Your enquiry will first be reviewed by either our Early Resolution & Complaints team or our Licensing team. They may contact you if they need more information.

If they believe your enquiry raises concerns about unqualified legal practice, they will send it to our Intervention & Enforcement team.

The Intervention & Enforcement team will then do an early assessment. During this stage, they may ask you for more details or documents.
 

Our early assessment is not a formal investigation.

A formal investigation only begins when:

1. the assessment is finished, and
2. the Intervention & Enforcement team decides that a formal investigation is needed.

The Uniform Law requires us to keep most information confidential. Because of this, we can usually only tell you:

• important decisions, like if we intend to commence court proceedings, and
• the final outcome of your enquiry.

We cannot give regular updates while we are assessing the matter. We also may not be able to tell you if a formal investigation has started.

The Victorian Legal Services Board (the Board) can take a range of regulatory action, like:

• giving information to the person involved
• issuing a warning
• negotiating a solution (for example, the person agrees to change their advertising or stop offering certain services)
• applying to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a disqualification order
• applying to the Supreme Court for an injunction (an injunction is a type of restraining order)
• starting a criminal prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court.

Sometimes we may find there is not enough evidence to show the law was broken. If that happens, we will close the file and let you know.

We aim to be fair and balanced. Even if we believe the law has been broken, we may decide not to take the matter to court.

When choosing the appropriate action, we consider:

• the law about unqualified legal practice
• our Compliance and Enforcement Policy and Regulatory Approach Statement
• information gathered during our enquiries, including any response from the person involved and whether they accept responsibility.

We also look at the level of risk, any harm to consumers, and how serious or repeated the behaviour is.

You can choose to remain anonymous, but this may limit what we can do. In most cases, we may have to close the file without taking action.

If we do take action, the person involved is usually entitled to know:

• what information raised concerns, and
• who provided that information.

If the matter goes to court, you may need to give evidence.

However, if your enquiry is based only on public information (for example, something on the person’s website or social media profile), we may be able to proceed without using your name.

Maybe. We may try other regulatory actions before going to court. If we do decide to start court proceedings, a member of our Intervention & Enforcement team will contact you. You may need to make a witness statement or give evidence.

No. The Uniform Law does not give us the power to make someone repay you.

If you paid an unqualified person for services, you should speak to an Australian legal practitioner for advice. You can contact:

• Victoria Legal Aid 
• your local community legal centre.

If you would like to complain about a qualified Australian legal practitioner that you have paid, please see our page on disputing your bill.
 

We cannot give legal advice or help you with your legal case.

If you need legal help, you can contact:

• Victoria Legal Aid
• your local community legal centre
• the Law Institute of Victoria – Find Your Lawyer Referral Service.

Before you hire a lawyer, check they are listed on our Register of lawyers.

We aim to resolve enquiries within 6 to 12 months. It may take longer, especially if we start court proceedings.

Many things can affect how long it takes to resolve an enquiry. For example:

• if we raise our concerns with the person involved, we need to give them time to respond, and let them seek legal advice
• if we ask for information from third parties, we need to give them time to respond
• we consider requests for extensions of time to respond to our information requests
• evidence can take time to review, especially if there are lots of documents
• we must carefully consider the law about unqualified legal practice before taking regulatory action.