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Legal Help Chat – get help quickly

Our online chat is often the quickest way to get help from us.

We can:

• answer legal questions
• give general legal information
• connect you with other organisations that can help.

We cannot arrange appointments or give specific legal advice through Legal Help Chat.

How it works

Our qualified staff run Legal Help Chat between 8 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday. Our chat is closed on public holidays.

When you send us a message to start a chat, we will ask for details about you and your legal question.

Our chat staff can give you general information to help with your question. We can also refer you to other organisations that may be able to help.

If you need help with a specific issue, you may need more tailored advice from a lawyer. We will tell you if you should call our free Legal Help phone line, or we will arrange for someone to contact you.

How to start a chat

1. Visit any page on our website between 8 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday. A Legal Help Chat button will appear at the bottom-right of the page.
2. Type your legal question and details into the chat window. Our expert Legal Help staff will respond as soon as possible.

If the chat isn’t available, try our I need legal information about section. We have lots of information, free resources and publications to help answer common legal questions.

Call our Legal Help phoneline

You can phone our Legal Help phoneline on 1300 792 387 between 8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday. We can provide general legal information. We only give legal advice to those who are eligible.

It is important to know that our phone line is often in high demand. We appreciate your patience if you are put on hold. It is best to call early in the day.

Alternatively, you can find information about many legal topics on our website by visiting the I need legal information about section of our website and searching for your topic.

Get help in your language

You can call us about your legal issues and you will be able to in your language. We will organise a free interpreter when you call.

We also have information about our legal services in many languages, visit Help in your language.

Help if you are deaf or find it hard to hear or speak on the phone

If you are deaf or you find it hard to hear or speak on the phone there are services you can use.

For more information visit Support if you are deaf or find it hard to hear or speak on the phone.

Contact us on behalf of someone else

You can call our Legal Help phone line if you are:

• trying to help a child under 18
• a worker calling for a client
• another third party trying to help someone find legal information and advice.

We prefer that the person or child with the legal issue is present. This is so we can give accurate and targeted advice. If the person with the issue is not present, we can only provide limited information.

Other services we provide

Our free legal services include:

• Help before court – for criminal charges: if your court date is in 14 days or more, you may be able to get free legal advice.
• Help at court: our lawyers are on ‘duty’ to help at many courts and tribunals. This service is free, but we cannot help everyone – it is best to call us before going to court.
• Advice through offices across Victoria: we provide advice at our offices and other locations across Victoria.
• Providing you with a lawyer to help you run your case.

Legal issues we can't help with

There are some legal issues we don’t give advice on. If you contact us about one of these issues, we will send you some general information or refer you to another organisation that can help.