Victoria Legal Aid Board meeting public proceedings
Meeting held on Wednesday 13 April 2016
Children’s Court of Victoria, 436 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.
Present
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Andrew Guy – Chairperson
Jennifer Kanis – Board member
Catherine McGovern – Board member
David Thompson – Board member
Bevan Warner – Managing Director and Board member
Apologies: Nil
Managing Director’s report
Meeting with the Attorney-General – The Board noted the Managing Director met with the State AttorneyGeneral on 16 March where they discussed the expansion of the VLA Board and VLA’s submission to
the Access to Justice Review.
Enterprise Agreement update – The Managing Director explained the government approval process, our
bargaining process and the anticipated wages outcome.
Cross border service delivery – The Managing Director provided an update on his meetings with key
Mildura stakeholders on 30 – 31 March and commented that stakeholders were universally positive about
VLA having an increased presence in the Mallee and noted that VLA is managing the relationship better
with local private practitioners.
Senior leadership – The Board requested the position descriptions for the Associate Director Aboriginal
Services and Executive Director Services and Innovation roles.
Matters arising
Ms Kanis advised the Board of her recent employment at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and noted the
potential for conflicts of interest that would be managed if and when they occur.
General items
570 Bourke Street
The Board received an update on VLA’s head office move to 570 Bourke Street. It was noted that the project
Steering Committee consists of the Senior Executive Team, Chief Information Officer and Associate Director
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Victoria Legal Aid Board meeting
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People and Culture; KPMG are acting as probity advisors; independent project managers have been
appointed; and that that architects had been engaged following a selective tender process.
The impact of the move to open plan on VLA culture was discussed. It was noted that strong subcultures exist
and that staff feedback albeit largely optimistic has been mixed. The Managing Director identified the move
and the adoption of a more mobile and digitized workforce was a once in a generation opportunity to create a
unifying VLA culture, while also catering to the functional requirements of different work groups.
CLC Innovation and Transformation Fund
The Board discussed the paper, which sought approval of the second round of Innovation and Transformation
Fund grants. It was noted that based on feedback from the last round, the process was split into an expression
of interest phase, which provided early feedback on the projects as they were formulated and assisted in
bringing similar projects together, and an application phase.
The Board noted that VLA received 24 expressions of interest, which were assessed by the selection panel
consisting of key stakeholders and VLA staff. Six projects were presented for endorsement for funding. Of
these, four projects are ready to fund and two require further work to finalise the scope of these projects.
There was discussion surrounding the projects and how they will transform the sector and bring CLC’s
alongside VLA’s strategy. The Board noted that the projects were assessed against the VLA Guiding Principles
on CLC Funding, amongst other criteria.
It was noted that a third round of CLC Innovation and Transformation Fund grants is not proposed, except to
respond to the Royal Commission into Family Violence recommendations if and when appropriate.
Resolution: The Board approved grants for:
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Whittlesea Community Legal Service – Equity, Health and Wellbeing project ($177 024)
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Women’s Legal Service – Priority Pathways project ($113 705)
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ARC Justice (Goulburn Valley CLC) – Embedded Legal Assistance at Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperative project ($113,750)
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Environmental Justice Australia – Beyond Outreach project ($113,750)
The VLA Board approved the following grants with further work to be done to finalise the precise scope of
these projects:
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A joint project between six specialist and at least four generalist CLCs, auspiced by the Federation of
CLCs – Specialist/Generalist CLCs project ($467,450)
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Flemington-Kensington CLC – Transforming the Flemington-Kensington model ($85,000)
Reconciliation Action Plan
The Board reviewed progress against VLA’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) after the first year and noted
that there has been steady progress on the initiatives with further work to be done on increasing civil and
family law services for Aboriginal clients and increasing employment pathways at VLA for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people. The appointment of the new Associate Director Aboriginal Services, Meena
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Singh, was noted. The positive impact on VLA staff culture through the RAP was acknowledged, with many
staff demonstrating strong capability and/or commitment to Aboriginal services.
Access to Justice
The Board received a high-level summary of selected stakeholder submissions to the Access to Justice
Review. It was noted that the 10 touchstones for improving access to justice were recently presented at VLA’s
Managers’ Forum and feedback from attendees was positive.
Reports
The Board noted the following reports:
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Finance and Services Report – March 2016
Quarter 3 Finance and Services Review
GENERAL BUSINESS
Next meeting Wednesday 18 May 2016
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