The Australian Council of Trade Unions will pre-empt findings from the royal commission into trade unions with its own strategies including an internal ombudsman to stamp out union corruption.

The Herald understands that the ACTU is planning to modernise and improve governance and financial management. It is considering the introduction of an internal ombudsman to oversee some individual unions and improved dispute settlement and complaints handling strategies.

The royal commission into trade unions has identified the fraudulent use of union slush funds and poor governance.

One senior union official who did not wish to be identified said the ACTU strategy was "about getting unions to be more modern and democratic".

"We have been tracking where the royal commission might go with its recommendations and therefore where the government might go with a legislative program and thinking about the counter measures we can take to get in front of those things. We are all over this like a rash.

"What you need to do is have the systems to have the minimum opportunities for people to behave badly and to maximise the possibility that they are detected early."

ACTU Assistant Secretary Tim Lyons confirmed the ACTU has been "actively engaged in addressing governance issues well before the Royal Commission was even a twinkle in the Prime Minister [Tony Abbott's] eye."

"We will continue to do this because we are first and foremost driven by a commitment to modern, democratic, effective and accountable trade unions," Mr Lyons said.

The crackdown comes as former prime minister Julia Gillard disputes claims put to the royal commission that her conduct as a solicitor was "questionable". She has also challenged the credibility of evidence that money from a union slush fund was used to pay for her home renovations in the early 1990s.

In a submission lodged on Monday on Ms Gillard's behalf, her lawyers, Neil Clelland, QC, and Anthony Lewis, say the commission should reject any findings that are "adverse to or critical of Ms Gillard".

The submission made on Ms Gillard's behalf said the suggestion by counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar of Ms Gillard's alleged failure to keep a proper file and an alleged failure to properly document the scope and details of her retainer should be rejected.

The submission also said there was nothing Ms Gillard had done that made it easier for Mr Wilson or Mr Blewitt to commit fraud. "Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt could have taken the elementary step of incorporating an entity or registering a business to achieve their aims by a variety of other means."

The submission was also critical of evidence given by builder Athol James and former AWU record keeper Wayne Hem, who alleged that cash from the secret slush fund had been given to Gillard. A series of inconsistencies in their evidence were outlined and highlighted among reasons for why it should be rejected as unreliable.

"There is no cogent basis for rejecting the evidence of Ms Gillard in any respect, or to prefer the evidence of Mr James, Mr Hem or any other witness to that of Ms Gillard," the submission said.