal assistance while empowering clients and increasing their access to justice.

What volunteer positions are available? 

Rōia/lawyers

Rōia advise clients and are supported on sessions by our staff rōia. You must hold a practising certificate to volunteer with us as a rōia. Many rōia volunteer as ‘general rōia’, providing advice on general, non-commercial areas of the law like consumer or housing matters. If you practice in a specialist area like family, tenancy or employment, you can volunteer on our sessions that focus on those areas of law. 

Kaiāwhina/assistants

Kaihāpai/advocates

Kaihāpai (advocates) are volunteers who have legal training but no current practicing certificate. They mainly provide legal information or ongoing advocacy to our Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service (RILAS) clients. Kaihāpai can also volunteer on our employment legal advice sessions. 

Current kaitūao/volunteer vacancies

• Refugee and Immigration rōia (training provided) and kaihāpai for Wednesday 12-2 in Te Awa Kairangi
• Employment rōia for our Tuesday 5-7 session in Te Awa Kairangi
• General rōia for our Wednesday 12-2 session in Te Awa Kairangi
• General rōia for our Wednesday 12-2 session in Pōneke
• General rōia for our Friday 12-2 session in Pōneke
• Benefits rōia (full training provided) and general rōia for our Monday 12-2 WINZ session in Pōneke

What’s the time commitment like? 

Depending on what your volunteer role is, you’ll have a regular rostered shift. Most of our volunteers are rostered once a fortnight for a 2-hour shift. You can choose your volunteering frequency based on your availability – volunteering weekly, fortnightly, or monthly works for us. 

We ask for a commitment of at least 1 year volunteering with us because of the time taken to induct and train new volunteers. Please consider your future work and travel plans before registering your interest.  

What’s the recruitment process like? 

Please fill out the application form below for the volunteer position you’re interested in.  

When a spot becomes available on a session you indicated you’re available for on your application form, we’ll email you to see if you’re still interested. We’ll also arrange a short interview with you to get to know you and answer any questions you have about volunteering. The next step is an induction afternoon which covers more practical information about volunteering with us and who we are as an organisation.  

We prioritise hiring kaitūao (volunteers) from Māori or Pasifika backgrounds so we can best meet the needs of our communities and honour our Te Tiriti obligations. If that’s you, then we encourage you to please get in touch via v.c@wclc.org.nz as well as filling out the form.