The rooms the food map never lists. Weekday desks, not Saturday market energy.
When the food map cannot catch you, these rooms can. New Hope Foundation is at 30A Pickett Street, weekdays 9am-5pm. Heavenly Queen Temple is 20 Joseph Road. St Monica's Parish on Whitehall runs Vietnamese Mass. Victoria University Mosque is 104 Ballarat Road on the Park campus. The library is 56 Paisley. WEstjustice legal help covering Maribyrnong is at 12 Clarke Street, Sunshine, not a 3011 shopfront. AMES at 37 Albert Street is not AMEP. Call before you travel. Walk someone to the buzzer if you can.
Updated 2026-09-20
Where do new arrivals actually go in Footscray?
New Hope Foundation, Footscray Refugee Resource Centre, 30A Pickett Street, weekdays 9am-5pm, (03) 9448 8009. The printed site newhope.asn.au did not resolve in September 2026. Call the phone. Do not use newhope.foundation, a different organisation. It is not on Hopkins. It is not a restaurant. If you are helping a newly arrived friend, walk them to the desk. Do not send a pin drop to Pickett Street and assume they will find the buzzer. Saturday market energy and weekday casework are different Footscrays. Use the weekday one for this page.
AMES Australia is 37 Albert Street, 13 26 37, Monday to Friday 8:30am-5pm. AMES does not deliver AMEP in metro Melbourne. For English, SEE, Centrelink, jobs and a licence photo use the learn English and work guide. Angliss Neighbourhood House is 2/11 Vipont. West Footscray Neighbourhood House is Level 1, 539 Barkly, reception 9am-3pm. cohealth West Footscray at 575A Barkly is community health with interpreters on 131 450. Footscray Library at 56 Paisley has wifi, computers and room hire. GenWest and Tweddle are the other civic names when family violence or early parenting is the job. Call. Do not use this page as a crisis line. 000 is the emergency.
Street fact
What language is spoken at home?
10.5%Vietnamese at home in 3011. Six times the state rate.2021 Census
Vietnamese
6x Victoria
Footscray 3011
10.5%
West Footscray 3012
8.2%
Victoria
1.8%
English only
Footscray 3011
53.3%
West Footscray 3012
62.2%
Victoria
67.2%
What this hides. Vietnamese at home is why Hopkins exists. It is not the whole suburb. English only is still 53.3% in 3011. QuickStats only prints the top other languages, so Somali, Amharic and Tigrinya sit below the published cut.
See the full table
Language used at home, 2021 Census. Household row is place of enumeration.
Heavenly Queen Temple at 20 Joseph Road is the Chinese Mazu temple, open 365 days, listed 9:30am to 3:30pm weekdays and 9:30am to 4pm weekends. Dress like you are walking into a temple. St Monica's Parish at Whitehall and Wingfield has Vietnamese vigil Saturday 6pm, Vietnamese Sunday 9am, English Sunday 10:30am. Victoria University Mosque is 104 Ballarat Road on the Park campus. Quang Minh Temple, often searched as Footscray, is Sunshine.
Bring the question to the right door. A food crawl is not Mass. A temple visit is not a mosque. Hours are listed on those place pages. Confirm before a group arrives. Joseph Road is calmer and darker toward the river after hours. Temple visits are daylight. The Chinese food guide covers yum cha. This page covers Mazu as worship, not as a brunch backdrop.
Where is free legal help?
WEstjustice (formerly Footscray Community Legal Centre) still runs programs that name a Footscray branch, including a Communities of Burma clinic. The published office is Level 7, 12 Clarke Street, Sunshine VIC 3020, phone (03) 9749 7720. Do not send someone to a 3011 shopfront that does not exist. Call first. Search results still say Footscray Community Legal Centre because that was the old name. Do not send a newly arrived person on a train to a ghost address.
Paid Vietnamese, Hindi and Punjabi law desks sit in Footscray and West Footscray. Use the professional services guide for those rooms. Community legal is Sunshine. Paid language desks are Leeds, Barkly, Nicholson and Ashley. Mixing them is how people miss a clinic. If they cannot pay, call Sunshine first, not Leeds.
Where do I learn English and find Centrelink?
That is a different guide on purpose. AMES is not AMEP. SEE is Navitas at VU Nicholson Building D. Centrelink is 75 Moore Street. Australia Post on Barkly is a VicRoads photo, not the test. Read learn English and work before you walk into the wrong logo. Kindness is not an enrolment rule. A neighbour who walked you to AMES still has not enrolled you in AMEP.
This page keeps the settlement rooms, the worship doors and the legal catch. English and jobs need their own names because the mistakes are expensive. Library conversation groups at 56 Paisley are extra practice, not a certificate. Neighbourhood house terms change. Call before you promise a friend a class.
What should you bring to a settlement desk?
Visa grant, passport, Medicare if you have it, address evidence, any letters from Services Australia. Interpreters exist. Ask when you book. New Hope hours are weekdays. Do not arrive Saturday with a market bag and expect a caseworker. Neighbourhood houses run classes and rooms that change by term. Library wifi is the quiet fallback. None of these replace a hospital ED or 000.
If you are translating for a relative, say so when you book. Do not assume the receptionist speaks the language because the suburb does. Vietnamese is common. Other community languages still need a booked interpreter more often than a random walk-in. Bring copies. Bring a USB if you have letters as files. The buzzer on Pickett is small. The work behind it is not.
How do health and settlement overlap?
cohealth is community health with interpreters. Millennium in the plaza is a bulk-bill GP, 9am-5pm seven days. Vietnamese at that desk is a hedge: confirm when you book. Market Medical bulk bills with a card. ED is 24 hours. The health guide is the clinical map. Settlement is the catch around it: housing stress, family, legal, English, worship. GenWest is the family violence name in this directory. If you are in danger, 000. This is a field guide, not a hotline. We still name the door so you can find it in daylight.
Tweddle is early parenting support at 49-71 Adelaide Street, not drop-in daycare. A new baby and a new visa can land in the same week. Name both jobs. Do not send a postnatal crisis to a food guide. Do not send a housing letter to a temple. The rooms are specific. That is the point of this page.
Is WEstjustice in Footscray?
The office is 12 Clarke Street, Sunshine. Programs cover Maribyrnong. Call (03) 9749 7720. There is no 3011 shopfront in this directory. If they needed a paid Vietnamese solicitor today, Leeds and Barkly. If they needed Punjabi or Hindi, Ashley Street 3012. If they needed community legal, Sunshine. Three answers. One phone call to confirm.
NP Legal on Leeds and Desi Accountants on Nicholson are paid desks in this directory. They are not community legal. They will not replace a means test. The professional services guide is those rooms. This page is the catch that does not require a fee if you qualify.
What do people get wrong about settlement in Footscray?
They walk into AMES asking for AMEP. They look for WEstjustice on Irving. They send Quang Minh searches to Joseph Road. They treat the library as Centrelink. They skip New Hope because it is not on Hopkins. They use a food guide as a visa strategy. They arrive Saturday with fruit and expect a caseworker.
Name the desk. Bring the papers. Confirm Sunshine versus 3011. Read the English guide next. That is how this suburb actually catches people. Call before you travel. Hours on this page are a starting map, not a substitute for the door. Walk them to the buzzer if you can. Pins are not hospitality.
Questions people ask next
Is Quang Minh Temple in Footscray?
No. It is Sunshine. Heavenly Queen Temple at 20 Joseph Road is the Footscray Mazu temple, open 365 days. Dress for a temple. Confirm hours before a group.
Is WEstjustice in Footscray?
The office is 12 Clarke Street, Sunshine. Programs cover Maribyrnong. Call (03) 9749 7720. There is no 3011 shopfront in this directory. Paid language desks are Leeds, Barkly, Nicholson and Ashley.
Where is Vietnamese Mass in Footscray?
St Monica's Parish, Whitehall and Wingfield. Saturday 6pm vigil and Sunday 9am. English is 10:30am Sunday. A food crawl is not Mass.
Where is New Hope Foundation?
30A Pickett Street, weekdays 9am-5pm, (03) 9448 8009. Refugee resource centre, not a restaurant. Walk someone to the buzzer if you can. Saturday is not a casework day.
Where is the mosque in Footscray?
Victoria University Mosque, 104 Ballarat Road, Park campus. Not the mall. Not Heavenly Queen on Joseph Road. Confirm campus access if you are not a student.
Where is Footscray Library?
56 Paisley Street. Wifi, computers, room hire. Not Centrelink. Centrelink is 75 Moore Street. Paisley after dark is not a night shortcut. Use the library in daylight.
Can I do AMEP at AMES Footscray?
No. AMES does not deliver AMEP in metropolitan Melbourne. Use the learn English and work guide for SEE, Skills First and the right campus. Kindness is not an enrolment rule.
Where is GenWest if I need family violence support?
GenWest printed visit line is 317-319 Barkly Street. Call 1800 436 937 before you travel. December 2023 reporting closed Barkly for safety. After hours Safe Steps 1800 015 188. If you are in danger, 000. This page is a field guide, not a hotline. cohealth interpreters are 131 450.
