The Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner’s (VLSB+C) Annual Report was tabled in State Parliament today. The report highlights our work to deliver lasting improvements to Victoria’s justice system through our
regulatory action, including guidance to the legal profession, and through initiatives that expand access to justice.
Board Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner, Fiona McLeay, said the 2025-26 financial year was the first under the VLSB+C’s new Strategic Plan 2026-29.
“This year was about momentum, sustaining the work that we have begun and building on it to create lasting impact for both the profession and the Victorians it serves. It was a challenging year for consumers and lawyers alike. Our focus stayed where it belongs: on the people who rely on a strong, well-regulated legal profession and the lawyers who make that happen.”
Regulating the legal professional to protect consumers
We continued our work to efficiently and effectively regulate the legal profession. We received 5,957 enquiries from the public and registered 1,207 new complaints, a 6% increase. Of these complaints, 63% were disciplinary matters involving potential breaches of a lawyer's professional conduct, 28% were consumer matters involving a consumer complaint about a lawyer, and 9% were mixed matters involving both types of issues. Our case handling teams reported an increase in the complexity and seriousness of the complaints we received, which is reflected in the higher number of issues per complaint. We met this increased demand and complexity while maintaining our service standards, finalising 59% of complaints within six months of opening them.
Strengthening legal practice and supporting the next generation of lawyers
We continued our commitment to uplift the legal profession by providing guidance to support lawyers to better understand and meet their professional and ethical obligations. We also continued to monitor and manage emerging risks in legal practice.
This year we issued the following guidance and services:
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Updated our supervised legal practice guidance and issued three resources to strengthen the supervision relationship: an Early Career Lawyer Capability Framework, a Supervision Plan Template and a Reflective Practice Template
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Launched the Wellbeing Guidelines for Legal Workplaces
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Issued new resources for corporate in-house lawyers
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Updated our guidance for lawyers who provide advice to consumers after motor vehicle accidents, and a guide helping consumers understand the risks of ‘free’ services after an accident
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Continued to support the legal profession to report sexual harassment, through a new dedicated phone line
Establishing the Legal Services Research Centre
In August 2025, we launched the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC). Led by Professor Nigel Balmer, the Centre aims to develop an evidence base to inform justice policy, regulation and legal practice across Victoria and internationally.
After a successful pilot last year, the Centre ran the second Legal Understanding and Lawyer Use (LULU) survey – one of the most ambitious legal surveys in the world. It aims to better understand people’s legal capability, including their ability to understand, access and use the law.
It also ran its annual Lawyer Census, to better understand Victoria’s legal profession's experiences and perspectives on key issues affecting the profession, including wellbeing, sexual harassment and artificial intelligence. These research findings are already informing our work by providing lawyer perspectives on issues directly affecting the profession.
Artificial intelligence in the legal profession
Talking of the Lawyer Census, this year’s census has shown us that 55% of lawyers are now using AI in legal work, up from 37% in 2025. To support the profession to use AI in a safe and responsible way we continue to promote our Statement on the use of artificial intelligence in Australian legal practice and will soon we issuing updated guidance to support its use across the profession.
In an Australian first, we disciplined a lawyer identified as ‘Mr Dayal’ after he filed AI-generated case citations. We varied his practising certificate so that he is no longer entitled to practice as a principal lawyer or handle trust money and must complete two years of supervised legal practice.
Investing in access to justice
We continue to invest in a stronger, fairer legal system through the Public Purpose Fund. In January, we announced the five recipients of the Strong Foundations grants, who will share $5 million in stable and flexible funding over four to five years. Investments like these widen access to justice for everyday Victorians.