The information on this form is collected by Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) so that we can assess your eligibility for legal assistance and provide legal services to you.
Information is treated confidentially in accordance with our professional obligations, our privacy policy and the Legal Aid Act 1978. If you do not provide the requested information we may not be able to provide a service to you. For more information about how Victoria Legal Aid handles your personal information please refer to our privacy policy.
Protection of your information
We are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal and health information. This collection notice explains how Victoria Legal Aid will collect, use and disclose the information we collect from you. We may make changes to this statement from time to time.
When we may need to share your information
We may need to share your information in some of the following circumstances to meet our legal and public sector obligations:
Where information is shared, we will seek to share the minimum amount necessary.
Accuracy and protection of your information
We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information we hold is accurate and complete and that it is protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access or disclosure. We will only retain your personal information for as long as required for the purpose it was collected.
You can contact VLA to request access to your personal and health information or to ask VLA to correct an error. VLA will arrange this as soon as possible. If you have received a service from us, you can request both hard copy and electronic copies of documents from your file.
The first step is to contact the VLA staff member who has assisted you. This may be a VLA legal help officer, lawyer, mediator or an advocate from the Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) service. You can also make an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) by emailing foi@vla.vic.gov.au.
Enquiries or complaints about privacy
All enquiries, requests or complaints about privacy can be directed to VLA’s Internal Legal Services team at privacy@vla.vic.gov.au or on (03) 9280 3789.
Complaints can be sent via:
We aim to resolve complaints quickly and fairly, in accordance with our Complaints Policy.
If you wish to make a complaint externally to Victoria Legal Aid, you can contact the following:
Health complaints
If you have complaint that relates to your health, contact the Health Complaints Commissioner via:
Non-health complaints
If you complaint is not health-related, contact the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner via:
