Your appointment at the ICLC

The Inner City Legal Centre offers free one-off legal advice appointments. This guide explains what will happen at your appointment and how to prepare. 

Things to understand 

The Inner City Legal Centre is an underfunded community legal centre, because of this: 

  • We can offer one-off legal advice. 
  • We may not be able to assist with all legal issues or deadlines, nor provide ongoing legal assistance. 
  • We may refer you to another service if needed. 

The goal of the advice appointment is to help you understand your legal problem, the options available to you, and what you can do next. 

Important note regarding use of AI

Our solicitors are seeing an increase in clients using AI (such as ChatGPT) to get advice on their legal matter.

We have found that this AI generated advice is often wrong, misleading or incomplete.

AI is not a substitute for advice from a trained legal professional, ChatGPT is not PRIVATE or CONFIDENTIAL.

Please consider the above if you’re using AI in regards to your legal matter.

Preparing for your appointment 

To get the most from your advice appointment, it is important to prepare! 

  • Write a timeline of events and issues. For example, what happened, when and who was involved (maximum one page). 
  • Gather all relevant documents and email them to iclc@iclc.org.au as soon as possible. 
  • List the issues and questions you have that you are worried about. 
  • Make sure you are available at your appointment time, with a charged phone and somewhere quiet where you can focus on the conversation. We will call you at the allotted time from a private number. If we cannot reach you, we will attempt to reschedule your appointment, but cannot guarantee the next availability. 

What to give us 

It’s very important that we have all the documents related to your legal matter BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT. The more time we have to look over your documents, means more advice that is tailored to you!  

Examples include: 

  • Emails, texts or screenshots. 
  • Contracts or agreements. 
  • Fines, letters or notices. 
  • Court documents and documents from police.
  • Forms you received from a government agency. 

Your documents need to be sent to our reception iclc@iclc.org.au by the deadline given to you when you make your appointment. 

If you have immediate safety concerns or critical dates please let us know as soon as possible. 

If you need an interpreter or other language or communication assistance let us know. You can find out more on our accessibility page. 

What happens at the appointment 

A lawyer will talk with you about your problem. 

They will usually: 

  • Confirm what you’ve already told us. 
  • Ask questions about your situation.
  • Tell you about your options.
  • Suggest next steps. 
  • Answer your questions.
  • Explain the law in simple terms.  

Appointments can take up to 60 minutes. Your information is private and confidential. 

Help us help you by: 

    • Supplying any documents ahead of time. 

    • Explaining your problem as clearly as you can. 

    • Tell the lawyer the main facts. 

    • Ask if you do not understand something. 

    • Take notes to go over later. 

After the appointment 

After you finish your appointment:

  • Write down any final info, go over your notes to make sure you got everything. 
  • Follow the advice if you can, keep any deadlines in mind.
  • Contact the centre again if you need more information.

Still not sure about something?

You can email our front desk via iclc@iclc.org.au or call us on (02) 9332 1966.