The Deaf Society of New South Wales - Legal Information

For Deaf People

Links to other Organisations

Legal Advice


If you want free legal advice about a problem there are 4 different places you can look: 1) LawAccess 2) Legal Aid 3) Community Legal Centres 4) NSW Attorney General's Department (Lawlink) LawAccess LawAccess is a government organisation that gives information and advice on legal issues. Their website has lots of information on areas such as:
accidents, children, banking and finance, housing issues, and the court system.

They also have a free telephone/TTY service that gives advice, information and referrals. Web: www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au TTY: 1300 889 529 Ph: 1300 888 529 Legal Aid Legal Aid is a government organisation. They give legal advice and you can meet with a lawyer for free. They can sometimes go to court as your lawyer but you need to apply for this. They have offices all over Sydney and NSW. Legal Aid will give you one free 20 minute appointment and they will also provide an interpreter for free. If you want to meet with a lawyer, you must make an appointment. You can call on their TTY number to make an appointment and book an interpreter. You can also call the number of the Legal Aid office you want to go to directly through the National Relay Service (NRS). Web: www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au 323 Castlereagh Street Haymarket Ph: (02) 9219 5000 Fax: (02) 9219 5935 TTY: (02) 9219 5126 If you want advice about family law there are two places you can go where you do not need an appointment: the Sydney office and the Parramatta office. Sydney Monday – Friday 9.00 am – 4.00 pm Parramatta Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30 am – 12.30 pm and 2 pm – 4 pm Community Legal Centres Community Legal Centres are non-government community organisations that give free legal advice and take on cases that Legal Aid cannot do. You can make an appointment to meet someone face-to-face or you can call them. If you want an interpreter, you can ask when you make an appointment. There are many Community Legal Centres in NSW. Some work on all types of law and some only work on special areas of law. Have a look at their website for more information: www.nswclc.org.au. If you want advice on issues related to finances, loans and credit. Contact the Consumer Credit Legal Centre: Credit and Debt Hotline Ph: 1800 808 488 Email: CCLC_NSW@clc.net.au Web: www.cclcnsw.org.au For information on insurance, contact the Insurance Law Service: Insurance Law Service Ph: 1300 663 464 Email: CCLC_NSW@clc.net.au Web: www.cclcnsw.org.au If you have a problem with disability discrimination, contact the Disability Discrimination Legal Centre: Disability Discrimination Legal Centre Ph: 1800 800 708 TTY: (02) 9310 4320 Fax: (02) 9310 7788 Email: info@ddlcnsw.org.au Web: www.ddlcnsw.org.au If you have a problem related to your housing and rental premises contact the Tenants' Union of NSW: Tenants' Union of NSW Ph: (02) 8117 3700 or 1800 251 101 Email: tunsw@clc.net.au Web: www.tenants.org.au Another excellent resource with lots of legal information is: NSW Attorney General's Department Web: www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au Remember if you want more contact information for the organisations mentioned, go to the Links section and click on the website you want. Please remember if you are having trouble finding information or getting advice, contact the Deaf Society of NSW and we can help you.


This publication has been produced with the financial assistance of the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW. The Foundation seeks to advance the fairness and equity of the justice system and to improve access to justice, especially for socially and economically disadvantaged people. http://www.lawfoundation.net.au Disclaimer: any opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Law and Justice Foundation's Board of Governors.

last updated December 2008