Legal services in rural communties: issues for clients and lawyers

This article considers the ability of people living in rural, regional and remote Australia (we will use the term ‘rural’ to cover ‘rural, regional and remote’) to access legal services. Surprisingly little has been written about rural legal services in Australia. Much of the writing on rural justice issues relates to criminal law with little attention being paid to family and civil law. The purpose of this article is to highlight issues which members of rural communities face when they seek to access legal and related services. It considers these issues from the perspectives of both clients and lawyers. The use of information technology to deliver legal services is also considered.