Legal help for people affected by disasters

Free legal help for individuals, small business owners, farmers, and other primary producers affected by disasters including floods, bushfires, and cyclones.

We’re helping individuals, small business owners, and primary producers affected by disasters

We know that the wellbeing of communities is linked with the wellbeing of individuals and small businesses in those communities.

That’s why we support individuals, small business owners, and primary producers grappling with legal problems as a result of floods, bushfires, and cyclones.

 

Have you or your small business been affected by floods, bushfires, or cyclones?

Apply for help

How do we help?

We can provide free legal advice and ongoing representation in certain matters to eligible individuals, small business owners, and primary producers affected by disasters like floods, bushfires, and cyclones. We may be able to match you with free legal assistance to help with disputes, or to assist you to better understand your legal rights or obligations, such as:

  • Contracts or agreements
  • Utilities like gas, electricity, and water
  • Leases and property
  • Fencing or other negotiations with neighbours
  • Insurance coverage and claims
  • Credit and debt
  • Fair Work and employment 

Who can we help?

Individuals

  • Are you dealing with a legal problem because of, or made worse by, a disaster?
  • Would you struggle to pay for legal help? 

You might be eligible for free legal help from our network of over 10,000+pro bono lawyers. Making an online application is the quickest and best way to apply for free legal help. 

Apply now

Small business owners and primary producers

  • Do you run a business with 20 employees or less?
  • Are you dealing with a legal problem because of, or made worse by, a disaster?

You might be eligible for free legal help from our network of over 10,000+pro bono lawyers. Making an online application is the quickest and best way to apply for free legal help. 

Apply now

 

Disaster Legal Support Resource Hub

We’ve created a hub of resources for people living and working in communities impacted by, or at risk of, disasters.

Find a range of legal information resources and links to other sources of information for individuals, small businesses, community lawyers and other frontline workers. 

Visit the Hub

 

Watch our information session to learn more about help for small businesses 

Many small business owners, primary producers, and sole traders don’t know what kind of free legal help is out there after facing the impacts of floods, bushfires, or cyclones.

Watch our webinar hosted by Justice Connect’s Manager — Innovation, Emma Ryan, to find out how we can connect you with one of 10,000 pro bono lawyers in our network for legal advice or representation.

Emma takes you through how our program works, how to make a quick application online, and what kind of legal matters we have responded to in communities impacted by disasters.

Read more about how we respond to natural disasters

We take a collaborative approach to meeting legal needs arising from disasters. Across Australia, we partner with organisations like Disaster Legal Help Victoria and Disaster Response Legal Service NSW, and work together with community legal centres and the private legal profession to respond to floods, bushfires, and other disasters.

Our award-winning Pro Bono Portal allows us to easily match people who are eligible for free legal help with pro bono lawyers who have the expertise to assist.

We are also working closely with community legal centre staff to help them find pro bono lawyers who can assist them to respond to emerging legal needs in their local communities.

We welcome the funding provided by State and Federal Governments in recent years to community-based and digitally-enabled legal services to respond to disasters.

We are calling for this funding to be provided in an ongoing way to support the place-based, specialist responses (such as pro bono, digital innovation, and legal sector coordination activities) needed to adequately respond to emerging legal needs in the wake of disasters.

Strengthening legal responses to disasters

Disasters and crises cause legal problems and increase vulnerability.

We’ve seen first-hand how legal need shifts during disasters and crises. We’re using our evidence, and the experiences of the people we’ve helped, to call on all levels of government to act.

See more of our campaigns

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