Financial Rights Legal Centre

What Financial Rights Legal Centre does

Financial Rights Legal Centre is an Australian not-for-profit community legal centre headquartered in Surry Hills, New South Wales, operating since 1987. It provides free specialist financial counselling and legal advice to consumers experiencing financial distress, with a particular focus on vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians. The organisation is the only community legal centre in NSW specialising in financial services and one of the few in Australia that fully integrates telephone assistance and financial counselling with legal advice and representation. It also operates culturally specific services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The centre delivers four core telephone-based service lines: the National Debt Helpline (NSW answering service), Credit & Debt Legal Advice Line (NSW), Insurance Law Service (national), and Mob Strong Debt Help (national, Indigenous-specific). These are complemented by self-service digital tools including an interactive Debt Problem Solver, a Motor Vehicle Accident Problem Solver, a Sample Letter Generator, and a comprehensive Fact Sheet library. The organisation additionally runs a Community Legal Education program (34 training sessions reaching 2,500+ professionals in FY2024-25), publishes research on systemic consumer issues, and engages in policy and law reform advocacy, including recent coalition work on NSW Emergency Services Levy reform. Annual throughput exceeds 19,100 legal and financial counselling services, with over $2 million recouped or saved for clients, and the Insurance Law Service alone has answered more than 71,000 calls over 15 years.

Financial Rights Legal Centre is largely government funded through NSW Fair Trading, NSW and Federal Attorney-General's Departments, and other statutory sources, supplemented by ASIC-derived Community Benefit Funds and grants from ecstra and the Financial Counselling Foundation. All consumer-facing services are provided free of charge. The organisation is independently governed by a volunteer Board of Directors chaired by Natalie Pozdeev, with a current leadership transition underway from Interim CEO Mitali Tyagi to incoming CEO Jodie Rollason.

Name

Financial Rights Legal Centre

Legal name

Financial Rights Legal Centre

Website

https://financialrights.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Financial Rights Legal Centre is an Australian not-for-profit community legal centre, established 1987, providing free specialist financial counselling and legal advice to vulnerable consumers across credit, debt, banking, insurance, and Indigenous-specific services nationally and in NSW.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Financial Hardship & Forbearance Assistance (FSAEAFAJ), Credit Repair, Debt Relief & Bankruptcy Referrals (FSAEAMAH)

Keywords

• Community legal services
• Financial counselling
• Consumer credit advice
• Debt helpline services
• Insurance law advice

Headquarters

HQ city

Surry Hills

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Financial Rights Legal Centre delivers free specialist legal advice and financial counselling to consumers experiencing financial distress, focusing on credit, debt, banking, insurance, and financial hardship matters. Services are delivered primarily through telephone hotlines (National Debt Helpline, Credit & Debt Legal Advice Line, Insurance Law Service, Mob Strong Debt Help), online self-service tools (Debt Problem Solver, Motor Vehicle Accident Problem Solver, Sample Letter Generator, Fact Sheets), and community legal education workshops for financial counsellors and community workers.

Product overview

Financial Rights Legal Centre operates as a community legal centre providing a suite of telephone-based and digital services for Australians experiencing financial stress. The core offerings include four specialist telephone services: the National Debt Helpline (financial counselling), Credit & Debt Legal Advice Line (legal advice for NSW), Insurance Law Service (national specialist insurance advice), and Mob Strong Debt Help (specialist service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples). These are complemented by self-service digital tools including the Debt Problem Solver, Motor Vehicle Accident Problem Solver, Sample Letter Generator, and a comprehensive Fact Sheet library. The organization also provides Community Legal Education workshops and publishes research reports on systemic consumer financial issues. Together, these services form an integrated support ecosystem addressing credit, debt, banking, insurance, and financial hardship across Australia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• National Debt Helpline (NSW operations) Free national telephone financial counselling service providing advice on debt management, credit, banking, and financial hardship for Australian consumers.
• Credit & Debt Legal Advice Line Free telephone legal advice service for NSW consumers on credit, debt, banking and insurance matters, operating Monday to Friday 10am-1pm Sydney time.
• Insurance Law Service National specialist consumer insurance legal advice service providing free telephone advice across Australia on home, contents, motor vehicle, life, and other insurance matters.
• Mob Strong Debt Help Free nationwide legal advice and financial counselling service specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people covering consumer finance, banking, debt recovery, and insurance including car, home, life and funeral insurance.
• Debt Problem Solver Online interactive self-service tool that guides users through questions to understand their options when debts are piling up, helping identify steps to take and where to find help.
• Motor Vehicle Accident Problem Solver Online interactive tool that helps users identify their rights and steps to take after a car accident, with guidance on insurance claims and disputes.
• Sample Letter Generator Online self-service tool that allows users to generate customised letters for creditors, insurers, and ombudsmen, covering situations like debt collection disputes, hardship requests, and insurance claims.
• Fact Sheets Comprehensive library of educational fact sheets covering credit, debt, banking, bankruptcy, insurance, and specific topics like financial hardship, financial abuse, natural disasters, and consumer rights.
• Community Legal Education Workshops and Training Training and information sessions for financial counsellors, community lawyers, and caseworkers covering credit, debt, insurance laws, and appropriate referral processes, delivered online and in-person across NSW and Australia.
• Publications In-depth research publications, landmark reports, and educational tools on systemic issues affecting consumers, including insurance problems after extreme weather, family violence and insurance policies, and credit reporting for economic abuse.

Quantifiable outcome

• Provided over 19,104 free legal and financial counselling services
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Insurance Council of AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2026Industry group collaborating on NSW Emergency Services Levy reform advocacy. Independent economic analysis found that reforming the NSW ESL by replacing it with a broad-based property levy would deliver annual welfare gains of up to $460 million and save $500 million in economic costs. Financial Rights joins industry groups calling on NSW parliamentarians to enact the reform.
• Strata Community Association NSWcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2026Partnership calling on NSW parliamentarians to reform the Emergency Services Levy. The reform would benefit over 2 million households with most saving at least $55 a year while regional disaster-prone areas could see savings of around $565 annually.
• Business NSWcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2026Industry group partner in advocacy coalition for NSW Emergency Services Levy reform. Coalition argues the reform would remove an unfair burden on households and businesses and improve the state's disaster resilience.
• Financial Counselling AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordinates the National Debt Helpline. Financial Rights is the NSW service provider answering NDH calls. FCA and Financial Rights collaborate on advocacy and policy work for consumer protection.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Justice Connect: Australian not-for-profit that delivers free legal services, advice and representation to people experiencing disadvantage, with multiple specialist programs (e.g., Not-for-Profit Law, Seniors Law). Highly comparable as a community legal centre model serving vulnerable Australians across multiple practice areas.
• Financial Counselling Australia: National peak body for financial counsellors that coordinates the National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007), which Financial Rights answers in NSW. Direct partner-peer in the financial counselling system and comparable on free, government-funded financial counselling for distressed consumers.
• Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT: NSW/ACT provider of culturally appropriate legal services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across criminal, civil and family law. Closest peer to Mob Strong Debt Help on the Indigenous-specialist community legal service model.
• Redfern Legal Centre: Sydney-based community legal centre providing free legal advice, casework and education across multiple practice areas including credit/debt and tenancy. Comparable on the NSW community legal centre model and funding structure.
• Consumer Action Law Centre: Victorian community legal centre specialising in consumer law, credit, debt and insurance disputes for low-income Victorians. Direct peer to Financial Rights on the consumer-credit-debt-insurance niche and the telephone advice + representation model.
• WEstjustice: Community legal centre serving Melbourne's western suburbs with free legal advice, advocacy and community legal education. Comparable on the community legal centre service delivery model, multi-channel advice and education focus.

Others

• National Association of Community Legal Centres: Australian peak body for community legal centres, providing advocacy, sector development and policy representation. Indirect ecosystem peer; NACLC represents the broader network of which Financial Rights is a member and shapes sector funding/policy outcomes.
• Tenants Union of NSW: NSW peak body providing free tenancy law advice, advocacy and policy work. Adjacent thematic peer — a NSW non-government legal/social assistance organisation focused on consumer rights in housing, sharing the community legal education and policy reform approach.

Broad incumbents

• Legal Aid NSW: Statutory legal aid commission for NSW providing a broad range of civil, criminal and family law services. A broader incumbent in the same NSW legal aid space; Financial Rights complements Legal Aid NSW by specialising in financial services matters where Legal Aid has narrower scope.
• ASIC MoneySmart: Australian Securities and Investments Commission's free consumer financial guidance website covering credit, debt, banking, insurance and superannuation. Broad incumbent providing scaled consumer financial information; comparable content scope but government-funded and not a legal aid provider.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MobStrongDebtHelp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/financial-rights-legal-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Financial Rights Legal Centre