Victoria Legal Aid

Financial sustainability

Read about the steps we are taking to ensure a sustainable budget as the demand for our services increases.

We began active steps last year to return to a sustainable budget, to avoid large operating deficits that are forecast in the future due to a range of demand pressures in the justice system.

While we are now confronting the additional challenge of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring our long-term financial viability remains a priority for us.

In January this year, we confirmed some savings initiatives in the family and children’s law area, and these are continuing as announced – some started on 17 February and the others began 1 July 2020.

We have recently welcomed some extra funding to provide essential legal services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we are also anticipating some distortion of our end-year financial position due to the deferral of case and trial expenditure as a result of changes in court practices during this time. Some of our services have experienced temporary reductions in demand while courts adjourn proceedings. The underlying demand has remained largely consistent, meaning this expenditure will be incurred in future years.

Our financial sustainability challenges remain, and we will continue to advocate for additional base funding, noting that the state budget will be delivered later in the year.

We will continue to assess our savings initiatives and work towards a better understanding of our financial position moving forward. We will consider making further changes and assess how we deliver services across our legal programs. We will provide further updates on these proposals as they develop.

Read about the changes

Read about the savings initiatives in the family and children’s law area, which commenced 1 July 2020.

More information

Read about how we conducted the financial sustainability consultation.

Disclaimer: The material in this print-out relates to the law as it applies in the state of Victoria. It is intended as a general guide only. Readers should not act on the basis of any material in this print-out without getting legal advice about their own particular situations. Victoria Legal Aid disclaims any liability howsoever caused to any person in respect of any action taken in reliance on the contents of the publication.

We help Victorians with their legal problems and represent those who need it most. Find legal answers, chat with us online, or call us. You can speak to us in English or ask for an interpreter. You can also find more legal information at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au

Reviewed 17 March 2022

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