A new study led by Monash Business School has produced findings and recommendations set to improve and grow the delivery of free legal help to communities in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
The report, Equality Law Capability Project: Insights on the Legal Needs of People from Four Communities in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne, led by Dr Adriana Orifici, reveals the barriers people from the Vietnamese, Indian, Afghan and South Sudanese communities in the western suburbs of Melbourne can face in getting free legal help about discrimination or sexual harassment at work, and how community legal centres and other legal service providers can respond.
The study was commissioned by Westjustice under a Victoria Law Foundation Knowledge Grant. Westjustice wanted to better understand the needs of the people from the four communities, and what prevented them from seeking free legal advice regarding matters of workplace discrimination and sexual harassment during the first year of its Equality Law Service (ELS).
The study focused on how the ELS could improve its service delivery to ensure that it was accessible to people who self-identified as belonging to the four communities. The ELS provides free legal help about workplace discrimination and sexual harassment to people in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
The findings of the study informed nine recommendations for Westjustice to improve and grow its ELS.The research involved surveying people who self-identified as belonging to each of the four communities, and conducting focus group interviews with participants to gain deeper insights.
Dr Orifici said the study found participants often preferred to use personal relationships and informal pathways to get help about problems involving workplace discrimination or sexual harassment.
“For some participants, this included asking close family members, friends or colleagues and community-based networks rather than lawyers, as well as using online sources that were accessible and helped preserve anonymity. In addition, they wanted more information about where to get free help, and described specific cultural safety needs that were relevant when accessing free legal services,” Dr Orifici said.
Focus group discussions indicated that many participants knew that laws applied to them in workplaces that protected them against discrimination and sexual harassment. However, some participants did not know about what the legal process involved if they chose to complain about an experience of discrimination and sexual harassment, or what free legal help was available.
“While focus group participants frequently knew that laws existed that protected them from discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, few knew that tailored legal services existed in Victoria that could provide them with help to solve these types of issues,” Dr Orifici said.
Jennifer Jones, the Legal Director of the Workers’, Economic and Housing Rights Programs at Westjustice, and who commissioned the study, said the findings of the study reinforce that legal service delivery is “not a one size fits all approach”. The research, she said, has enabled Westjustice to “better understand the legal needs and implement evidence-informed activities” in its legal service delivery model.
Melissa Hardham, CEO of Westjustice, also said that “Westjustice is proudly community-led in everything that we do. We are proud to be implementing all of the recommendations so that our service can meet the needs of the communities we work for and they can get help where and when they need it”.
Survey and focus group participants were also asked about how they would prefer to solve a problem about workplace discrimination or sexual harassment. Dr Orifici said focus group participants often emphasised that they would first use non-legal networks and contacts to ask questions and seek help, including online.
“Some focus group participants spoke about how online sources, including online searches and websites, and online forums such as on Facebook were quick, free and anonymous ways to get relevant information and ask questions. For some participants, confidentiality and anonymity when attempting to solve a problem about discrimination or sexual harassment at work were key priorities,” Dr Orifici said.
Participants in the focus groups were asked about any cultural barriers that existed for them in terms of getting help from a legal service like the ELS and any needs that they had. The study found that possible barriers and needs varied widely between participants, and this illuminated that cultural needs intersected with other factors and attributes (e.g. gender and confidence in communicating about legal issues in English).
“This research provides examples of how the cultural needs relevant to whether a participant goes to get help from a service like the ELS, and what they need from the service if they do so, are highly specific to the individual. Responding to these needs requires a proactive approach from lawyers and the service, generally. Female participants in the focus groups talked in particular about how they would like to be asked about their cultural needs when they approached a service like the ELS or first met their lawyer,” Dr Orifici said.
The Equality Law Capability Project: Insights on the Legal Needs of People from Four Communities in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne is available to access here.
The report was officially launched at a Westjustice roundtable on Tuesday 11 February 2026.
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