Apply for legal help

We give free legal help to workers in Victoria who were born overseas and who have experienced exploitation, mistreatment, disadvantage or unfairness in the workplace or breaches of their workplace rights.

Before we can help you, we need to determine if you are eligible for our service and if we have the capacity and ability to help you.

To do this, we need to ask you some questions about you and your situation. It will take about 30 minutes.

Eligibility

To be eligible for our service, you must:

Live or work in Victoria
Be a migrant (have been born overseas)
Have a question or issue about your rights at work

As a community organisation, we prioritise helping people who are most in need. If you are already have legal assistance or access to legal assistance (e.g. through your union membership), we will not be able to help you.

Important information about time limits

There is a high level of demand for our services. As a result, it will usually take at least one week for us to respond to your application for help and at least two weeks for an appointment.

You may have a short time to take action about your legal problem. If you have lost your job, you could have as little as 21 days to make a legal claim.

For more information, visit the Fair Work Commission, an Australian Government agency that help workers understand and take action about their rights at work, or call the Fair Work Commission on 1300 799 675.

You are responsible for meeting any time limits or deadlines, even after you submit an application for legal help from us. We may not be able to help you before your time limit or deadline expires.

What we do with your information

We use this information to decide whether we can help you and to provide you with help tailored to your needs.

We also use this information on an anonymised or de-identified basis to:

advocate for changes to the law to improve rights and protections for migrant workers
lobby for increased funding to our service so we can provide more free legal help to migrant workers
report to our funding and donor partners.

We will not save this information unless you choose to submit an application. By submitting an application, you consent to us collecting this information about you.

The information you tell us will be kept confidential, in accordance with our privacy policy. We won’t contact your workplace or give anyone else your information, unless you give us permission or we are required to by law.

This is an application for legal help only. Until we tell you that legal help will be provided, no client-solicitor relationship is created.

If you are unsafe, you should prioritise your safety before applying for legal help. Once you are safe, you can continue this application. Call emergency services on 000 or the Victoria Police on 131 444 (open 24 hours) if you feel unsafe or threatened.

By submitting this form, you confirm that you have read and agree to the terms above.

Your workplace issue

What is the issue that you are seeking help about?

Please provide as much detail as you can in just a few lines.

Please answer the questions below in relation to the job that you are enquiring about. If you're not enquiring about a particular job, you can leave them blank.

Which of the following best describes that type of worker you are (or were)?

What is (or was) your job title, role, or position?

For example, "cleaner", "nurse", "aged care worker".

What are (or were) your main duties?

For example, "waiting tables", "operating the till", "stocktake", "baking".

When did you first start working for your employer/former employer (in any job)?

If you can’t remember, please give us your best estimate.

Are you still working for the employer you are contacting us about?

If you are dismissed or forced to quit your job, you generally have 21 days from the date you were dismissed or quit to challenge it legally. This may be an earlier date than your last day of work or the end of your notice period. If 21 days has already passed, you may be able to apply for an extension of time in extenuating circumstances, but you need to act quickly. As we may not be able to contact you within the legal time limits, if you want to challenge the ending of your employment please urgently visit the Fair Work Commission, an Australian Government agency that help workers understand and take action about their rights at work, or call the Fair Work Commission on 1300 799 675.

If you are no longer working for the employer you are contacting us about, on what date were you told that your employment was ending?

Skip if you are still working for that employer.

What is (or was) your last day of work for the employer you are contacting us about?

Skip if you are still working for that employer.

Are there any specific tasks you want help with or questions you want answered?

Are there any important dates or deadlines in relation to your issue?

For example, a hearing date, or a due date for a response to your employer or the Department of Home Affairs. If there are no important dates or deadlines, you can write 'No'. If you're unsure, please write 'Don't know' or 'Not sure'.

Have you already received legal help about your issue?

Have you already made a legal claim or application in relation to your issue?

This includes a WorkCover claim.

Are you a member of a union?

Union fight for a better deal for workers. Union members get access to advice and legal representation if things go wrong in the workplace. Learn more here. If you are a union member, we can help you to access legal representation through your union. If you’re not a union member, we can give you more information about unions and help you to join your union if you want to. However, it is not mandatory for you to provide this information. You don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to.

What is your employer/former employer's business name?

If you received pay slips, please tell us the name that is on your pay slips as well as the business or trading name (which may be different).

What is your employer/former employer's business? How do they make money?

For example, "café", "sells clothes", "car wash business"

Please provide the full names and roles of anyone involved in your issue.

For example, the name of your manager, business owner, or other employees directly involved in your issue. We don’t need to know the names of everyone at your workplace, only people who are directly involved in your issue. We will never contact them without your consent.

About you

What is your first/given name?

What is your last/surname?

Do you have any other names, or variations or spellings of your names?

What is your date of birth?

How would you describe your gender?

What are your preferred pronouns?

What is the best phone number to contact you on?

What is your email address?

What is your address?

Suburb

State

We can only provide help to workers who live or work in Victoria, but we can try to find someone else who can help you if you’re not in Victoria.

Postcode

What country were you born in?

We can only provide help to workers who were born overseas, but we can try to find someone else who can help you if you were born in Australia.

Which of the following best describes your citizenship or visa status?

What date does your current visa expires?

(skip if you are not on a visa)

What date did you first arrive in Australia?

Would you prefer to deal with us using an interpreter?

What is the main language that you speak at home?

If you need an interpreter, use this field to tell us your preferred language.

What is your income?

This includes any paid work or employment, government benefits, and other income. We may ask you for evidence to verify your income.

How did you hear about us?

Optional information about you

Please select any of the following statements that apply to you, if you would like to share this information with us. This information will help us understand how to provide you with the most suitable assistance and ensure that our limited resources are directed to the people who need our help the most.

We also use this information on an anonymised or de-identified basis to:

advocate for changes to the law to improve rights and protections for migrant workers
lobby for increased funding to our service so we can provide more free legal help to migrant workers
report to our funding and donor partners.

It is not mandatory to provide this information. You can choose whether to answer these questions.

I am in financial hardship and currently unable to access enough money to pay my bills

I am unemployed

‘Unemployed’ means that you are not working more than one hour this week, have been actively looking for work in the previous four weeks, and are available to start work this week.

I receive a Centrelink benefit

I am living with a disability

I am experiencing or at risk of family or domestic violence

‘Family or domestic violence’ is violent, threatening or other behaviour that coerces or controls a family member or causes the family member to be fearful.

I identify as Aboriginal

I identify as Torrest Strait Islander

I identify as LGBTQIA+

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual + plus.

Is there a preferred time or way for us to contact you?

We are open 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, however if you are unavailable during those times because of your work commitments or for another reason, please say so here and we will do our best to accommodate you.