Corporate Plan 2026–27

Our Corporate Plan 2026–27 outlines our priorities for the year, setting out our performance targets, annual budget and strategic advocacy priorities.

As our first corporate plan under Strategy 30, this plan translates our strategic direction into action, establishing the foundations needed to deliver our strategic goals over the next four years. It includes five priority areas that will strengthen our organisation, support our long-term sustainability and enhance our ability to deliver high-quality services to the Victorian community.

We will continue to listen to client voices and work closely with our partners across the legal sector to strengthen the delivery of essential services to the community and improve access to justice across Victoria.

Our priorities

Wellbeing

A safe and supported workplace is fundamental to delivering high-quality services. We are committed to improving staff wellbeing and more sustainable workloads. This includes:

implementing sustainable workload management practices that recognise the value of a well-supported and reflective workforce
expanding practical supports that promote staff wellbeing and sustainable ways of working
equipping staff to manage challenging interactions through training and support
embedding an intersectional approach that supports cultural, psychological and physical safety for staff and clients.

Capability

We will continue to strengthen the skills and capability of our workforce and service partners to support high-quality, culturally safe and client-centred services. This includes:

providing enhanced training and support for early career lawyers
supporting activities to attract, recruit and retain staff in hard to fill and hard to retain roles, particularly in regional areas
supporting leaders to identify and build capabilities to lead diverse teams and deliver complex services effectively.

Financial sustainability

We will continue to manage our finances responsibly while planning for the future. We will also increase our advocacy for sustainable resourcing to address ongoing funding shortfalls.

Maintaining our long-term financial sustainability will remain a key priority in 2026–27. This will enable us to continue delivering high-quality legal services, respond to increasing demand, and ensure clients can access support now and into the future. We will improve how we make decisions and allocate resources so they are directed where they can have the greatest impact.

Digital delivery

We will build our capability and deliver critical upgrades to systems and technology to better support staff, private practitioners and free up time to focus on helping clients. We will:

improve document management practices by making it easier for staff and practice partners to access, use and share the client information they need through simpler and more secure practices
begin foundational work to modernise ageing systems that no longer adequately support the delivery of legal assistance services, including grants management, to reduce administrative burdens.

Creating fairer laws and systems

We know that collaboration with our partners across the justice system is vital for improving access to justice. We will:

advocate for improved legal and systemic responses to children who are victim survivors of family violence, to embed children’s rights to participate in decisions that affect them
support criminal justice responses that are tailored to the developmental and rehabilitative needs of children and that enhance children’s ability to participate
influence implementation of the women’s safety reforms, and development of sexual offence reforms, in ways that improve the experience, protections and pathways for women and children, and promote fair and supportive processes for all participants
advocate for stronger rights protections for people with disability, including by influencing system-wide impacts of proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
contribute to evidence-based, fair and appropriate sentencing reform that prioritises therapeutic and restorative outcomes
advocate for stronger rights protections and oversight in custodial settings and influential contributions to the statutory review into bail laws
embed the First Peoples Framework and Cultural Capability Framework across our workforce, systems and services
support psychologists, psychiatrists and neuropsychologists – and practitioners engaging these experts – to provide high-quality mental health assessments and reports in criminal law proceedings to maintain strong partnerships and achieve better outcomes for clients
improve access to family law services in regional areas by supporting community legal centres to respond to immediate service delivery gaps.