Jeremie Quiohilag, senior lawyer with Legal Aid NSW Refugee Service, says that free legal advice is supplied for a wide range of issues, like, how to respond to a traffic fine, how to handle rental disputes, how to lodge a consumer complaint or what to do in a family crisis.
Denis Nelthorpe is the Chief Executive Officer of Westjustice, a legal centre in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. He says such court representation is means tested by Legal Aid and not always free.
If youre charged with a serious crime and you dont have any resources for a lawyer youre likely to qualify but the matter has to be sufficiently serious that you might go to jail. But, its fair to say, that people who are on Centrelink will always qualify for Legal Aid, he said.
Created in the 1920s Legal Aid was expanded in the 1970s by then then Whitlam-led federal government.
Later governments established Legal Aid Commissions in all states and territories to provide access to justice for Australians.
