About Barwon Community Legal Service (BCLS)
BCLS has been operating since 1986, and was the first fully funded Community Legal Service established outside the Melbourne Metropolitan area. It was established by Geelong residents, and is managed by a voluntary community committee of management. The Service receives funding from governments at both state and federal level.
The catchment area encompassed by the service incorporates the entire (03) 52 telephone code region, which includes such townships as Lara, Apollo Bay, Queenscliff, Colac, Lorne, and the Bellarine Peninsula. The Geelong/Barwon region contains a total population of around 250,000, with many pockets of extreme disadvantage. In fact, the area of Greater Geelong alone has one of the highest rates of disadvantage in rural Victoria, both in absolute numerical terms as well as its concentration. Many areas within the region are at considerable distances from the Geelong CBD, where BCLS is located.
