Legal aid services are free or low-cost legal services provided to people who cannot hire their own lawyer for the following reasons: Job Watch (Legal Centre for Labour Rights) 1800 331 617 We use three criteria to determine whether legal aid is granted. These are the Queensland Legal Aid Resource Test, funding guidelines and, in most cases, a legal merit test. The latest version also looks at broader data sources to better inform evidence of legal needs in Queensland, and provides more in-depth contextual analysis to show how this data is relevant to individual organisations. We provide funding for legal services to meet these needs. These services help clients with: In March 2019, we allocated additional project funding to the CLCQ to update the evidence and analysis of the Legal Needs Guide. The guide includes data from the 2016 Census, the integration of legislative changes, and the current analysis of met and unmet legal needs. Means test looks at your income and assets to determine if you are financially eligible for legal aid. According to the Legal Australia-Wide Survey 2012 (PDF, 5MB), legal issues have a severe or moderate impact on the lives of vulnerable people in 57% of cases, including their own: if you support or financially support other people (such as a partner or child/daughter), this will be taken into account in the resource test. If another person supports you, provides you with financial assistance, or can reasonably expect them to provide you with financial assistance (such as a partner), the means test takes into account that person`s income and assets. Be sure to include details of their income and wealth in your legal aid application. If you rely on Centrelink payments for your income, you are generally entitled to legal aid as long as your assets are within the established limits. You must report payments for family tax benefits (Parts A and B) as well as child support and maintenance payments as income. LAQ`s information and advisory services are free for all Queenslanders.

To be eligible for legal representation in court, you must comply with LAQ`s guidelines for intermediate and performance testing. Community Legal Centres Queensland (CLCQ) is the governing body of the Queensland CLCs. They support and endorse the 33 independent community-led CLCs operating in Queensland and provide information on how and where they can access legal advice services. If your estimated assets are more than $930 (or $1880 if you receive financial assistance from another person or are single with dependent children), you may not be eligible for assistance or may have to pay money for your legal fees. W: communitylegalqld.org.au/find-legal-help/find-centre surveys show that if civil needs are not met, they can escalate into more serious civil law issues and, in some cases, lead to crime (Access to Justice Arrangements – Inquiry Report, 2014 (PDF, 6.3MB)) Legal Aid Queensland provides information, advice and representation in family, civil and criminal matters. The Legal Aid Call Centre is made up of information agents who can provide legal information and refer to legal advice and/or other services. Legal aid lawyers can offer free advice in most, but not all, areas of law. Legal aid can provide representation in some legal matters, and is almost always means-tested (with the exception of victims of crime and youth). Learn more about our collaboration in legal services.

CLCs have been providing legal services in Australia for over 40 years. CLCs and community organizations differ from other legal service providers in several ways: the guidelines tell us what types of cases we can fund based on priorities set for us by the federal and state governments. A full list of priorities can be found on our website at www.legalaid.qld.gov.au. Priorities are set out in the Grants Policy Manual. Some of the priorities are: Vulnerable people in our community often have more legal problems than other members of the community, but are less able to solve them. Specialised CLCs provide expertise in specific areas of law (such as family allowances, mental health, rent, immigration and employment) or provide legal assistance to specific groups of people (e.g. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, children and youth, women, refugees, homeless and prisoners). If you apply for legal aid for a family law property settlement or a domestic violence issue, you could have an interest of up to $200,000 in eligible assets that are disputed with the other party. Many people also face multiple legal issues at the same time, including civil law, family law, and/or criminal law. W: www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/Find-legal-information/Relationships-and-children/Going-to-the-family-law-courts/Family-law-duty-lawyer W: www.fedcourt.gov.au/going-to-court/i-am-a-party/help-with-legal-problem/court-referral-assistance everything you need to know about our criteria for granting aid. You must apply for legal aid if you want a lawyer to represent you in court. However, if you would like legal information or advice on your problem, you can talk to us without going through the application process.

W: www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/Find-legal-information/Factsheets-and-guides/Brochures/Women39s-Domestic-Violence-Court-Assistance-service-and-application-assistance-program To find out how much money each community organization received, read our Investment in Legal Advice 2020-25. Generalist CLCs offer services on a range of legal issues for people living in a particular region or city. Table 1 shows the gross weekly income you can earn while eligible for assistance. You can use this table to check if you meet the requirements and if you may need to contribute to your litigation costs. Table 2 shows how much you will have to pay for your legal fees based on the value of your assets. We will not approve your application if the amount you would have to pay for your legal fees would be greater than the value of the granting of the assistance. Community organizations are not-for-profit corporations or associations formed for charitable purposes. Most community-based organisations providing legal aid services in Queensland are Community Legal Centres (CLCs). You should talk to a lawyer about your problem before applying.

You can get free legal advice on most personal legal matters by calling us on 1300 65 11 88 and making an appointment to speak with a lawyer. W: www.lawright.org.au/legal-information/self-representation/ legal information can help you find the best solution to your legal problem. Our self-help legal information page contains a list of websites where you can find simple legal information. The Special Circumstances Guidelines apply only to assets. Any assistance authorized under the Special Circumstances Guidelines may be subject to a condition. For example, you may be required to pay a contribution to your legal fees and/or you may be required to provide your property as security for payment of such legal fees to Legal Aid Queensland. To obtain a copy of the policy, call us at 1300 65 11 88. The assets considered include real estate (houses, land), cash, shares, debt securities or other investments, as well as the assets of a person who helps you financially, unless you need legal help because you are in dispute with that person. We do not include: In March 2016, the Ministère de la Justice and the Attorney General (DJAG) commissioned the CLCQ to provide evidence and analysis of legal needs. We provided CLCQ project funds to develop a guide that summarizes the evidence of legal necessity in Queensland. Find out where you can get legal information or advice. Legal Aid Queensland (LAQ) is a statutory authority that provides legal information, advice and representation to financially disadvantaged Queenslanders.

She specializes in criminal, family and civil law. As the demand for our services is high, we use strict criteria when granting legal representation assistance. This way, we can ensure that we use our resources to help those who can least afford a lawyer. In addition to providing legal assistance services to individuals, CLCs also work at a higher level to help implement systemic change. For example, they offer municipal legal training and legal reform projects with the aim of building community capacity. Financial aid is when another person regularly gives you money, helps you pay your bills, or shares your living expenses.