Free Legal Advice & Information

Shoalcoast provides free legal advice and casework services to disadvantaged individuals and groups who are unable to afford a private solicitor. We give priority to matters which involve particular disadvantage; for example, those which involve women and children exposed to family violence and those which affect indigenous clients. We do not advise in some other areas of law such as taxation, planning, environmental, commercial and property matters. See our guidelines www.shoalcoast.org.au/shoalcoast-guidelines.html for more details.

Telephone Advice

Tuesday and Thursday 10am – 12 noon

4422 9529 or 1800 229 529 (Ulladulla to Eden for generalist legal services; Also for women living in Bega Valley, Bombala, Cooma-Monaro, Palerang and Queanbeyan shires from January 2011)

Face to Face Advice

Face to face appointments can be made if considered necessary by our phone advice Solicitor.  These are generally on a Friday morning.  Our office hours for clients are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9am-12.30pm & 1.30-5pm

Outreach Face to Face Advice

We visit towns between Ulladulla and Eden at least once a month.  See 'What's On' page for dates of our next outreach visits to South Coast towns.  Alternatively phone Shoalcoast on 4422 9529 for details.

South East NSW Women's Legal Service - from January 2011 we also provide monthly face to face legal advice clinics for women.  These occur in Wallaga Lake, Bega, Bombala, Cooma and Braidwood.  Phone 1800 229 529 for more details and to book an appointment.

Project Work

Aboriginal Legal Access Project - Shoalcoast is funded to provide community legal education opportunities in local Aboriginal communities to increase knowledge of and access to legal services.  Contact Shoalcoast if you would like us to visit your community to discuss any legal issues.

Family Relationship Centre (FRC) Legal Partnership - Shoalcoast is funded to employ a Solicitor who is available to give free legal advice and support to Family Relationship Centre clients.  Clients are referred by the FRC.

South East NSW Women's Issues Solicitor - Shoalcoast has been funded to provide a new outreach legal advice, casework and community legal education serivce to women living in Queanbeyan, Cooma-Monaro, Bombala and Far South Coast communities.  This service will commence in January 2011.  All enquiries to Shoalcoast.

Casework Services

Due to the Centre’s limited resources and the high demand for its services, we provide legal representation only in certain circumstances. These tend to be matters which involve family violence, promote systemic reform and/or have important legal issues involved.

The following case studies show the types of advice and assistance we provide:

Birth Certificates for Children

In one matter we were successful in making a claim for compensation on behalf of the five (5) children. The matter developed some complexities involving the establishment of parentage as the births were never registered. Due to an ongoing rift between the families it was not possible to satisfy the requirement of Births Deaths and Marriages to provide Statutory Declarations from family members. However through the provision of other documentation we were able to register the births, obtain the Birth Certificates and satisfy the Victims Compensation Tribunal of parentage. Compensation was subsequently awarded to each of the five (5) children to be held in trust until the age of eighteen years (18). The associated success in this matter was the registering of the birth of the children and issuing of the birth certificates for all five (5) children.

Human Rights on the Far South Coast

In late 2010 our phone advice service received a call from the Far South Coast and the client expressed great concern and distress that he had no electricity to his residential property. A social worker from the local Hospital confirmed our client’s plight and was particularly concerned about our client’s health.  An issue had been raised as to the ownership of a strip of land alongside our clients property and such strip of land was the means by which the supply of the electricity had to pass to our clients property. Three property lawyers , countless letters and almost 10 years had passed without resolution. The Centres thrust was our clients entitlement of the supply of electricity (Human Rights issue) and also that because of his physical disability (he is an amputee) it was paramount that he be provided with the electricity to allow a basic level of living. This was a matter that also had a potentially very high media interest and after some negotiation with the relevant Shire Council they agreed that the situation was one where the so called ‘legal ownership’ of the strip of land was one they could overlook and the relevant infrastructure to enable  the connection of the electricity was in place within two weeks of the final negotiation.  The client was very pleased as can be seen within the Client Testimonials that appear below. The legal ownership of the strip of land is still not resolved but it is not a matter the Centre will take up with the Council.

Lack of Legal Services on the Far South Coast

Another client from the Far South Coast was having difficulty working out parenting orders for their child which was made more difficult due to her relationship with her ex-partner being characterised by family violence.  Whilst the client was eligible for Legal Aid it was difficult for them to find a solicitor in her local area due to the lack of solicitors able to take on her matter.  Shoalcoast has been able to assist the client to find a solicitor in the Shoalhaven to represent her.    

Next of Kin and Burial Rights

A client called on a Friday at 4pm saying her children had been taken from her by their paternal grandmother. Her partner (and father of their 5 children) had died on the Wednesday.  As the deceased was 34 when he died,  the Coroner was conducting a post mortem on the body. Initially, when the police came to investigate the death on the Wednesday,  they had named our client as the next-of-kin.  On the Thursday, however, her partner’s family arrived and convinced the police  to put his mother as the next-of-kin as they alleged that our client and the deceased had separated prior to his death. With our client no longer the next-of-kin, the Coroner would not communicate with her, nor release the body to her for burial purposes.  Our client had also been told by the partner’s family they would be taking the children to live with them and that our client would be assaulted if she attended the funeral planned for the following Monday.  With regards to the abduction of the children, Legal Aid succeeded in getting a recovery order and the children were returned to our client after the weekend.  With regards to the next-of-kin issue, the Assistant Coroner wrote to the funeral director asking that the body not be cremated or released until further notice.  The Coroner, however, believed she had no jurisdiction to determine who was next-of-kin (unlike in other States); this was a matter for the Supreme Court.  Shoalcoast started negotiating with the partner’s family on behalf of our client with regards to the funeral and the distribution of ashes including advising the option of applying to the Supreme Court for an injunction to prevent the funeral and cremation going ahead.  We had a Sydney barrister on standby ready to go to the Supreme Court.  In the end a deed of agreement was signed by all the parties, allowing the funeral to go ahead with our client attending safely and the

ashes being divided equally.  In relation to the police’s power to decide who is next-of-kin,  Shoalcoast  has written to the Local Area Command requesting an explanation as to why the details were changed.  We are also considering making recommendations for amendment to the Coroner’s Act 2009 (NSW), which would explicitly give the Coroner power to decide next-of-kin disputes. 

Apprehended Personal Violence Orders

We were approached by a female client requesting assistance with an apprehended personal violence order (APVO) against her neighbour.  he neighbour had been sexually harassing her for years; standing on his garage roof  peering into her house, making sexual innuendos over the fence.  The last straw was when he accosted her in their local supermarket, threatening to harm her.  The local Police refused to prosecute because they have a policy of not prosecuting APVOs.  While Shoalcoast was unable to represent her, we were able to get a subpoena of the supermarket security footage.  Soon after being granted the subpoena, our client’s neighbour consented to the APVO for 2 years.