We work online
You talk to a lawyer by video or phone, from wherever you are.
Why we exist
Many people with serious legal problems earn too much for legal aid but far too little to pay a private lawyer. Others cannot reach help because they live far from a service, have limited English, have a disability, or are living with family violence. Without help, problems like a family breakdown, an eviction, a debt or a criminal charge tend to get worse.
Our purpose and vision
To relieve the poverty, distress, helplessness and disadvantage of people in need who face serious legal problems and cannot afford or otherwise obtain legal help, by giving them free or low-cost legal information, advice, assistance and representation.
Everyone in need can get legal help, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.
How we work
A senior lawyer checks our work
Our Supervising Legal Practitioner oversees all legal work we do.
Your safety comes first
Every page has a Quick exit button. You choose how we contact you. We ask about your safety when you first get in touch.
We are fair
We never act for both sides in a dispute. We take no referral fees and sell nothing to clients.
Your information stays private
We keep what you tell us confidential, as set out in our privacy summary.
We connect you to other help
If we cannot help, we tell you who can: legal aid, other community legal centres, or support services.
Supervising Legal Practitioner
Ziran Guo
Supervising Legal Practitioner
Admitted to practise in 2004, with more than 20 years of experience in legal practice.
Our board
Our directors are volunteers. They are not paid to be directors.
Ziran Guo
Director and Company Secretary
Lei He
Director
Chunyuan Gao
Director
Technology with people in charge
We use technology to make legal help easier to reach. People stay in charge of it.
- A lawyer gives all legal advice. A computer program never does.
- No decision about you or your case is made by a machine.
- If we use a tool to help with our work, a lawyer checks what it produces before we rely on it.
- We keep your personal information secure. We never put it into public AI tools.
- We record a video appointment only if you agree. You can ask us to stop at any time.
How we are run
- Open Community Legal Limited is a not-for-profit public company limited by guarantee, registered on 14 October 2026. ABN 61 703 246 084.
- All our income is used for our purpose. Nothing is paid to members, and directors are not paid for being directors.
- Directors declare any conflict of interest and step out of decisions where they have one.
We have applied to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to be registered as a charity.
Community legal centres and legal aid
Community legal centres are independent, not-for-profit services that give free legal help. There are 50 in Victoria and more than 170 across Australia (Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria, 2026).
Victoria Legal Aid is a government body. It helps people with some kinds of legal problems if they meet its rules. Community legal centres and Victoria Legal Aid work closely and refer people to each other.
Every state and territory has its own legal aid commission and community legal centres. See Legal aid in each state and territory.