Community Legal Centres · Marzipan Media
Websites for community legal centres that work when it matters most.
Digital stewardship for community legal centres — accessible, secure, and found when people need help most. Sydney-based. Board-ready reporting included.
A community legal centre's website is not like other websites. The people who find it are often in crisis. They may be searching from a phone with a cracked screen, in a waiting room, with limited time and high anxiety. They need to find your opening hours, your intake process, and your phone number without friction — every time, on every device, without exception. We build and maintain websites that meet that obligation.
A broken intake form, an inaccessible page, or a six-second load time is not an inconvenience. It is a barrier to justice. We understand that your website is infrastructure for people in vulnerable situations — not a marketing tool.
We work with community legal centres, not alongside them. That means we understand duty lawyer rosters, referral pathways, Legal Aid NSW obligations, and the realities of small digital teams with no margin for error.
What we do
What we do for community legal centres
Every service is framed around what a CLC actually needs — not a generic agency checklist.
Accessible by design, not as an afterthought
WCAG 2.1 AA compliance built in from the start, not retrofitted. We audit, remediate, and monitor so that an accessibility complaint does not catch you off guard. For organisations serving vulnerable communities — and those in receipt of government funding — compliance is both an ethical obligation and a legal risk management measure.
Intake forms that work on mobile
Most crisis searches happen on mobile. We ensure intake and referral forms load fast, complete correctly, and do not time out or lose data. Someone searching from a phone with a cracked screen in a waiting room needs your intake process to work without friction — every time, on every device.
Search visibility for the moments that count
When someone searches "free legal help Sydney" or "tenant rights advice NSW", your centre needs to be findable. We build search presence on substance — correct structured data, plain-language service descriptions, and geographic relevance — not tricks that erode when algorithms shift.
Google Ad Grant setup and compliance
Community legal centres qualify for up to $10,000 per month in free Google advertising. Most are either not using it, or using it in ways that risk suspension. We manage the Grant correctly — application, campaign setup, compliance monitoring, and ongoing optimisation.
Ongoing stewardship, not a build-and-disappear project
We remain accountable after launch. Security patches, accessibility monitoring, content updates, and quarterly reporting — handled quietly and consistently, without you having to chase us. No surprise invoices. No project creep.
Risk management
The risks we help you avoid
Community legal centres are risk-averse organisations. These are the specific digital risks your centre carries — and what we do about each one.
WCAG non-compliance is a legal and reputational risk
Particularly for organisations in receipt of state or Commonwealth funding. The Australian Human Rights Commission has made clear that inaccessible websites can constitute discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act. We audit, remediate, and monitor your compliance on an ongoing basis so you are never caught off guard.
An unpatched CMS is an unlocked door
WordPress vulnerabilities are actively exploited. A small community legal centre with a compromised website faces reputational damage, data exposure, and potentially a notifiable data breach under the Privacy Act. We manage security updates proactively — not reactively after something goes wrong.
Google Ad Grant suspension happens silently
Accounts drift out of compliance and stop serving ads without warning. Many centres only discover this when a staff member notices a drop in enquiries. We manage the Grant to Google's ongoing compliance requirements so your free advertising continues to work.
Poor search structure means the people who need you most can't find you
Search engines need clean signals: correct schema markup, properly structured service pages, and accurate name, address, and phone data. Without these, you're invisible to the people you exist to serve. We build and maintain the search foundations that keep you findable.
How we work
How we work with community legal centres
We are a small practice. We take on fewer clients so we can remain genuinely accountable to each one. Here is how we begin.
Digital Capacity Diagnosis
We start with a structured review of your website, search presence, accessibility, security, and digital operations. The output is a plain-English, board-ready document that prioritises risk and action. $1,500 + GST. No obligation to proceed further.
Digital Stewardship Programme
From there, most organisations move into ongoing accountability for your digital presence at a fixed monthly retainer. Predictable cost. No project creep. No surprise invoices. We take quiet, consistent responsibility for the things that would otherwise fall through the cracks.
Quarterly reporting in plain English
We report quarterly. Your board does not need to understand Google Analytics to understand our reports. Everything is written for leadership, not developers — with clear findings, risk ratings, and recommended next steps.
What clients say
What community legal centres say about working with us
“Working with Marzipan was a great experience, especially for our not-for-profit community group. With our shoestring budget, we needed a website that was affordable but still welcoming, accessible, and effective — and Marzipan delivered exactly that. They took the time to understand who we are and who we support, creating a site that feels warm, inclusive, and easy to navigate. Since the new site launched, we've seen a steady increase in visitors and more people reaching out for support and information.”
Community Representative
Local Community Group
“Ben was good to work with and did exactly what he said he'd do. Explained things clearly. Boosted our Domain Rankings and grew our online presence.”
Matt Zeremes
Director, Sydney Screen Acting
We are currently working with community legal centres across NSW. If you would like to speak with a current client before enquiring, we are happy to arrange that.
Request a client referenceCommon questions
Frequently asked questions
Do community legal centres qualify for the Google Ad Grant?
Yes. Community legal centres are eligible for the Google Ad Grant, which provides up to $10,000 per month in free Google Ads spend. Eligibility requires Google for Nonprofits registration, which we can assist with. We also manage ongoing Grant compliance to prevent suspension.
What does WCAG 2.1 AA compliance mean for our organisation?
WCAG 2.1 AA is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines standard that ensures your website is usable by people with visual, hearing, cognitive, or motor impairments. For organisations serving vulnerable communities — and particularly those in receipt of government funding — compliance is both an ethical obligation and a legal risk management measure under the Disability Discrimination Act.
How much does a Digital Capacity Diagnosis cost?
The Diagnosis is $1,500 + GST. It covers your website's security, accessibility, performance, search visibility, and digital governance. You receive a plain-English, board-ready document with prioritised recommendations. There is no obligation to proceed to ongoing stewardship — the fee is credited in full toward any subsequent engagement.
We have a very small team and limited budget. Is Marzipan the right fit?
Probably yes. We work specifically with organisations that have limited internal digital capacity and cannot afford the cost of getting things wrong. Our Stewardship Programme is structured as a fixed monthly retainer — predictable, contained, and designed to remove digital management from your team's plate entirely.
Do you work with organisations outside Sydney?
Yes. While we are based in Sydney, we work with organisations across Australia. Most of our ongoing work is managed remotely, and our processes are designed for clear, structured collaboration regardless of location.
Start here
Start with a Diagnosis.
A Digital Capacity Diagnosis is a structured review of your website, search presence, accessibility, and digital operations — with board-ready findings in plain English. A practical starting point, not a sales process.
Learn about the Diagnosis
Digital Capacity DiagnosisOngoing digital accountability
Digital Stewardship ProgrammeFree Google advertising
Ad Grant eligibility check