Our Service
Our Service
Marrickville Legal Centre is a non-profit community legal centre that has been operating for over 30 years.
We provide confidential, free legal advice and assistance to people living in Inner Western & Southern Sydney, and to young people throughout NSW.
We also offer community legal education, and we advocate for equal access to justice and a better legal system for disadvantaged people through law reform.
How can we help?
You can get free advice on many types of legal problems including:
- Fines
- Employment issues
- Debt
- Tenancy
- Consumer Complaints
- Discrimination
- Victims compensation
- Minor Criminal Charges
- Complaints about police or government agencies
- Car accidents
We work closely with many other local and community organisations, and can refer you if we are unable to assist.
Who can we help?
Our Youth Legal Service assists children and young people up to the age of 25 living anywhere in NSW.
Our General Legal Service can help adults who live in the Inner Western and Southern Suburbs of Sydney.
Our Domestic Violence Service is available to anyone living in the Inner West or South West of Sydney.
Our Family Law Service is available to clients of Family Relationship Centres by direct referral by the FRC.
Our Tenants Advocacy Service is available to tenants in the Inner West.
Our Strata Service is available to residential strata tenants state wide.
North Sydney Tenants
Our Northern Sydney Area Tenants’ Service helps tenants living from North Sydney to Ryde & Pittwater. Call 02 8198 8650 or visit www.nsats.org for more information.
More Information
Contact us or visit the pages below for more information:
OUR PEOPLE
Marrickville Legal Centre employs 12 staff in a variety of roles. We currently have 7 solicitors including the Principal Solicitor, 3 tenant advocates, the Family & Domestic Violence Support Worker, the Financial Administrator, and the Operations Manager.
Our people are:
Principal Solicitor & Acting Executive Officer
Annette van Gent
General Legal Service
Lisa Woodgate
Vasili Maroulis
Family Relationship Centre Partnership
Margie Martin
Youth Legal Service
Kate Duffy
Vasili Maroulis
Katie Green
NSW Strata Collective Sales Advocacy Service
Jake Edwards
Bill Clarke
Family Violence Service
Zoe McMillan
Inner West Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service (IWTAAS)
Eloise Parrab
Julia Murray
Martin Barker
Olivia Nielsen-Gurung
Northern Sydney Area Tenants’ Service (NSATS)
Sousan Ghecham
David Baddeley
Janice Yeung
Un-Ai Jo
Operations Manager
Alex Ariti
Our Story
Our Story
OUR STORY
Marrickville Legal Centre was established in 1979, staffed primarily by law student volunteers. Its establishment was motivated by the local Greek community’s need for legal advice that they could not afford. The Centre targeted the needs of the community, who were mainly of non-English speaking backgrounds and young people.
By 1984 the Centre employed four part-time solicitors and was open 3 nights per week with regular Greek and Vietnamese interpreters, 50 student volunteers and 35 solicitor volunteers. In 1980 the Centre received a grant from the NSW Legal Services Commission for a pilot Children’s Legal Service, which is ongoing.
From Robert St, the Centre moved in 1994 to its current premises on Illawarra Road. The Inner West Tenants’ Advice & Advocacy Service started the following year. After 10 years of operation, the Inner West Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme was followed in 2009 by the Inner West Domestic Violence Pro-Active Support Service.
From those early days on the first floor of Marrickville Town Hall Marrickville Legal Centre has grown and its services now incorporate the generalist legal service, tenancy service, domestic violence support and referral scheme, the evening legal advice service and our award winning state-wide youth legal service. The Centre now provides legal services to the residents of 12 local government areas. These areas cover the inner west, south and parts of south west Sydney and have a combined population of over 1.1 million people. This means that approximately 1 in 20 people living in Australia live in Marrickville Legal Centre’s catchment area.
To learn more about the Centre's aims and operations read the Marrickville Legal Centre Strategic Statement 2014 - 2017.
Feedback and Complai
Feedback and Complai
Feedback & Complaints
Marrickville Legal Centre is committed to a fair and transparent complaints process.
This information is a summary of the Marrickville Legal Centre Managing Complaints Policy and is designed to assist you in lodging a complaint.
Raising Concerns & Providing Feedback
We encourage you to raise any immediate concerns with a staff member at the time you experience difficulties. We welcome feedback of all kinds, as it assists us to improve our services.
Making a Complaint
Complaints about Marrickville Legal Centre or any of its staff can be made in person or in writing. Written complaints should be emailed to info@mlc.org.au or sent to:
The Principal Solicitor
338 Illawarra Road
Marrickville NSW 2204
If your complaint is about the Executive Officer or Principal Solicitor, then the Chair of the Board will investigate the matter.
The Complaint Process
- All complaints will be logged in a register. You will be notified that your complaint has been received by phone or in writing.
- Once the complaint has been investigated, you will be advised about the outcome and any actions that will be taken as a result of your complaint.
- We aim to investigate and resolve complaints within five working days. If we think that your complaint will take longer to resolve, you will be told of the reasons why, and how long the process is likely to take.
- If you disagree with a decision made by Marrickville Legal Centre, you can appeal the decision in writing.
For further information about feedback and complaints
please contact the Executive Officer on 9559 2899