Disaster response eligibility guide

Updated June 2023

Introduction

Justice Connect will assist individuals, small businesses, farms, primary producers, and community groups affected by natural disasters, such as floods and bushfires, across a wide range of areas of law (see guidelines below). We help by connecting help-seekers with pro bono lawyers, predominantly across NSW and Victoria, and where applicable with our specialist in-house services. Firms in our pro bono network are interested in providing all levels of assistance, including one off advice and representation.  

Pro bono referrals may be placed with Justice Connect member law firms and barristers within our network, including members of the Victorian Bar Pro Bono Scheme, who have expressed interest in undertaking pro bono work for people and businesses affected by natural disasters. Justice Connect uses its best endeavours to make referrals to legal practices with appropriate expertise and experience to assist with the type of legal issue involved.  

Help available for individuals, small businesses, and farms

Areas of law covered 

The following areas of law are covered by firms participating in our pro bono referral program:  

  • Commonwealth entitlements e.g. challenging Centrelink or one-off grant decision. This does not include assistance making grant applications where there is no legal issue.  

  • Contracts

  • Court or Tribunal proceedings

  • Credit, debt and mortgages

  • Deceased estates, wills & probate disputes (excluding will drafting)

  • Early access to superannuation

  • Fair work & employment

  • Fencing & neighbour disputes

  • Guardianship & administration

  • Insurance

  • Personal injury entitlements

  • Planning and environment

  • Replacing property titles & identifying documents

  • Tenancy, leases, property

  • Utilities

Due to the expertise of the pro bono lawyers we work with, we have limited capacity to assist with the following areas: 

  • Criminal law  

  • Family law 

Means test and other criteria 

When Justice Connect receives referrals, we will contact the help-seeker requiring assistance and will confirm that they meet our eligibility guidelines as part of an initial intake. This includes two criteria: 

Link to natural disasters 

The help-seeker’s legal issue must be linked to a natural disaster, like the floods or bushfires. 

To determine whether the client’s legal issue is sufficiently linked to a natural disaster, we will apply the following criteria: 

  • Does the client live in, earn an income or conduct their business in an area that has been adversely affected by a natural disaster; 

  • Has the client experienced loss as a result of the natural disaster; and 

  • Did the legal issue for which the client is seeking assistance arise or become more pronounced as a result of the natural disaster. 

Means test 

If the client’s legal issue is linked to a natural disaster, we will then consider the client’s means. 

Considerations may include:  

For individuals:

  • Does the person earn under $75,000 per year? This threshold may be increased depending on special circumstances. 

  • Does the person have current access to assets or cashflow to pay for advice or ongoing assistance?  

  • Are the assets that a person has available to them likely to be required to meet costs associated with the natural disaster?  

  • Do other special circumstances impact on their ability to afford legal support e.g. disability, cultural background and systemic concerns raised by their issue? 

For small businesses, farms, and primary producers:

  • Does the small business or farm have less than 20 employees? This threshold may be increased where there are significant special circumstances.

  • Does the business have current access to assets or cashflow to pay for advice or ongoing assistance?  

  • Are the assets that the business has available to them likely to be required to meet costs associated with the natural disaster?

Small businesses (including farms) will generally be ineligible for ongoing casework unless there are exceptional circumstances.  

Help available for community groups

Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law program provides free and affordable legal support to Australian charities, not-for-profits and social enterprises. Not-for-profit Law:  

  • gives legal advice to eligible organisations that help marginalised or disadvantaged members and can’t afford or have difficulty in accessing legal help 

  • has hundreds of freely available online resources, including fact sheets, guides and self-help tools, to help at all stages of an organisation’s lifecycle, from getting started all the way to ending an organisation, and  

  • delivers low-cost, easy to understand webinars and customised legal training to help organisations make sense of the law

To find out more about Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law program, visit our Not-for-profit Law website

How to send people to Justice Connect for assistance

Please use our dedicated referral tool to send help-seekers to Justice Connect for pro bono assistance: justiceconnect.org.au/refer

If help-seekers wish to apply for help directly, please refer them to our help tool: