Take part and be heard in the 2026 Private Practitioner Census

The Legal Assistance Workforce Baseline: Private Legal Aid Practitioner Survey 2026 (Private Practitioner Census) is now open.

Delivered by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department in partnership with the legal assistance sector, the census seeks to hear directly about the realities and challenges of delivering legal aid work in private practice.

Your feedback is anonymous and will directly influence the development, implementation and monitoring of the National Legal Assistance Workforce Strategy. This will improve recruitment and retention across the sector.

It will help Victoria Legal Aid better understand your experiences, challenges and needs – and take action.

A sincere thank you to private practitioners doing legal aid work across Victoria and around the country for the vital contribution you make.

Some questions ask about challenges in delivering legal aid, such as vicarious trauma. You can skip any questions or close the census at any time.

We want to hear from you about your experiences with legal aid work

This census is for all practitioners who have been on a legal aid panel, or who have worked on legal aid matters in the last two years; whether you work in your own practice as a lawyer or barrister, at a private law firm, Aboriginal Legal Service, or community legal centre.

Help make sure our sector and your jurisdiction is represented

It will provide key quantitative evidence that is needed for decision-making. It is critical that we have representation across jurisdictions, subsectors, and workforce groups so that a complete view is formed.

It is completely anonymous

We do not ask for your name, or employer organisation. You will never be identified in any reporting, as data is aggregated and small groups (fewer than five people) will be hidden.

Empower our sector peaks

National Legal Aid and Victoria Legal Aid will have access to survey answers and the insights from this survey, and will use this information for workforce and service planning, advocacy on practitioner fees, policy development and research. (They will be obliged to hold this data securely and never identify you in any reporting).

More information

Got a First Peoples or Indigenous data sovereignty question? Contact Mathew Campbell at mathew@ngurraadvisory.com.au

For other questions, contact:

• National Legal Aid at NLA@nationallegalaid.org.au
• The Attorney-General’s Department at justiceagreementtaskforce@ag.gov.au
• Kim Campbell at Social Ventures Australia at kcampbell@socialventures.org.au