Outcomes framework

Victoria Legal Aid’s Outcomes framework 2022–30 is an eight-year view of the difference we make for our clients, the Victorian community, our partners, and the services and systems we work with.

Aligning with our vision and purpose, our outcomes framework articulates our aims to:

increase access to justice for our clients,
improve legal understanding in the community,
support our partners in the legal assistance sector, and
work with justice and other services to make laws and systems fairer for people.

The outcomes framework was developed in consultation with staff and sector partners and approved by our Board in February 2022.

What are outcomes?

Outcomes are the difference that we make for our clients, communities, systems, and services as a result of our work. The five main outcomes we want to achieve are:

clients have increased access to justice
improved legal understanding in the community
collaborative legal assistance sector
fairer laws and systems
effective and sustainable Victoria Legal Aid.

We will ensure that people who need our help can:

equitably access our services, with the right services at the right time and place
experience culturally safe, accessible, inclusive, and respectful services that meet people’s diverse needs and capabilities
have their voices heard in the design and delivery of services, and in system reforms
understand their legal problems and know where to seek help, and ultimately,
address and prevent legal problems.

The outcomes framework is based on the Legal Aid Act 1978 (Vic), and the existing outcomes frameworks and strategies in our sector, including the Victorian Community Legal Sector Outcomes Measurement Framework, and National Legal Assistance Partnership Agreement 2020–2025.

The outcomes approach follows the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for people-centred legal and justice services, and the Victorian government’s commitment to outcomes and evidence reform in public services.

We will continue to work closely with legal assistance sector partners and government as we invest in strengthening our approach to outcomes and evidence-based services over the coming years.

Outcomes and our strategy

The outcomes framework guides our upcoming, strategic plans Strategy 26 and Strategy 30, which set our priority actions every four years to work towards the outcomes. By embedding our outcomes framework across the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of our programs and services, we can deliver effective services that meet the needs of our clients and the community.

Embedding outcomes in our work

Our Outcomes and Evidence Agenda 2022–26 sets out our commitments to embed outcomes across our legal needs analysis, service design, data science projects, and research and evaluation over the next four years.

We welcome partnerships with other organisations working on similar priority issues in access to justice for clients and communities, integrated services, and addressing systemic injustices.