Legal Aid
Creating Fairness in the Legal System
Legal Aid NSW provides legal services to disadvantaged clients across NSW in most areas of criminal, family and civil law. Our services include:
- free confidential face to face legal advice on most legal issues. Find a legal advice NSW advice service near you.
- legal representation for eligible clients, provided through duty services and case grants for ongoing representation
- family dispute resolution services to parties in a family law dispute
- free workshops and webinars for the public and community organisations
- free legal information written in plain English to help people resolve their legal problems
- specialist services for particular groups in the community.
what we do
We work in partnership with private lawyers who receive funding from Legal Aid NSW to represent our clients.
We administer funding for a range of community partnership programs.
We also take a broader role in identifying opportunities to improve access to justice for our most disadvantaged clients. We contribute to law and policy reform by writing submissions and policy papers on issues that affect our clients.
legal advice
Anyone can use our advice services.
However, there are some situations where we might not be able to give you legal advice. For example, if we have already given legal advice to the party you are in dispute with we may not be able to give you legal advice. This is because lawyers are not allowed to advise both parties to a dispute and we will have a 'conflict of interest'. If this happens we will refer you to another legal service for help. Even if there is a conflict of interest you might still be eligible to get a grant of legal aid for a private lawyer to be paid by Legal Aid NSW to represent you.
success
One of our clients Maynanse is from an impoverished community in a remote part of the Indonesian archipelago, surviving on subsistence farming and fishing. He was recruited by agents of people smuggling networks who come to the bigger villages offering work on fishing boats for large sums of money. The captain stopped the boat out at sea so people could board, then told Maynanse the job had changed and he now had to take the boat to Christmas Island, which Maynanse believed to be an Indonesian island.
The captain disembarked and six hours later called Maynanse instructing him to follow the GPS coordinates which would in fact take the boat to Australia. Maynanse was terrified and outnumbered by passengers who did not want to turn back. He felt he had no choice but to continue the journey.
At trial, Maynanse argued that the phone call at sea amounted to a ‘sudden or extraordinary emergency’, and that committing the offence was the only reasonable choice he had. The jury accepted Maynanse’s defence, and he was acquitted after a lengthy trial.
In trouble with the police, getting a divorce, in debt, having problems with your pension, immigration or fines?
Help over the phone
Call LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529 to get started. Legal Aid NSW also has a number of specialist services that provide help over the phone.
Find information
We have factsheets and resources to help you with your problem.
Get advice from a lawyer
We provide free legal advice on most legal issues. We also provide assistance in response to natural disasters, including bushfires and floods.
Help at court
If you need to go to court we may be able to provide assistance on the day you appear at court or represent you.
Workshops about the law
We run free information sessions and workshops about the law for the public, schools, community groups and other organisations around NSW.
Languages
Information about Legal Aid NSW is available in a range of community languages.