Professional legal help within your reach.
Making legal help accessible for those caught between Legal Aid and private law firms.
Bridging the justice gap with expert, affordable legal support — empowering workers with clear advice, compassionate service, and real results.
We focus on employment law and help workers across Australia resolve their workplace disputes — people who earn too much to qualify for legal aid, but not enough to comfortably afford a private lawyer.
We help workers who don't qualify for legal aid and can't afford a private lawyer
Affordable
Our prices are deeply discounted and agreed with you upfront. Your first consultation with us is free of charge and our services will be tailored to your circumstances to keep costs as low as possible. We are not a commercial firm seeking to make a profit, but a social enterprise that uses its income to provide more legal services to people who need them.
Excellence
We provide quality legal advice and representation. Our low fees do not affect the quality of our work. We know that to achieve lasting impact, our work must shine. We're curious and open to finding solutions, and we work tirelessly for the best outcomes.
Accessible
For legal help to be within your reach, your individual needs will always guide our approach. We listen, advise, and help you make informed decisions and then work with you to deliver the right result. Everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
Innovation
We utilise smart technology and efficient business practices to save you time and money. We use AI and technology to handle the routine parts of legal work, which is how we keep costs down without cutting corners on quality.
How we can help
Expert legal support for the workplace issues that matter most — explained in plain English, priced upfront.
Unfair dismissal claims
Lost your job? You may have more rights than you realise. We have extensive experience with the Fair Work Commission on dismissal-based claims and will help you understand options and act quickly.
Employment contracts
Lost your job? You may have more rights than you realise. We have extensive experience with the Fair Work Commission on dismissal-based claims and will help you understand options and act quickly.
Underpayment and wage theft
Have you been underpaid, denied leave entitlements, or incorrectly classified as a contractor? We can help calculate your entitlements, issue a letter of demand or assist in negotiations or initiate court proceedings.
Redundancy and entitlements
Have you been underpaid, denied leave entitlements, or incorrectly classified as a contractor? We can help calculate your entitlements, issue a letter of demand or assist in negotiations or initiate court proceedings.
Workplace discrimination
Have you been treated unfairly because of your age, gender, disability, pregnancy or background? You have legal protections which we can explain and support you with if you wish to pursue your options.
Mediation and conciliation
Have you been underpaid, denied leave entitlements, or incorrectly classified as a contractor? We can help calculate your entitlements, issue a letter of demand or assist in negotiations or initiate court proceedings.
Our expert employment lawyers
Experience. Knowledge. Commitment.
Ian Neil SC
Chair of Blue Gum Legal · Director of the Marrickville Legal Centre
Ian Neil SC is a Senior Counsel in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia and is a recognised expert in employment law. He appears regularly in the High Court; the Full Federal Court; the Federal Court; the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia; and before Full Benches of the Fair Work Commission. He also appears frequently in commissions, inquiries and inquests, many concerning significant safety incidents.
Genevieve Barry
Senior Solicitor · Employment Law
Genevieve Barry is a Senior Solicitor specialising in employment law and representing employees in workplace disputes across New South Wales and Australia. She brings a strong commitment to access to justice and extensive experience in the community legal sector. Her practice is grounded in delivering clear, practical advice and achieving meaningful outcomes for clients navigating challenging workplace issues.
Vasili Maroulis
CEO
Biography coming soon.
Vanessa Anthony
Role to be confirmed
Biography coming soon.
Bridging the gap in access to justice
Blue Gum Legal was born out of a simple, powerful realisation at Marrickville Legal Centre: too many everyday Australians were falling through the cracks of the legal system.
Every day, people facing difficult workplace issues sought help, only to find themselves stuck in the "missing middle." They didn't qualify for free legal aid, yet private law firm fees were entirely out of reach. Unwilling to leave these people to face stressful employment disputes alone, Marrickville Legal Centre took action.
As demand and impact continued to grow, Marrickville Legal Centre established Blue Gum Legal as a separate low-cost legal practice, creating greater capacity to assist more people with affordable and accessible legal services.
Our initial focus is on employment law, with plans to expand into other areas of legal practice as the service continues to grow.
Our name reflects our proud heritage
Our pilot program began at the Addison Road Community Organisation Centre in Sydney, which supports society's most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
We take our name from the 150-year-old heart and soul of the centre, a much-loved "habitat tree" which provides shelter and a home for a bustling ecosystem of cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, possums, microbats and assorted lizards and insects. It is the subject of a children's book, The Hollow Tree, which has been featured on ABC Kids Listen and won the Habitat and Wildlife Conservation Award in the 2020 Sustainable Cities awards.
This resilient Blue Gum, providing protection and shelter, with deep and strong roots in community, reflects how Blue Gum Legal began — a grass roots initiative to provide protection and support for people in need who couldn't access affordable legal services.
Get involved
Your support is the difference. We focus on supporting people in financial hardship who are ineligible to access free legal advice but unable to afford private legal fees — the "missing middle".
Access to justice is essential. Our low-cost model is built around excellence, accessibility, affordability and innovation. We provide high-quality legal advice and representation, technology-enabled innovation to support affordability, and the professional development of our employees and volunteers.
We would like to do more. With your help we can. Our initial focus is employment law but we will introduce other areas of law as we grow sustainably.
1000+
claims assisted
$5.8m
recovered for workers
Free
first consultation, always
Ask us how we can help
Your first consultation is free. Tell us what's happening at work and we'll help you understand your options — in plain English, with costs agreed upfront.
Contact us