Eligibility Criteria
Advice is not given to
- Employers - employment responsibility matters
- Landlords - tenancy related matters
- Head tenants against sub-tenants
- Guarantors seeking a solicitor's certificate about a loan
- Male defendants in domestic violence matters where the complainant lives in our catchment area or whose
case is at Downing Centre Local Court
- Neighbours against neighbours
Advice is not given in
- Conveyancing
- Commercial law
- Immigration law
- Workers Compensation
When do we take on cases?
How do we decide what to take on?
The descision is made by the following criteria:
- You get some advice from a lawyer;
- Your case goes to the "case meeting" held at the Centre each week;
- All possibilites of assistance for your case are considered, then;
- The solicitors decide whether or not the Centre can take your case on;
- We then contact you to let you know if we are able to take on your case
What criteria does the Centre look at
They look at:
- Are there other forms of assistance available?
- Is it an area of work the Centre does?
- What are the chances of success?
- Will the case assist a large number of people or will it change the law?
- How much work the Centre is doing at the time.
Why Can't the Centre take on all cases?
The Centre can't take on all cases because:
- It is funded by the Government and has limited resources.
- Most of our advice is given by lawyers who volunteer after work hours.
