It is important to note that legal aid work in Australia is performed almost exclusively by private law firms who account to Legal Aid for their fees, rather than state employees or "public defenders". The amount of money a lawyer receives from Legal Aid is always somewhat less than they would obtain from a private-paying client; however, most small and medium sized firms (particularly regional firms) will do at least some legal aid work because payment, even if modest, is guaranteed. Moreover in some areas of law (especially criminal law) Legal Aid work is often the only work available.

The High Court case R v Dietrich established that defendants to serious legal proceedings should receive representation, and generally the first spending priority of agencies is criminal proceedings. The legal aid agencies are required by statute to fund representation for criminal defendants in indictable proceedings, which tend to be relatively serious in nature (such as stealing, fraud, house invasions, and aggravated assault). Lesser charges such as traffic or drug possession offences (being those that can be dealt with summarily by a Magistrate) do not necessarily warrant aid, although it is often granted if the defendant is a child or is otherwise disadvantaged.

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