Working earlier, better and together
Our vision
Women and non-binary people live free from violence and discrimination in a gender equitable society.
Our purpose
Informed by our feminist practice, we improve the legal system for victim-survivors of family and sexual violence through our integrated legal service, capacity building, advocacy and law reform.
Our strategy
Create transformational change in Victoria’s response to family and sexual violence to improve the lives of women and non-binary people across the state.
Our strategic goals
Be a centre of excellence and sector leader
We will deliver and enable best-practice, integrated legal assistance to women and non-binary people across Victoria.
Shift family and sexual violence system from crisis to earlier intervention
We will use casework expertise and client experiences to advocate for a system that responds earlier, faster and with greater impact.
Expand access to high-quality legal help
We will work in strong collaboration with sector partners to build capacity in vital family law and family violence legal services and systems.
What guides our strategy
Best practice, integrated legal assistance
Delivering high quality, trauma informed legal services underpins everything we do.
Legal assistance that is timely, culturally safe and integrated with other supports can significantly reduce harm and trauma.
Early intervention
We know that reaching people earlier in their experience of violence or legal engagement improves safety and reduces long-term harm.
A system that only responds to crisis is always one step behind.
Our experience and evidence
Our training and advocacy are shaped by the experiences of the women and non-binary people we work with.
Working side-by-side with victim-survivors tells us where systems fall short, where risks emerge, and where change will have the greatest impact.
Partnership and collaboration
No single service can respond to family and sexual violence alone.
Lasting change requires strong collaboration across the legal system and family violence sector.
Our team
We are a highly skilled and dedicated team with deep legal, training and policy expertise.
Seeing the full picture
Our intersectional feminist framework helps us understand people's experiences are shaped by other systems and power structures.
We use it to shape safer, more responsive support.
These are bold goals but we can do this work because we have skilled and dedicated staff and more than four decades of experience supporting victim-survivors of family and sexual violence and fighting for a gender-equitable Victoria.
Women's Legal Chair Laura John and CEO Claudia Fatone
Reaching women and non-binary people as early as possible in their experiences of violence or engagement with the legal system can significantly reduce further harm and trauma. When we do this, clients feel safe, understood and confident to make informed choices.
How we achieve our vision
Our integrated legal service helps people understand their options and access support earlier, leading to safer experiences and more equitable legal outcomes.
We learn from the services we deliver and share those insights with partners, agencies and decision‑makers, so responses to victim‑survivors are safer, more consistent and more effective.
We invest in and support our people to do their work well, so we can continue to strengthen our services and increase our impact over time.
Victoria’s Attorney-General, the Hon Sonya Kilkenny, officially launched our strategy, along with sector leaders, supporters and partners.
Renowned advocate and researcher in family homicide at the University of Melbourne, Kathryn Joy, shared their lived experience as a child bereaved by domestic homicide.
Justice with dignity. Change that lasts.
Together, we can help women and non‑binary people get legal help with dignity and work for safer, fairer systems.