Mental Health Legal Centre Inc.
Inside Access
Inside Access delivers free legal services and advocacy to imprisoned persons in Victorian adult and forensic correctional facilities. Inside Access is a therapeutic justice initiative affiliated with the Mental Health Legal Centre located in Melbourne, Australia.
Inside Access has been operating for two years and currently runs legal clinics in partnership with pro bono legal firms DLA Piper and Blake Dawson at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and the Melbourne Assessment Prison and provides legal services to incarcerated persons. Inside Access also assists forensic patients at Thomas Embling Hospital and other secure hospitals on a referral basis.
Legal Assistance
Inside Access provides legal assistance and advocacy to imprisoned people at these clinics within the following areas:
- Debt and credit issues
- Fines
- Parole Advice
- Post release legal issues
- Tenancy/ Housing
- Guardianship / Administration issues
- Centrelink
- Access to health and mental health services
- Discrimination
- Human rights
- Victims of Crime
- Freedom of Information
- Family Law (referrals)
- Crime (referrals)
On the basis of casework generated from these legal clinics, Inside Access identifies and addresses systemic issues requiring law and policy reform.
Inside Access also operates community legal education courses which aim to provide persons in incarceration with a greater understanding of the legal system and their place within it, as well as services available to them. Inside Access further aims to continue this in the broader community.
For more information, please visit the Inside Access website.
