We act as a facilitator or go-between for pro bono legal assistance between the community and the private legal profession. Our main role is to receive, assess and refer requests for pro bono legal assistance. We aim to work creatively to match clients with lawyers willing to give their services without charge.

PILCH coordinates the delivery of pro bono legal services through:

  • the Referral Scheme (encompassing the Members' Scheme, the Victorian Bar Pro Bono Scheme (VBPBS) and the Law Institute of Victoria Legal Assistance Scheme (LIVLAS))
  • the Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic (HPLC)
  • PILCH Connect - a specialist service for community organisations
  • the Seniors Rights Legal Clinic (SRLC)
  • MOSAIC (Migrant Outreach Services - Advice, Information and Community Education)

PilchConnect
PilchConnect is a specialist service that provides legal and legally-related information, advocacy and advice to community organisations. PILCH aims to support and enhance the work done for, and on behalf, of the community by such organisations, which typically function with limited resources, by providing access to quality legal services.

Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic
The HPLC is a specialist legal service that provides free legal assistance and advocacy to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Legal assistance is provided by pro bono lawyers at 11 homelessness assistance services in and around metropolitan Melbourne to facilitate direct access by clients and to provide a service that works closely and collaboratively with other homeless service providers.

Seniors Rights Legal Clinic
The SRLC is a specialist legal and advocacy service for older Victorians experiencing or at risk of elder abuse. The SRLC provides free legal assistance to older Victorians who are unable to afford a private lawyer. The clinics are co-located with health services at four sites across metropolitan Melbourne to ensure close proximity to existing services for older people.

MOSAIC (Migrant Outreach Services - Advice, Information and Community Education) 
MOSAIC provides free legal services to recently arrived migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. We have partnered with Metro Migrant Resource Centre and Refugee Advice & Casework Service to provide a free legal advice clinic every Tuesday morning at Metro Migrant Resource Centre's office in Marrickville, Sydney.

Other Projects
We also house the Advocacy-Health Alliance Network. The AHA Network was formed following the Inaugural Advocacy-Health Alliance Symposium held in 2012 in Melbourne. The Network aims to facilitate the development of the Advocacy-Health Alliance model in Australia.

We recently concluded our Offshore Asylum Seeker Project (OASP) and Pro Bono Animal Law Service (PALS). If you have any questions about these projects, please contact our Sydney office on (02) 9114 1793.