Policies

Your privacy

We collect only what we need to help you: your contact details, details of your legal problem, your income so we can check you are eligible, and the names of others involved so we can check for conflicts.

• We keep your information confidential and store it securely. Only the people working on your matter can see it.
• We share it only with your consent, or where the law requires or allows it, for example to lessen a serious threat to someone's safety.
• If you agree, we may record your appointment or make a written transcript. You can say no.
• We never put your personal information into public AI tools. No decision about you is made by a computer program alone.
• Our systems, such as email, video and document storage, use trusted providers including Google Workspace and Cloudflare. They may store information in Australia or overseas.
• Our directors and members cannot see client files.
• We keep records for at least seven years, then destroy them securely.
• You can ask to see or correct the information we hold about you. It is free, and we reply within 30 days.

We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Our lawyers also have a professional duty to keep client information confidential.

Questions or concerns: contact our Privacy Officer at admin@opencommunitylegal.org.au or on 04 2525 8080. If you are not satisfied with our answer, contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992.

Feedback and complaints

We want to hear what worked and what did not. Anyone can give feedback or make a complaint: clients, people we could not help, family members and support workers. It is free, and it will not affect the help you get from us, now or later.

How to tell us

• Email admin@opencommunitylegal.org.au.
• Tell the person you have been dealing with.
• Someone else, such as a support worker or family member, can contact us for you with your consent.
• We can arrange an interpreter, and you can contact us through the National Relay Service.
• You can stay anonymous. We may not be able to reply, but we will still record it and learn from it.

Please tell us what happened and when, who was involved if you know, and what you would like us to do to put it right.

What happens next

1. 1

   We tell you we received it

   Within 10 working days.

2. 2

   We look into it

   Someone who was not involved talks to the people involved and reads the file. Complaints about a lawyer go to our Supervising Legal Practitioner. Complaints about the Supervising Legal Practitioner or a director go to our chairperson.

3. 3

   We give you an answer

   Within 20 working days of receiving your complaint. If we need longer, we tell you before then, explain why, and give you a new date.

If you are not happy with our answer

You can ask for a review. Our chairperson, or a director who was not involved, reviews it and answers within 20 working days.

You can also contact one of these at any time. You do not have to complain to us first:

• the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner, about a lawyer's conduct or legal costs
• the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, about privacy
• the ACNC, about how a charity is run (once we are registered)

Disclaimer and terms of use

The information on this site is general information about the law in Australia. Some guides cover Victorian law only, and say so at the top. It is not legal advice. Do not rely on it for your own situation. Each guide shows the date it was last checked.

Reading this website or contacting us does not make you our client, and we are not giving you legal advice. You become our client only when we confirm in writing that we will help you. Do not miss a deadline or court date while waiting to hear from us.

• We link to other services to help you. We do not control their websites, and a link does not mean we endorse them. We take no fee or benefit for any link or referral.
• We work to keep this site accurate, but the law changes. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss from using this site. Nothing here excludes your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
• You may print, copy and share our guides for free, to help yourself or someone else, if you say they come from Open Community Legal.
• You may not copy, scrape or use the content of this website to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models without our written permission.
• These terms are governed by the law of Victoria.

Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to use this site. We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA.

• Plain language, short sentences and clear headings.
• A layout that works on phones, tablets and computers, and when you zoom in.
• Keyboard access and a Skip to content link.
• Strong colour contrast, and a dark mode that follows your device.
• Clear form labels, and error messages that say what to fix.

Some documents we link to belong to other organisations and may not be fully accessible. Our guides are in English for now.

If something does not work for you, call 04 2525 8080 or email admin@opencommunitylegal.org.au, and tell us the page and what went wrong. We reply within 10 working days, and we can help in another way, such as by phone. For an interpreter, call TIS National on 131 450. If you have a hearing or speech difficulty, use the National Relay Service on 133 677.