We will provide information and/ or a referral (as appropriate) to any person or worker who contacts our legal advice services.
However, we can only provide advice, ongoing assistance or representation on where:
- the person with the enquiry lives in Victoria; and
- the enquiry relates to a consumer law, or consumer credit or debt-related, or insurance law problem that we can provide advice about (refer to the non-exhaustive list below).
We can provide advice about …
- Defective goods and services
- Motor vehicles sales and repairs
- Door to door sales
- Energy and telco disputes
- General insurance and warranty disputes
- Insurance policies held under superannuation
- Life insurance and total and permanent disablement insurance
- Unfair trading, including misleading or deceptive and/ or unconscionable conduct
- Unfair contract terms
- Pay day loans
- Consumer leases
- Home loans and mortgages
- Vendor terms contracts
- Car loans and personal loans
- Irresponsible lending and unjust transactions
- Debt collection and repossession
- Credit reports and consumer privacy
- Debt administrators and ‘credit repair’
- Bankruptcy
We can’t provide advice about …
- Private sales (including of motor vehicles)
- A person’s business transactions
- Financial planning, asset management, investments or trusts
- Loans for investment purposes
- Building contracts and disputes
- Sale of land, real property and conveyancing disputes
- Body corporate disputes
- Horse agistment
- Intellectual property
- Personal injury, including due to problems with product safety and medical negligence
- Superannuation claims and appeals (note: we can advice on insurance related to a superannuation policy)
- Tax
- Accounting, migration or legal services (other than in relation to debt collection)
- Fines or disputes with government/ local councils
- Rates
We will generally provide at least brief advice to any person who meets the threshold test. However, we will prioritse giving more intensive assistance to people who are vulnerable or disadvantaged and workers assisting people who are vulnerable or disadvantaged.
A person may be vulnerable or disadvantaged because of one or a combination of atributes and circumstances. Factors that may be relevant in assessing whether a person is vulnerable or disadvantaged include:
- age
- source and level of income
- disability or significant health issues, including mental illness
- relationship status and caring responsibilities
- whether the person is confident speaking, reading and writing in English
- whether the person is a recent migrant or refugee
- whether the person identifies as Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander
- homelessness or risk of homelessness
- whether the person is a victim/ survivor of family violence
- whether the person has experienced abuse or other trauma
- gender and sexual identity
- market and product characteristics
We may also priori se giving assistance to people whose consumer law problem raises a systemic issue or otherwise aligns with our Policy & Campaigns Priorities.
