Reporting and compliance

Australian Government agencies have reporting obligations under the Legal Services Directions 2025.

Reporting of significant issues

Entities listed in section 7(1)(a) of the Legal Services Directions must report as soon as possible on significant issues arising in the delivery of legal services.

Once a matter has been reported to the Office of Legal Services Coordination (OLSC) as significant:

• entities must provide updates to OLSC on the progress of those issues (section 35)
• claims or litigation must not to be settled without the Attorney-General's prior agreement (section 36).

Find out more about reporting significant issues in Guidance Note 5: Reporting on Significant Issues.

Find out more about settling significant issues in Guidance Note 6: Settling significant issues.

Download the Significant issues reporting template and Significant issues settlement request template below:

• Significant issues reporting template
• Significant issues settlement request template

Compliance with the Legal Services Directions 2025

Compliance Reporting

Entities listed in section 7(1)(a) of the Legal Services Directions must report to OLSC as soon as practicable about any possible, alleged or apparent non-compliance with the Legal Services Directions 2025.

Download the compliance notification form:

Legal Services Directions – Compliance notification form

After each financial year, the accountable authority of a non-corporate Commonwealth entity or former FMA agency must provide a compliance certificate setting out the extent to which they believe the entity has complied with the Legal Services Directions.

If you are a party to a claim and/or litigation involving the Commonwealth and you consider that the Commonwealth entity involved in the claim and/or litigation has been non-compliant with its obligations under the Legal Services Directions, you should contact the entity directly and clearly set out your concerns relating to its compliance with the Legal Services Directions.

Please note: OLSC does not have investigative powers and is not able to investigate or resolve complaints from members of the public about entity compliance.

Find out more about compliance in Guidance Note 18: Compliance with the Legal Services Directions 2025.

Compliance Framework

The Compliance Framework sets out OLSC's approach to supporting Commonwealth entities to comply with the Legal Services Directions.

OLSC – Compliance Framework

In particular, OLSC's approach is to assist entities to comply with the Legal Services Directions through support, guidance and training. This promotes:

• awareness of entity obligations
• recognition of better compliance strategies
• identification of emerging or systemic issues
• appropriate management of legal risk.

OLSC monitors entity compliance with the Legal Services Directions. However, OLSC does not conduct reviews or investigations in relation to possible, alleged or apparent non‑compliance with the Legal Services Directions. OLSC also does not provide legal advice.