Staff can address family breakdown, parenting, child support, housing, other issues
Legal Aid NSW has announced the official opening of its permanent ‘shopfront’ office in Moree, with dedicated local team members who can furnish legal assistance to people in the town and northwestern New South Wales.
The new office is located at Unit 3, 25 Auburn Street, Moree, NSW 2400, according to a media release from Legal Aid NSW.
The organisation invited those with legal issues relating to family breakdown, parenting, child support, housing, fines, debt, employment, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Centrelink, or criminal matters to contact the office.
“This is so important for local communities, to have access to permanent and on-site legal services,” said Monique Hitter, Legal Aid NSW chief executive officer, in the media release.
“This is an area where there is significant unmet demand for legal services, which is why we are committed to ensuring Moree locals have the same access to high quality legal services as those in other towns and regions,” she explained.
According to the media release, with its new office, Legal Aid NSW aims to meet growing demand, particularly among families and youth, improve access to legal services, and help people in the town and the surrounding region:
On an initial basis, the Moree legal aid team comprises a solicitor in charge, an office manager, an Aboriginal field officer, and a crime solicitor. The media release noted that they can connect people to the right service.
“We will complement the work of other support services in the region by focusing on unmet legal need,” Hitter said in the media release. “We will collaborate closely with existing local services so that Legal Aid NSW is an option for the community when they have a legal problem.”
Before the opening in Moree, Legal Aid NSW offered telephone advice and outreach services to people in the region on a fly-in, fly-out basis. In 2024–25, the organisation delivered 1,256 services to clients in the region, representing a 33 percent rise over four years.
“We also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in Moree, the Kamilaroi people,” Hitter said in the organisation’s media release.
Legal Aid NSW shared that over 22 percent of the Moree Plains population is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. With its new Moree office, the organisation seeks to establish a permanent base for its civil and family law services for Aboriginal communities.
“We are committed to providing culturally-safe legal services to Aboriginal people and communities in the region,” Hitter said. “This is so important and this will be a key focus for our Aboriginal Field Officer.”
Legal Aid NSW said interested individuals can contact the new Moree office via LawAccess by calling 1300 888 529.
