Secondary consultations

If you’re supporting someone and need help to understand a legal issue, you can apply for a secondary consultation.

You’ll speak with a lawyer about your client’s situation, without your client.

A secondary consult is for workers, not clients. 

It gives you the opportunity to:

• talk through a legal issue affecting your client 
• understand how the law may apply 
• think through safe options and next steps

You do not need to share identifying information about your client.

You can apply if:

• you work in a community, health, family violence or specialist support service
• you are supporting a woman or non-binary person experiencing family or sexual violence
• your client has no or low income and assets

If you are not sure if this is the right option, you can still apply. The request process will help you work out if we can help and what the best next steps are.

A secondary consultation can help you think through legal issues such as:

• whether your client should apply for an intervention order
• what happens if your client leaves the family home
• a client being wrongly named as a person using violence 
• financial abuse and keeping money and property safe
• parenting plans and children’s safety, including child removal or dealing with Victoria’s Child Protection Service 
• visa help after family violence 
• court documents or contact from another lawyer or mediator
• victims of crime financial support 

You can also explore the full range of problems we can help with. 

If your client would benefit from legal advice or representation, we will talk with you about next steps.

This may include supporting you to: 

• refer your client for legal help
• connect your client with other legal services