Legal Aid in Australia is legal assistance provided by the government. Each state and territory has its own Legal Aid Commission, which is responsible for administering Legal Aid. There are Legal Aid offices in cities, suburbs and towns across Australia.
Ways Legal Aid can help
Free legal assistance
Legal Aid provides a number of free legal services which are available to anyone in the community. These include legal information and referral services and, in some cases, minor assistance (for example, telephone advice). In many cases Legal Aid also provides duty lawyer services at certain courts.
Grants of Legal Aid
Legal Aid Commissions can provide a grant of Legal Aid to an individual if their legal matter falls within the Commission’s guidelines and they live in the same state or territory. A grant of Legal Aid may be available for family law, criminal law and some civil law cases.
In order to obtain a grant of Legal Aid an individual must meet a means test and other criteria. Services provided by Legal Aid and guidelines for approval vary depending on the state/territory. Contact Legal Aid in your state or territory for more information.
When a grant of Legal Aid is made, Legal Aid arranges for one of their in-house lawyers or a private lawyer to provide the individual with representation. If Legal Aid has a ‘legal conflict’ (for example, where they can’t represent you as they are already representing the other party in your matter) they will often be able to provide a grant of legal aid to a private lawyer to assist you.
Legal Aid in all states and territories
- Australian Capital Territory – Legal Aid ACT
- New South Wales – Legal Aid NSW
- Northern Territory – Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission
- Queensland – Legal Aid Queensland
- South Australia – Legal Services Commission of South Australia
- Tasmania – Legal Aid Tasmania
- Victoria – Victoria Legal Aid
- Western Australia – Legal Aid WA
Community Legal Centres
There are almost 200 Community Legal Centres (CLCs) across Australia that provide legal assistance to those who cannot afford a private lawyer, but who also cannot obtain assistance from Legal Aid.
Legal Aid may not be able to help you in some cases because you need assistance for something that Legal Aid does not do, or because you do not qualify for Legal Aid assistance.
Please note that CLCs are not part of Legal Aid.
Last updated 2021.