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

Our advocacy and law reform

We work to improve the law for all Victorians.

We are committed to building a better justice system for all Victorians.

The Legal Aid Act 1978 requires us to take innovative steps to reduce the need for our individual legal services. One way we achieve this is by pursuing improvements in law and policy that result in better outcomes for our clients and the community, as detailed in our Outcomes Framework.

Search past submissions using our Library catalogue.

Our strategic advocacy priorities

We will focus advocacy efforts where evidence shows we can most improve fairness, minimise legal need and improve system outcomes.

We support fair and equitable laws and systems through advocacy that advances First Peoples’ inherent right to self-determination, elevates lived experience and promotes accountability and transparency within systems that impact people’s lives. We prioritise children, uphold their rights and recognise their unique needs and developmental circumstances.

We will use our client and practice experience to advocate for:

  • improved legal and systemic responses to children who are victim survivors of family violence, to embed children’s right to participate in decisions that affect them
  • criminal justice responses that are tailored to the developmental and rehabilitative needs of children and that support 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
  • 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
  • stronger rights protections and oversight in custodial settings and influential contributions to the statutory review into bail laws.

We may also do strategic advocacy work in response to emerging or urgent systemic issues or to reform processes (such as reviews, commissions, inquiries or legislative change) that are not identified in these priorities.

Raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14

Children under the age of 14 need health and welfare support, not criminalisation.

Learning from the failures of robodebt – building a fairer, client-centred social security system

With every second household accessing government payments, we need a fairer social security system that treats people with respect and dignity.

Care not Custody – keeping kids in residential care out of the courts

For kids who can’t live with their family, residential care is meant to be a safe and supportive environment. Instead, it often creates additional harms and is the setting for a child’s first contact

Change the culture, change the system – end sexual harassment at work

Sexual harassment is an unacceptably common feature of Australian workplaces. We continue to advocate for important law changes to help prevent it.

A safe, accessible and inclusive family law system

Read about our recommendations to create a system that centres the needs of children and adult victim-survivors of family violence.

Centring rights, supported decision-making and recovery in Victoria’s mental health system

Building on the reforms of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act, we want to see the continued transformation of Victoria’s mental health system, led by lived experience experts.

Rethinking intervention orders against children and teenagers

Rising rates of intervention orders against children and young people don’t address the needs of children and their families, or leave them feeling safer.

Transforming child protection to support families and children to thrive

Read about our calls for a fairer and safer child protection system that puts early help for families first and ends the over-representation of First Nations children in out-of-home care.

About us

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