Legal Aid Queensland is a statutory authority administered under the Legal Aid Queensland Act 1997 within the portfolio of the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General.
As such, Legal Aid Queensland does not have a 'legitimate' or recognised decision making function in the development of public policy from within government at a state or federal level, except to the extent that those governments seek its input from time to time on particular policy issues.
Consequently, Legal Aid Queensland can only seek to influence the formulation of public policy.
At a Commonwealth level, Legal Aid Queensland's status and influence are more limited - not having a formal connection with a ministerial portfolio. Thus it has less capacity to influence at the ministerial or cabinet level. However, Legal Aid Queensland is consulted by Commonwealth departments on significant law reform initiatives.
While recognising these constraints, Legal Aid Queensland aims to increase its participation and profile across government to influence policy decisions at an early stage to optimise and protect the position of its clients and services.
The Legal Aid Queensland mission is "to enhance access to justice in Queensland". Its vision is to be a leader in providing quality legal services to disadvantaged clients, and to advocate for changes to the legal system that will improve their access to justice.
Legal Aid Queensland values are:
- Social Justice – we strive to ensure people receive fair treatment.
- Respect – we show respect for the people we assist and those with whom we work.
- Quality – we continue to improve our services and business systems.
- Effectiveness – we strive to increase cost effectiveness in delivering services.
Legal Aid Queensland is also guided by overall Queensland Government policy priorities and in particular "Strengthening Queensland Communities – safe and secure communities, healthy, active individuals and communities and a fair, socially cohesive and culturally vibrant society".