What We Do
A Voice For Fairness
Help with Centrelink
We provide free information, advocacy and legal services on Social Security (Centrelink and Employment Services).
Social security law is vast, complex and frequently changing, creating confusion and uncertainty for many Centrelink recipients.
BRQ cuts through that complexity, helping people to know where they stand and, if an incorrect decision has been made, what to do about it.
Being a state-wide, telephone-based service, BRQ is able to offer the same expert, specialist services to all clients, whether they live in Brisbane or Boulia.
Disability Discrimination
We provide free assistance, advice, and resources to help resolve Disability Discrimination matters.
Disability discrimination is unlawful; it is also often hurtful for the person being discriminated against.
With staff possessing both legal and human services expertise, BRQ is able to assist you to understand and protect your rights.
Our social worker provides services to clients in need of social work support in relation to their Disability Discrimination problem, such as brief counselling or referrals to local community agencies.
Supporting Women at work
A free, confidential & supportive service to help vulnerable women with work-related matters.
For Queensland women who are seeking assistance about issues at work, our telephone advice service enables you to speak to an industrial officer about your workplace concern.
Information and advice for women in and around the workplace. Issues such as Domestic Violence & work, workplace protections, discrimination and harassment, leave and termination of employment.
Mental Health Legal Hub
We provide tailored state-wide legal support for people with mental health conditions.
This includes assistance in our areas of practice of Social Security, Disability Discrimination and Employment for people with mental health conditions and referrals to specialist community legal services for mental health matters.
The mental health hub is a collaborative service model where Basic Rights Qld provides an entry point for community based mental health legal services across Qld.
Fact sheets
BRQ produces factsheets and guides which translate complex law into plain English.
These resources explain how the law works, your rights and obligations and what to do when you believe an incorrect decision has been made or you have been discriminated against.
Social Work
Our social workers provide vulnerable or distressed clients with additional support through advice, brief counselling, warm referrals, case work and advocacy at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
As our resources are limited, case work and advocacy support are only available to people who meet our priority criteria.
Our social work team also participate in our Community Legal Education program where appropriate or requested and provide a valuable social work perspective to these sessions.
Community Legal Education
Basic Rights Qld provides a range of Community Legal Education services.
The program facilitates access to justice and enables people to understand their rights and obligations and is available to community based, private sector and government organisations and groups. We participate in community events, visit organisations and provide worker training. We do this to increase awareness and clarity about the law and how to navigate systems.
Our social security team provides information on Social Security and Disability Discrimination aimed at building peoples capacity to respond to their own or clients social security problems including:
- debt,
- disability support pension
- aged pension
- newstart
- other payment types and claims
- and reinstatement of payments.
Our Working Women’s Qld program provides sessions on a range of workplace topics including:
- basic rights at work
- preventing and responding to workplace harassment and discrimination
- domestic violence and work
All sessions can be tailored to the requirements of a particular organisations, simple or in-depth according to need and can be delivered via the internet.
Please contact us on 1800 358 511 or via
Law Reform
We work with the National Welfare Rights Network whose activities aim to reduce poverty, hardship and inequality in Australia.
This is done by by collecting and analysing the experiences of the people assisted by its member centres, identifying changes needed to address gaps in our social security safety net, and engaging with government to raise awareness of issues and work co-operatively to achieve change.
The Network provides expert feedback to Government on new and proposed changes to welfare law and policy and the secretariat is funded by Government to co-ordinate the Network’s activities to this end.
You can read more about the National Welfare Rights Network on their website.
Services to community organisations
BRQ offers specialist services for community organisations:
- Advice regarding your client’s legal situation and how best to assist them.
- Advice on how to navigate Centrelink processes or support a client through a discrimination complaint.
- Worker training to increase the capacity of staff to respond to their clients’ social security problems.
Get Help Now: call us from anywhere in Queensland.
Make a booking for Social Security or Disability Discrimination advice:
Times: Monday – Friday 9:00am – 4:00pm
Make a booking for telephone advice on Women’s Employment Issues
Times: Monday – Friday 9:00am – 4:00pm