Information & Referral Line
FLAC legal intern Catherine O'Donovan maintaining the FLAC information and referral phoneline, February 2007FLAC provides an information and referral line that individuals may call to receive guidance on their legal needs. The office takes calls Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm and the number is
1890 350 250
While legal advice is not given over the phone, legal information and referrals to an appropriate centre or agency is provided. Specialised advisors who deal with credit/debt law and social welfare law may also be available.
Otherwise, the caller will be referred to one of FLAC's legal advice centres where he/she can discuss the matter with a volunteer solicitor or barrister, or to another organisation/agency which will be able to help him/her further.
Statistics: In 2008 FLAC head office received 9,250 calls to its information service. which is up substantially from 6034 in 2007 and 5786 calls in 2006, showing a growing awareness of FLAC's service. Family law was again the largest area of enquiry last year, with one in five calls to the information line being in this sector. however there was a five-fold increase in calls regarding debt law and employment law was also a large area of concern, as was FLAC's centre locations and services (referrals to FLAC centres or in-house advisors), followed closely by Employment Law.
Where appropriate, FLAC also refers callers to other independent and state agencies for more specialised information on issues such as social welfare law, family law and landlord and tenant matters. You will find a list of such bodies on our useful links page.