Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre provides free legal services to people who live, work or study in Melbourne’s outer Western suburbs – specifically, the City of Brimbank, the Shire of Melton and Shire of Bacchus Marsh. The Centre services one of the fastest growing and most culturally diverse regions in Melbourne. |
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The Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre has offices in St. Albans, Melton and Sunshine. St. Albans office:
93 – 95 Main Road West, St. Albans 3021Telephone: 9026 9600
Fax: 9310 7163 Melton office:
Suite 6, 3 Alexandra Street, Melton 3337,
Telephone: 9971 1800
Fax: 9746 8924
Email:
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Monday to Wedensday 9.30am to 4.30pm
Monday Night Service 4pm to 6pm Sunshine Youth legal Centre:
Visy Cares Hub
80B Harvester Road, Sunshine 3020
Telephone: 9091 8200
Fax: 9091 8207
Email:
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Tuesday, Thursday and Friday |
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The Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre staff are: Manager – John Verry Principal Lawyer – Toola Marcou Lawyers:
Browyn Doyle; Lynn Meggs; Liz Reichard; Craig Stabler; Judy Dredge Prisoners Legal Service Victoria
Co-ordinator: Ben Cording Solicitor/advocate: Ian Taylor Paralegal: Bonnie Renu The Centre is fortunate to have the support of lawyers who volunteer their time and provide Pro-Bono assistance and also law students who volunteer as paralegals to support the work of the lawyers. The Centre is primarily funded by Victoria Legal Aid and the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department. We also receive private and philanthropic donations, funds recovered through litigation costs orders and project funds. The Centre is a member of the Federation of Community Legal Centres (www) and the Public Interest Clearing House (PILCH) www |
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The work our Centre does falls into three main areas: The services our Centre provides to individuals are: 1. LEGAL WORK - Legal information and referral to relevant organisations;
- Legal advice; and
- Legal casework that falls within our guidelines.
2. COMMUNITY LEGAL EDUCATION
We conduct legal information sessions for community groups, participate in community education forums and prepare legal information publications.
3. LAW REFORM AND ADVOCACY.
We advocate for a fairer legal system which better protects the rights of the disadvantaged. We also conduct strategic public interest litigation to promote and effect change where necessary.
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Do I qualify for Legal Assistance? |
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The Centre provides legal services to any person who meets our Centre’s guidelines and who lives, works or studies in our catchment area namely, in the City of Brimbank, the Shire of Melton and Bacchus Marsh. Our Centre can also assist clients from outside of our catchment area who are referred to us by other organisations as the organisation has a conflict of interest, or due to our Centre’s particular expertise. If you need legal assistance but do not live, work or study in our catchment area, you should call the Federation of Community Legal Centres on 9654 2204 to find out about your nearest community legal centre. |
The type and the extent of assistance we can provide to you will depend on a number of factors including but not limited to: - The nature of your legal matter and whether it fits within our centre’s guidelines;
- Your ability to adequately represent yourself;
- The merits of your case;
- Your means, whether you are able to afford to obtain legal services from a private lawyer;
- The availability of other assistance from other organisations; and
- The workload of the Centre.
Our focus is on providing accessible services to disadvantaged members of our community. As a general rule, if you can afford to pay for a lawyer, the assistance will be limited to information and/or referral (eg: we will refer you to an appropriate private solicitor or other agency). Our resources are limited and there is a high and growing demand for our service. Accordingly, we normally cannot represent clients in court matters. We can provide you with help so you can better represent yourself or refer you to a barrister. |
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You need to telephone one of our offices so we can obtain the necessary details from you including, a brief explanation of your matter, and details of all parties involved in any dispute. Our centre will then either provide you with the necessary information or refer you to a relevant organisation, or make an appointment with one of our lawyers. Due to the demand of our services, there normally is a waiting period to see one of our lawyers. Contact Details for our offices are: St Albans Office – Ph: (03) 9026 9600 Melton Office – Ph: (03) 9971 1800 |
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What legal matters does the centre do? |
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REFERAL AND INFORMATION Our Centre can provide assistance in referring clients to the most relevant organisation that can deal with their issues. Or if applicable, can provide information only. ADVICE AND CASEWORK Our Centre’s casework and advice mainly focuses on the following areas: - Family law advice only and limited casework depending on merits.
- Family Violence, Intervention orders.
- Stalking.
- Divorce.
- Victims of crime, including victims of sexual abuse (VOCAT).
- Motor vehicle accidents.
- Debt matters.
- Infringement matters
- Minor criminal matters.
- Traffic Offences
- Power of Attorney
- Pensioner Wills only
- Prisoners legal issues (whilst specific funding is in place).
The Centre has a strong tradition of working on family law matters and issues concerning the human rights of imprisoned people (prisons). Community Legal Education
The Centre can provide on-site Community Legal Education (CLE) to social groups, schools, classes, community centres etc by request. We can conduct classes on common legal problems (family law, infringement fines, traffic offences, Motor Vehicle Accidents etc), dealing with private lawyers, or the legal system generally. Interested groups should call us on 9026 9600. |
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I don’t speak English. Can I get an interpreter? |
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Yes. The Centre can arrange interpreters. There is no charge to the client. Call us on 9363 1811 and tell us that you need an interpreter. We can then call you back with an interpreter. |
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Volunteering at the Centre |
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Lawyers
We are currently recruiting qualified lawyers to volunteer during the day or at our night service. We seek a commitment of at least one night service session a month for 12 months. No prior experience in community law is required. Full training and support is provided. Interested lawyers should contact 9363 1811
Paralegal (law students and others)
We are not actively recruiting for paralegal volunteers but we do have vacancies that come up from time to time. If you are interested in volunteering, please email your contact details, a brief statement of experience and your availability to
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. We seek a commitment of at least one day (10am to 4 pm) per fortnight for at least six months. We do not accept short term paralegal work placements. |
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What issues has the centre been working on? |
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Lawyers at the centre are participating in the following Federation of Community legal Centres Victoria law reform working groups: Police Working Group The Police Issues Working Group is an initiative of the Federation of Community Legal Centers Victoria. The Working Group is designed to provide an opportunity for information sharing as well as being forum for collaborating on law reform campaigns, in particular in relation to: 1. Promoting progressive alternatives to law and order; and 2. An improved model for the independent investigation of police misconduct allegations. Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre has become involved with this WG in the hope that it will assist the Centre in addressing the issues experienced by our clients with their dealings with Police. Australian Coronial Reform Is looking at National reform to ensure consistency of coronial investigations throughout Australia that will ensure best practice in inquests being open, fair and inclusive processes that identify causes of death and making effective recommendations that will be considered by relevant parties in time to prevent other similar deaths. The second aim is the establishment of a National Inquest Clearing House Coronial InquestsThe Centre currently is involved in four inquests in relation to deaths in prisons. |
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