Protection Visa and Appeals Legal Service
Can this legal service assist you?
- Are you on a visa in Australia and seeking protection from your home country?
- Have you made an application for protection that has been refused?
- Do you have an upcoming interview, court date or hearing date?
- Have you received a notification letter with a time limit to respond?
- Are you considering lodging an appeal at the Administrative Review Tribunal or Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be eligible for our service/s.
How we can help?
We provide legal advice and assistance regarding:
Applying for a protection visa
Protection visas provide permanent residency in Australia for people who cannot return home due to a risk of serious harm or persecution.
Appeals to the Administrative Review Tribunal and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
We provide one-off urgent advice on upcoming deadlines or time limitations.
We can also help connect you to other relevant legal services and support services, including our in-house Social Worker.
Our Team
Funding and Social Impact
The protection visa (PV) system in Australia plays a significant role in ensuring safety and support to individuals fearing persecution. A well-functioning system ensures that all individuals seeking protection have access to fair and timely decision-making processes.
Circle Green Community Legal is the only legal service in Western Australia with specialist humanitarian and protection expertise that has received funding (over 2024-25) to boost legal assistance and support applications throughout the PV journey, including merits review and judicial review stages. Circle Green will use the funding to design and deliver a holistic, trauma-informed, innovative, and sustainable model of service to help reduce the backlog in protection visa caseloads at initial and appeals stages. By expanding access to legal representation for protection visa clients, this service will contribute to improving case management efficiency at the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) and Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA), as well as ensuring a fairer decision-making process.
Six-Month Progress Report
(August 2024 – January 2025)
We are excited to share our six-month progress report (redacted), which outlines our achievements in reducing the backlog of protection visa caseloads, from initial applications to all appeal stages. This report highlights our data-driven approach to service delivery and the key milestones we’ve reached during this period.
We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with funding bodies, stakeholders, and partners to continue improving our services and support for individuals navigating the protection visa process.
For further information or to provide feedback, please contact Rohini Thomas, Program Manager at rohini.thomas@circlegreen.org.au.
Funding Priorities for Protection and Appeals Reform
Funding for our Protection Visa and Appeals Legal Service ends on 30 June 2025. We are proactively advocating for three key funding priorities, outlined in our 2-page Funding Priorities for Protection and Appeals Reform.
Our service helps clients understand complex law and appeal process for claiming protection. In WA, this service is on track to reducing the backlog, improving efficiency in case management for decision makers and ensuring a fairer and more efficient justice system.
We appreciate support and endeavors to see this service continue to achieve impactful outcomes.
How to contact us
Please contact us on (08) 6148 3636 or visit our offices at, Ground Floor, 445 Hay Street, Perth or via email at humanitarian@circlegreen.org.au to see if our service can help you.
Please note that all our services are confidential and free, with access to interpreters as required.
Discover more about our Humanitarian services here.