Advocacy & Policy

Advocating for the laws that protect women.

Individual cases matter. But so does the system that shapes them. Women’s Legal Service WA has contributed to 44 law reform and social policy initiatives in the past 12 months alone — advocating for the legislative and systemic changes that protect women not just today, but for generations to come.

We bring evidence from our frontline work to government inquiries, parliamentary processes, and sector forums. We translate the lived experiences of the women we serve into policy that works for all women.

Our advocacy focus areas

Women’s Legal Service WA’s advocacy work is guided by the issues that matter most to the women we work alongside. Our current focus areas include:

Family, domestic and sexual violence

law reform, justice system responses, and perpetrator accountability
Economic abuse and financial rights

including coercive control legislation and debt relief for survivors
Criminal injuries compensation

improving access to compensation for women harmed by violence
Access to justice

funding, resourcing, and structural reform of community legal services
Family law

improving safety and child protection outcomes in the family law system
Migrant and refugee women

addressing legal barriers for women on temporary visas
First Nations women

culturally safe legal responses and self-determined justice solutions

Our submissions and contributions

Women’s Legal Service WA makes submissions to parliamentary inquiries, government consultations, and law reform processes at state and federal level. Our submissions are evidence-based, informed by the experiences of our clients, and focused on practical, achievable change.

Our most recent submissions are available to download below.

Stay across our advocacy work.