Victoria Legal Aid has identified 35 actions for change in response to the Family Law Legal Aid Services Review to ensure that family law legal aid services are fair, as widely available as possible, and sustainable.
The actions reflect the future direction of our family law services as part of an ongoing process to embed greater accountability and better service delivery across legally aided services.
Read the Family Law Legal Aid Services Review: final report.
The report presents under five main issues or themes.
Access and intake
We aim to enhance client and community outcomes through improved client access and intake. Find out more about Access and intake to family law services.
Quality
We aim to improve the quality of our family law legal aid services. Find out more about Improving the quality of family law services.
Timely intervention
We aim to provide timely intervention in legal problems across all family law programs. Find out more about Timely intervention in family law matters.
Who gets an intensive service?
We will target intensive services to priority clients. Find out more about Who gets an intensive family law service?
Independent children’s lawyers
We will provide additional supports to independent children's lawyers. Find out more about Additional supports for independent children's lawyers.
When the actions will be implemented
See our implementation plan.
The connection with family violence
The suite of changes also recognise the connection between family violence and other family law matters. In particular, client attendance at the state Magistrates’ Courts in relation to family violence intervention orders is increasingly a first point of contact for clients with the broader family law system.
The increase in active policing in this area and consequent increase in intervention order matters in Victoria has had a significant impact upon family law matters and will continue to do so into the future.
Family violence affects many families, particularly those in the family law system, and its impacts on our clients and the work that lawyers do in this area should not be underestimated.
Read the final report
Updated