Legal issues

If you are experiencing a legal issue, you may wish to seek legal advice from free legal and support services nearby. Unfortunately our Advocates are not legally-trained, so we can't offer any legal advice or support. We can help you identify external services who may be able to help, however.

We've compiled links to valuable resources where you can access free legal support, as well as non-legal community support services.

If you have a recommendation of a resource that should be listed on this page, please contact us via studentadvocacy@federation.edu.au

Community Legal Services

Gippsland: Gippsland Community Legal Service

Ballarat: Ballarat and Grampians Community Legal Service

Peninsula: Peninsula Community Legal Centre

Springvale: Springvale Monash Legal Service

Geelong: Barwon Community Legal Service

Sydney: Inner City Legal Centre

Adelaide: JusticeNetSA

Please use the National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC)’s website to find other convenient locations.

Other legal services offering free legal support include:

Victoria Legal Aid

Support with legal problems including areas of criminal law, family law and some civil law matters

Justice Connect

Pro bono legal services to people experiencing disadvantage and the community organisations that support them

Youth Law Australia

Legal information and help for those under age 25

Victims of Crime

Free information and support to manage the impacts of crime

International Student Legal Services

Melbourne: Study Melbourne Student Centre
Sydney: Redfern Legal Centre - International Student Legal Service NSW

Housing and Tenancy Rights

Tenants Victoria - Students

Tenants Queensland

Consumer Affairs Victoria

Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal - Residential tenancy disputes

Residential Tenancies Bond Authority

Other support services

Women’s Housing Limited

Registered Accommodation Association of Victoria

Family and Housing support and additional legal services

Consumer Affairs

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

Consumer Affairs Victoria

Victoria’s consumer regulator, helping create a competitive and fair marketplace for businesses and consumers. This covers shopping, contracts, motor vehicles, accommodation and more

Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria (DSCV)

DSCV is a free dispute resolution service funded by the Victorian Government. They provide services such as advice, information, mediation and other negotiation strategies for disputes.

They can help with issues including: a disagreement with a neighbour over trees or fences; disputes between members of a club; workplace disagreements; or noise from animals, machinery or cars.