Guide
Community legal centres in Melbourne
Finding the right community legal centre, for a client or for yourself as a volunteer, starts with knowing who covers where. This guide maps Melbourne's centres by area and specialty, and shows you where to turn when a client fits none of them.
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What a community legal centre is
Community legal centres are independent, not-for-profit organisations, separate from government, that give free legal help. Because demand is high, each centre sets its own criteria for who it can assist.
The Federation of Community Legal Centres is the peak body for Victoria's community legal centres and Aboriginal Legal Services. It describes two kinds of centre. A place-based centre provides services across a range of legal issues to a geographic community. A specialist centre focuses on an area of law or a group of people, and most work across the whole state. The Federation lists Victoria's two Aboriginal Legal Services in a category of their own.
The Federation's Find a community legal centre tool matches a postcode or suburb to a centre. Start there when you are unsure.
Place-based centres across metropolitan Melbourne
These are the thirteen place-based members of the Federation that serve metropolitan Melbourne. Many take people who live, work or study in the area, so a client's workplace or campus can bring them within a catchment.
| Centre | Catchment | Offices |
|---|---|---|
| Inner Melbourne Community Legal | Flemington, Kensington, Melbourne city, Docklands, West Melbourne, North Melbourne, Carlton and Parkville; people on a low income | North Melbourne and Kensington, by appointment |
| Fitzroy Legal Service | City of Yarra and City of Darebin, with statewide programs | Fitzroy Town Hall and Reservoir |
| Northern Community Legal Centre | Merri-bek, Hume and Mitchell Shire | Broadmeadows and Wallan |
| Whittlesea Community Connections | Live, work or study in the City of Whittlesea and surrounding communities | Epping |
| West Heidelberg Community Legal | Mostly residents of Banyule, and sometimes Nillumbik when it has capacity; a service of Holstep Health | West Heidelberg |
| Moonee Valley Legal Service | Live, work or study in the City of Moonee Valley | Ascot Vale |
| Westjustice | Melbourne's western suburbs; advice by appointment | Sunshine, Werribee and a Sunshine youth branch |
| commUnity+ Legal | Live, work or study in Brimbank, Melton or Bacchus Marsh; formerly Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre | St Albans, with outreach clinics in Sunshine and Melton |
| Eastern Community Legal Centre | Live, work or study in Boroondara, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Whitehorse or Yarra Ranges | Box Hill and Healesville |
| Southside Justice | Port Phillip, Stonnington and Bayside, mostly on referral from a partner organisation; formerly St Kilda Legal Service | St Kilda |
| Southport Community Legal Service | Primarily the City of Port Phillip; people outside it can ask | Port Melbourne |
| South-East Monash Legal Service | No set boundary; encourages people from Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia. Formerly Springvale Monash Legal Service | Springvale and Narre Warren |
| Peninsula Community Legal Centre | Live, work or study in Frankston, Casey, Cardinia, Glen Eira, Kingston or the Mornington Peninsula | Frankston, Bentleigh East, Cranbourne East and Rosebud |
Two former centres now sit inside others. Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre merged with Inner Melbourne Community Legal in 2022. Darebin Community Legal Centre merged with Fitzroy Legal Service, with effect from 1 February 2019.
Catchments and offices change from time to time, so take a moment to check the centre's own intake page before you refer.
Aboriginal Legal Services
Two services work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients across Victoria.
| Service | What it does |
|---|---|
| Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service | An Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation providing criminal, family and civil law services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Victoria. It has a youth practice, Balit Ngulu, and the Wirraway practice for people harmed by the actions of police or prison authorities. Head office in Preston. |
| Djirra | Legal and practical support, designed by and for Aboriginal women, for Aboriginal women and their children who are experiencing or have experienced family violence. Its legal service covers intervention orders, parenting matters, child protection and Financial Assistance Scheme applications. Head office in Abbotsford. |
Specialist centres
These centres take matters by subject or client group. Several accept clients through a partner service or a professional referral and take no direct enquiries, so read the last column closely.
| Centre | Area of work | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Women's Legal Service Victoria | Family violence, family law, child protection, visa help after family violence | Women and non-binary people across Victoria |
| Law and Advocacy Centre for Women | Criminal defence, bail, family violence intervention orders, child protection, fines | Women in, or at risk of entering, the criminal legal system |
| inTouch Women's Legal Centre | Intervention orders, family law, small property settlements, migration | Migrant and refugee women who are already clients of inTouch's case management |
| Emma House Legal Program | Family violence-related advice, duty lawyer work and some representation | Women experiencing family violence in South West Victoria; based in Warrnambool |
| International Social Service Australia | Legal advice and casework on international parental child abduction, with social work and mediation | Parents and caregivers anywhere in Australia |
| Knowmore | Legal assistance, financial counselling and social support | Victim survivors of childhood sexual abuse and the Stolen Generations, nationwide |
| Consumer Action Law Centre | Consumer and debt law; financial counselling through the National Debt Helpline; a Koori Help line | Victorian consumers experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage, and the workers assisting them |
| Mortgage Stress Victoria | Mortgage stress and home repossession, with lawyers, financial counsellors and social workers | Victorians in mortgage stress, at any stage |
| Tenants Victoria | Renters' rights | Renters, and the community workers assisting them |
| Anika Legal | Eviction notices, rental repairs and bond disputes, delivered online | Victorian renters on a low or middle income |
| Social Security Rights Victoria | Social security and Centrelink law; a program of Holstep Health | People in Victoria, and community workers through the ASSIST helpline |
| JobWatch | Employment rights: telephone information service and legal practice | Workers in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania |
| Young Workers Centre | Employment law advice and representation | Workers under 30 in Victoria |
| Migrant Workers Centre | Problems at work; generally not migration law | Workers in Victoria who were born overseas |
| Youthlaw | Legal helpline, a fines clinic and outreach at youth services | People under 25 |
| Seniors Rights Victoria | Elder abuse: helpline and legal service | Victorians aged 60 and over, and Indigenous Victorians aged 45 and over |
| Refugee Legal | Refugee and asylum law | People seeking asylum and refugees |
| Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Human Rights Law Program | Protection visa and review matters, by phone; no walk-in legal service | People seeking asylum |
| Disability Discrimination Legal Service | Disability discrimination; workplace sexual harassment of women with disabilities | People with disability in Victoria |
| AED Legal Centre | Disability discrimination in education and employment; reviews of NDIS plan decisions | People with disability in Victoria |
| Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service | Disability-related legal issues, including NDIS appeals at the Administrative Review Tribunal; based in Geelong West | People with disability in Victoria |
| Mental Health Legal Centre | General legal advice, Mental Health Tribunal representation, advance statements of preferences | People in Victoria with lived experience of mental illness or the mental health system |
| First Step Legal | Mainly criminal law and family violence | People referred through its seven health justice partnerships; no direct enquiries |
| Q+Law | Discrimination, family violence, name and sex-marker changes and other matters; a program of Fitzroy Legal Service run with Queerspace | LGBTIQA+SB people in Victoria |
| Justice Connect | Pro bono referral and its own programs, including Homeless Law, Seniors Law, Self-representation Law and Not-for-profit Law | Individuals and community organisations |
| Human Rights Law Centre | Strategic legal action, policy and advocacy on human rights | Works with affected people and communities, nationally |
| Environmental Justice Australia | Public interest environmental court cases and advocacy | Communities affected by environmental harm, nationally |
Three programs run by place-based centres also work statewide: Southside Justice's Sex Worker Legal Program, Inner Melbourne Community Legal's Police Accountability Project, and South-East Monash Legal Service's Justice Q for LGBTQIA+ people in the south-east.
How centres differ from Victoria Legal Aid
Victoria Legal Aid is an independent statutory authority, funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, with its own eligibility criteria. Community legal centres are independent community organisations. The two refer clients to each other.
They are also linked by funding. Victoria Legal Aid manages the Community Legal Services Program and administers funding to centres on behalf of both governments, together with some of its own.
Quality is checked through the National Accreditation Scheme, which Community Legal Centres Australia delivers with the state and territory peaks. Centres are assessed against seventeen standards covering governance and organisational management, service delivery, accessibility and client feedback. In Victoria the reviewer comes from the Federation. Accreditation is awarded for three years.
Referring a client
A good referral saves your client a wasted phone call. Three quick checks help. Does the client live, work or study in the centre's catchment? Does the centre take this kind of matter? And how does it prefer to receive enquiries?
Intake differs widely. Westjustice gives advice by appointment booked by phone. Eastern Community Legal Centre has an online appointment form. Southside Justice receives most of its referrals through workers at partner organisations.
For a client who fits no catchment, Victoria Legal Aid's Legal Help phone line is 1300 792 387, and Legal Help Chat is on its website. A worker can call for a client. Legal Help gives general legal information, and advice to people who are eligible.
Justice Connect takes applications online. Referrals must come from a professional, such as a lawyer, caseworker or social worker, through its Referrer Tool or its professional hotline on 1300 044 332.
University clinics
Several centres double as teaching clinics, and some serve students only.
Monash Law Clinics is part of Monash University's Faculty of Law and a member of the Federation in its own right. It advises on general, family and tax matters by appointment from clinics in Clayton and Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, generally for people within 20 kilometres of either. South-East Monash Legal Service runs a clinical legal education program with the same faculty.
Melbourne Law School Clinics places students with community law partners. The UMSU Legal Service is a Federation member that helps current University of Melbourne students only. Eastern Community Legal Centre runs the Deakin Student Legal Service, West Heidelberg Community Legal runs a service for La Trobe University students, and Youthlaw advises current RMIT students.
Volunteering
If you would like to give time to a centre, the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner states that you can volunteer at a community legal centre on any type of practising certificate. The rules on certificates and insurance, and the centres that take volunteers, are set out in Legal volunteering opportunities in Victoria.
Listings in the Atlas are editorial. Placement and order are never purchasable.
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