More than a decade ago, Rachel* was signed up to "hundreds of thousands" of dollars worth of debt at a time when she was experiencing domestic violence.
The Queensland resident was unable to get support to help her intervene with the bank.
She said the loan was acquired "under circumstances the bank should've known were wrong" and "things were not okay".
"I spent 10 years trying to resolve this situation myself," she said.
"I was ready to give up."
It wasn't until a couple of months ago that a financial counsellor referred Rachel to a free community legal centre, Caxton Legal Centre, who helped her by talking to the bank on her behalf.
"I never thought I would find someone who could actually help me," she said.
"I never have to worry about that debt ever again."
Around 180,000 people were helped by community legal centres last year — but even more people were turned away from the service.
Less than one per cent receive help
Caxton Legal Centre is one of Australia's largest free community legal centres, but it can only help less than one per cent of those who reach out.
"Over the last five years, we had 150,000 people call us for help," CEO Cybele Koning said.
"They call us when they're at the end of their tether, they can't get legal aid, they can't afford a lawyer, and we have to let them know that we can't help."
Community legal centres are "mostly funded" through a combination of state and federal governments.
But Ms Koning said for her centre to make a "dent" in helping the number of people it currently turns away, it needed "at least double the amount of funding".
She said the lack of "access to justice" was creating a "stark" difference in outcomes for people who could and couldn't afford a lawyer or access free legal advice.
She said the most vulnerable people in the community reached out to the legal centre as a "last resort", and when the centre was unable to help, they "don't end up getting the outcome that they deserve".
"Sometimes they're forced into paying off debt that they should never be paying off," she said.
"They live in unsafe relationships and put up with abuse because they don't know how to safely leave that relationship.
"It can really wreck people's lives."
Resourcing 'not sufficient to even meet half the demand'
Community Legal Centres Australia chairperson Gerard Brody said it was a national crisis, with existing resources "not sufficient to even meet half the demand".
More than 200,000 people nationally were turned away from the community legal centres last year.
The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has created further demand for free legal advice.
Mr Brody said more people had been reaching out looking for help with credit, debt, consumer concerns, as well as "tenancy services".
"Australia's 165 [community] legal centres are facing unprecedented demand and funding shortages," he said.
He said some centres were closing outreach clinics, while others were considering shutting down completely.
"We need at least $125 million additional per year to ensure that centres are able to start meeting demand."
A spokesperson for federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the National Legal Assistance Partnership — an agreement between the Commonwealth and all states to fund vital legal assistance service — is under review.
The funding was a combination of $104.7 million from the Commonwealth and a further $86.51 million by the state government over five years, a Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokesperson said.
The report will examine how future arrangements can better provide access to justice for those who need it, and is expected to be handed down in late February.
A Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokesperson said the state government had been working closely with the Commonwealth and other states on the review.
"We are also continuing to work with the community legal sector and the Commonwealth to address the growth in demand for their services," the spokesperson said.
Many 'suffering' and 'need the help'
Rachel said the community legal services helped her regain her "financial freedom".
"I'm so grateful that I got to be in that one per cent," she said.
"There are so many other women suffering under domestic violence circumstances… and they need the help."
*Name changed for privacy reasons.