31 July 2025
In this edition:
- Commissioner’s message
- Unpacking supervising lawyers’ experiences
- Guidance for family lawyers in avoiding complaints
- Information for lawyers who engage with people eligible for statutory redress
- Clarifying costs estimates under the Uniform Law
- Democracy depends on the rule of law – that’s why we fund access to justice
- Lawyer wellbeing – from theory to practice
- Reminder to disclose pre-admission matters
- Other news
Commissioner’s message
As part of my leadership role in the legal profession, I often talk about the importance of access to justice. The VLSB+C has been working hard with our partners across the sector to improve Victorians’ access to justice over many years – through the programs we fund, sponsorships, guidance we issue and through our work with the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) and the Victorian Bar. Like so many of you, when we talk about improving access to justice we think of parts of our community that face particular challenges in access. In recent weeks, I have joined many leaders in the profession in engaging with the Yoorrook Walk for Justice and the final reports of the Yoorrook Justice Royal Commission. This included attending a community event in Footscray with Commissioner Travis Lovett and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Richard Niall. Many of you will be aware of the vital work of the Yoorrook Justice Commission – Victoria and Australia’s first formal truth-telling inquiry into systemic injustices perpetrated against First Nations peoples through colonisation. I urge you to learn more about the Commission and read their telling reports.
We will continue to work with our colleagues at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) and Djirra, as well as with Victoria Legal Aid’s (VLA) First Nations Services on improving access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. Beyond supporting First Nations-led services, we were also proud to fund the development of the First Nations Cultural Capability Framework, led by VALS and delivered in partnership with VLA and the LIV, which will allow all services to support First Nations clients.
Apart from making justice more accessible, another core strategic pillar of the VLSB+C is to maintain and enhance legal practice and ethics. The guidance and resources we produce are one of the ways we meet this objective. These are informed by robust evidence and are responsive to your needs. In addition to our ongoing focus on lawyer wellbeing, recent years have also seen us undertake a number of research projects into legal supervision. We surveyed supervising lawyers about their experiences of supervised legal practice, building on insights from our survey of early career lawyers. Combined, the findings offer an important, balanced perspective on what supervision looks like, and will directly inform resources we develop to strengthen supervision relationships. Find out more below.
We have also just developed a new resource for lawyers working in family law – an area of law that we know can be both challenging and rewarding for practitioners, and where we see a lot of complaints. This fact sheet is aimed at helping family lawyers provide quality legal services and avoid consumer complaints. We have also developed new guidance around lawyer dealings in the exploitative practice of ‘farming’ claims from people eligible for redress. This guidance makes clear the conduct we don’t want to see, and the repercussions for lawyers who fail to meet their obligations. I encourage you to read more below.
It's been my pleasure to meet a number of you on the road in the last few months as I’ve joined the LIV on regional tours across Victoria. The opportunity to speak with you directly and hear about the unique joys and challenges of practice in your community is so important for me and my team, and I look forward to meeting more of you in the months ahead.
Fiona McLeay
Board CEO and Commissioner
Unpacking supervising lawyers’ experiences
In 2023, we carried out a survey of early career lawyers on their experiences of supervised legal practice (SLP). To gain a balanced picture of supervision, we recently followed up with a survey of lawyers about their experiences of carrying out their supervisory duties.
Encouragingly, of the 409 responding supervisors:
- all agreed that the most recent person they supervised improved their legal skills (97%) and confidence in their abilities (96%) under their supervision
- 98% indicated that being a supervisor benefited them in some way
- 73% met with their supervisee daily or weekly.
Supervisory duties also come with challenges, with our survey indicating:
- 60% had to work longer hours to complete their own work
- 31% experienced increased stress
- only 47% agreed their workplaces provided resources to support supervision – despite 91% of workplaces seeing the value in supervision.
Thank you to everyone who shared their invaluable insights, including their ideas about what could improve the SLP experience. The next steps for us include developing responsive resources to better support effective SLP relationships and processes.
Access the full supervisor data insights
Guidance for family lawyers in avoiding complaints
Family law is a rewarding practice area, but the work can be challenging and demanding. It’s also an area of law where we see a high number of complaints.
To help family lawyers provide quality legal services and avoid complaints, we’ve developed a new fact sheet.
Our tips for best practice include:
- using plain language with your client, and giving them regular updates
- disclosing costs and if those costs change, explaining when and why in a timely manner
- being transparent about money held jointly in trust
- maintaining professional boundaries and reminding your client of services that can support their emotional needs
- avoiding giving advice in informal settings or via informal communication channels
- not being deputised into arguments
- keeping affidavits to the facts, and always exercising forensic judgement.
Looking after your wellbeing
Research shows that poor lawyer wellbeing is common in family law, with practitioners at increased risk of vicarious trauma. We encourage all lawyers to take practical steps to improve their own wellbeing, and understand when and how to get help.
Information for lawyers who engage with people eligible for statutory redress
As the regulator, we’re reminding lawyers of their professional and ethical obligations when engaging with people eligible for government redress.
We’ve published guidance that makes clear our position on the exploitative practice of ‘claim farming’, which sees third party businesses make unsolicited cold calls to people experiencing vulnerability, including victim-survivors of institutional childhood sexual abuse and members of the Stolen Generations.
Often, these farmers use unethical and high-pressure tactics to coerce people into seeking compensation, and then on-sell the person’s details to lawyers.
We’re concerned about conduct:
- that may mislead victim-survivors into thinking they need to pay a lawyer to apply for government redress
- where the lawyer doesn’t properly explain the legal, financial and other consequences of pursuing different legal avenues (e.g. pursuing a civil claim versus applying for redress)
- where it’s unclear to the victim-survivor that the person referring them to a lawyer has been paid for that referral.
Lawyer involvement in claim farming is unacceptable and can amount to unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct.
Clarifying costs estimates under the Uniform Law
A recent District Court of NSW decision has concluded that lawyers may comply with their disclosure obligations under the Uniform Law by providing an estimate to their clients as a range rather than a single figure – where a single figure isn’t reasonably practicable.
In A.C.N. 627 087 030 Pty Ltd atf The YBL Trust v Elisabeth Theodore; A.C.N. 627 087 030 Pty Ltd atf The YBL Trust v Andrew John Price [2024] NSWDC 592, His Honour Newlinds SC DCJ found that a range can meet this requirement, provided it’s the best estimate that’s reasonably available.
It’s our view that section 174(1)(a) requires disclosure of either:
- an estimate of total legal costs as a single figure or
- an estimate provided by giving a reasonable range – with an explanation of the major variables influencing the final amount.
You should make sure that any costs estimate you provide is a genuine and reasonable reflection of anticipated costs based on the information and instructions you have when you disclose. Where you provide your client with a range, you must clearly communicate the major cost drivers or uncertainties.
See our guidance on billing and costs disclosure
Democracy depends on the rule of law – that’s why we fund access to justice
Equitable access to justice is fundamental to the rule of law – the cornerstone of our democracy. That’s why we’re committed to increasing access to justice for Victorians.
Our new Access to justice impact report shows how we do this as a regulator, a funder and an investor.
In 2022–24 we:
- improved our licensing process and strengthened our early intervention work to help ensure lawyers meet their professional and ethical obligations
- provided guidance to lawyers on risk management and professional boundaries to support a high standard of practice
- established a Lawyer Wellbeing Program to address systemic issues
- continued to lead a targeted approach in addressing sexual harassment to support a robust, ethical and sustainable profession
- provided $173.9 million to organisations providing accessible legal services and holistic and diversionary responses, and those working for fairer laws and processes
- continued to support access to justice in the way we invest public monies held in the Public Purpose Fund.
Access our 2-page snapshot, 4-page report summary and the full report
Lawyer wellbeing – from theory to practice
In the last edition of the Commissioner Update, we shared the Theory of Change – a new framework co-designed with the Victorian legal sector to guide lasting improvements to lawyer wellbeing.
To support its practical implementation, in the coming weeks we’ll be launching our Wellbeing Guidelines for Legal Workplaces.
Authored by industry-leading expert Dr Carly Schrever, these guidelines have been developed to help law practice leaders mitigate the risk of workplace psychological harm.
Over the coming months, we’ll be partnering with educational providers across Victoria to deliver free CPD training sessions on the wellbeing guidelines and how you can implement them in your workplace.
As we prepare to launch the guidelines, we encourage you to access our new data snapshots that go to the heart of what recent research tells us about experiences of lawyer wellbeing, workplace experiences and ethics.
Find out more about our Lawyer Wellbeing Program and supports that are available
Reminder to disclose pre-admission matters
We have recently seen a trend in newly admitted lawyers either failing to disclose pre-admission matters or disclosing them after we’ve issued their first practising certificate.
Our Fit and Proper Person Policy makes it clear that pre-admission matters are required to be disclosed when lawyers are applying for their very first practising certificate so that we can assess whether the lawyer is a fit and proper person to hold a practising certificate.
Relevant matters include those that have previously been disclosed to an admission body in Victoria or another jurisdiction, and to a regulatory authority in another jurisdiction.
We encourage law practice leaders to remind employees of their disclosure obligations
Other news updates
Law Institute of Victoria
AML/CTF compliance ready-reckoner
The LIV has developed an AML/CTF compliance ready-reckoner to help practitioners understand whether the AML/CTF reforms will apply to their practices, and the steps to comply. Visit the LIV AML/CTF Hub for a full suite of resources on how the AML/CTF changes may impact your practice.
Victorian Bar
Advocacy skills training with Pacific neighbours
The Victorian Bar recently hosted 17 lawyers from the Pacific region to take part in their unique train the trainer program. It’s designed to build advocacy skills to assist lawyers in their future court appearances, and equip them to teach advocacy to junior lawyers and law students in their home countries.
This two-week intensive program included shadowing and mentoring sessions with some of Melbourne’s leading barristers and members of the judiciary who volunteered their time to the program.
Victoria Law Foundation
2025–26 Major Grants and Everyday Legal Grants
Victoria Law Foundation’s (VLF) 2025–26 grants for projects that better support legal need in Victoria are now open. VLF prioritises projects that improve understanding of legal need and capability, or increase opportunities for Victorians to resolve their everyday legal issues. If you have an idea or a project in mind, book a session with VLF.
On-demand webinar – Research Network
To catch up with the current state of access to justice and future directions, watch VLF’s recent Research Network webinar. Professor Emily Taylor Poppe (University of California, Irvine) expresses a cautious optimism in the wide-ranging discussion with Dr Hugh McDonald and Lynne Haultain.
Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee
Legal practitioner checklists
Lawyers constantly manage competing deadlines, client demands and complex work. This cocktail of moving parts and volume of work increases the risk of errors. To help minimise errors, The Legal Practitioners’ Liability Committee’s (LPLC) has created over 50 checklists to be used as is, or to create fit-for-purpose checklists for specific needs.
On demand webinars – sale of real estate
Catch up on the LPLC’s recent sale of real estate webinars that cover acting for vendors and acting for a purchaser. Presented by Laura Vickers, Accredited Specialist in Property Law and Director of Nest Legal, these webinars are essential for all practitioners involved in property transactions – whether new to the field or seeking a valuable refresher.
Sentencing Advisory Council
New report: Sentencing younger children’s offending in Victoria
The Sentencing Advisory Council (SAC) has released a report, Sentencing younger children’s offending in Victoria, following the introduction of a number of reforms in the new Youth Justice Act 2024. The report found that offences committed by children aged 10 to 13 accounted for just 0.3% of all sentenced cases in Victoria over the 10 years to 30 June 2021.
SACStat upgrade
The SAC has recently launched an upgraded version of SACStat, their online and freely-available sentencing statistics database. Key updates include a streamlined user interface, comprehensive federal sentencing data in all adult jurisdictions and maximum penalty information for all offences.