Animal Law Clinic – COVID-19 Arrangements for 2021

COVID safe arrangements are now in place which will allow the Animal Law Clinic (‘ALC’) to resume on 20 January 2021.  The ALC will resume for Wednesday nights from that date and legal advice will be provided through telephone consultations with the Animal Law Clinic (‘ALC’) which operates in Victoria. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide legal advice by telephone outside of the ALC times or by email.

Telephone appointments will be for one hour during the ALC opening hours.

About the ALC

The ALC is a joint initiative of Lawyers for Animals and Fitzroy Legal Service. The ALC provides free legal advice on matters relating to animals where the client’s interests are likely to coincide with those of the animal(s) concerned. This can include companion animal offences, ownership disputes, animal activism and many other matters relating to animal welfare.

The ALC only operates on Wednesday evenings at the Fitzroy Legal Service between 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

How to contact the ALC – if you live in Victoria

You must make an appointment for a telephone consultation with the Animal Law Clinic.  If you live in Victoria and cannot afford private legal assistance and wish to make an appointment, please fill out the enquiry form for the FLS and include on the form that your were referred by LFA.

FLS will contact you to give you the date and time of your telephone appointment once they receive your enquiry form.  You will also get an email address for FLS.  Click the below link to the FLS enquiries form.

Link to FLS Web Enquiries Form

Getting the most out of your telephone consultation

Gather up all relevant documents in a bundle and you must email your documents to FLS before 2 pm on the day of your appointment.  The email address will be given to you when your appointment is made.  Include any documents you think are relevant or important for the legal advisor allocated to your consultation to see.

What to do if your animal law matter is urgent?

If your case is urgent and you can’t wait for the next available appointment with the ALC, we suggest the following:

• You can call Victoria Legal Aid’s telephone advice line on 1300 792 387
• You can try another Community Legal Centre close to you. Find your nearest one here: www.fclc.org.au/find_a_community_legal_centre 
• See if you are eligible for help through Justice Connect: www.justiceconnect.org.au/who-we-cant-help/

What if you are not living in Victoria?

If you live outside Victoria or are otherwise seeking a referral for legal advice from a non-fee-charging or private lawyer, please feel free to contact Lawyers for Animals via email: enquiries@lawyersforanimals.org.au.