Easy Read: Evaluation of the NDIS Appeals Program Legal Services
Uses pictures and words to show how the NDIS Appeals Program helps people with disability to get legal support that they need.
Courts and tribunals research
The justice system sets the context within which legal problems are recognised, disputed and resolved, particularly those within criminal and family law. Although legal need surveys have identified that most civil law problems will not involve the courts and tribunals, how options for dispute resolution are perceived and experienced is crucial to understanding how the system can support access to justice for all. Since its inception, the Foundation has conducted projects with the courts and tribunals, predominantly within NSW.
Coroner’s court
Coroners courts in many jurisdictions throughout Australia are seeking ways to ensure their processes and practices are culturally sensitive, particularly for supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands families. This report analyses key literature to guide discussion and further services development. See here.
Civil courts and tribunals.
Between 2015 and 2018, at the request of the NSW Department of Justice, the Foundation reviewed NSW Court and Tribunal data to assess its utility for understanding who is using the justice system, for what purpose and for what outcomes.
Other Foundation research reports on courts and tribunals are listed here:
Research Summary: ‘I would have given up without it’: An evaluation of the NDIS Appeals Program Legal Services
Highlights findings from our evaluation of the NDIS Appeals Program Legal Services, and key lessons for improving access to justice for people with disability making an appeal to the Administrative…
‘I would have given up without it’: An evaluation of the NDIS Appeals Program Legal Services
An Evaluation of the NDIS Appeals Program Legal Services examines the program’s role in supporting access to justice for people with disability navigating the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Supporting people-centred justice insights with civil justice data
The administrative data collected by courts and tribunals has potential to inform decision-making, improve litigants’ experiences, and strengthen public trust and confidence in the justice system.
Study of tenancy dispute experience and preparedness at NCAT
Explore how self-represented individuals experience tenancy disputes at NCAT in this qualitative study. Findings reveal insights into power dynamics in conciliation, gaps in procedural clarity, and the importance of advocacy…
Data-driven insights into NCAT tenancy dispute resolution
This analysis of nearly 40,000 applications finalised in 2024 provides a unique view into how tenancy matters progress through the Tribunal. The report reveals patterns in dispute resolution, party roles,…
Conciliation in Australian civil justice: An evidence snapshot
This snapshot brings together research evidence on the role of conciliation in Australian civil justice systems. It aims to build understanding of conciliation practices, their benefits and risks, and the…
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families in Australian Coroners Courts: A review of the research literature on improving court experiences
Coroners courts in many jurisdictions throughout Australia are seeking ways to ensure their processes and practices are culturally sensitive, particularly for supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands families. This report…
Access to justice and the COVID-19 pandemic
This policy brief, co-authored by the OECD and the Law & Justice Foundation of NSW, focuses on the immediate and medium-term consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for justice systems and…
Justice is open to everyone in the same way as the Ritz Hotel: what does court data tell us about the parties to civil cases?
6th Biennial ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference 2018 (12-14 December 2018) This work was funded by the NSW Department of Justice that asked us to explore the utility of NSW…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Supreme Court
The final of nine reports in the series, which encompasses the Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), and the Land and Environment Court. For…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Land and Environment Court
One of nine reports in the series, which encompasses the Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), and the Land and Environment Court. For each…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW District Court
One of nine reports in the series, which encompasses the Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), and the Land and Environment Court. For each…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Overview (NCAT Part 1)
The Department of Justice NSW is seeking to optimise the use of civil court and tribunal data for evidence-based decision-making, specifically the civil divisions of the Local, District and the…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Consumer and Commercial Division (NCAT Part 2)
The final of nine reports in the series, which encompasses the Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), and the Land and Environment Court. For…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division & Occupational Division (NCAT Part 3)
The Department of Justice NSW is seeking to optimise the use of civil court and tribunal data for evidence-based decision-making, specifically the civil divisions of the Local, District and the…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Guardianship Division (NCAT Part 4)
The Department of Justice NSW is seeking to optimise the use of civil court and tribunal data for evidence-based decision-making, specifically the civil divisions of the Local, District and the…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – Appeal Panel (NCAT Part 5)
The Department of Justice NSW is seeking to optimise the use of civil court and tribunal data for evidence-based decision-making, specifically the civil divisions of the Local, District and the…
Data insights in civil justice: NSW Local Court
In summary: evaluation of the appropriateness and sustainability of Victoria Legal Aid’s Summary Crime Program evaluates whether, following changes to the program in 2012-2013, VLA’s SCP is appropriate to client…
The NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal: An analysis of clients, matters and determinations 1
In recent years, there has been much interest in Mental Health Tribunals (MHTs), their legislated role, functions and day-to-day operations. Much of the interest has centred on accumulating an evidence…
The changing face of litigation: unrepresented litigants in the Family Court of Australia
This project examines unrepresented litigants in the Family Court including: changes that may have contributed to increases; the characteristics of unrepresented litigants and the impact they have had on the…
Case management reform: a study of the Federal Court’s individual docket system
This project aimed to describe the individual docket system (IDS) as it has been implemented and to identify areas of difficulty as well as possible model practices or useful ways…
Legal aid for committals: an evaluation of the impact of the centralised committals scheme
Legal aid for committals: an evaluation of the impact of the centralised committals scheme
Unrepresented parties and the Equal Opportunity Tribunal: a survey of Tribunals and recommendations for change
This project examines procedures in comparable Tribunals, and makes recommendations to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (NSW) about the procedures in the Equal Opportunity Division (EOD), in order to make the…
Model key performance indicators for NSW Courts
This report represents the results of a project to develop model key performance indicators for New South Wales Courts. The project was a joint undertaking between the New South Wales…
Plaintiffs’ satisfaction with dispute resolution processes: trial, arbitration, pre-trial conference and mediation
This is a detailed study of plaintiffs’ perceptions of four dispute resolution procedures in the NSW District court’s Sydney registry and private mediation through the New South Wales Law Society…
The prototype Access to Justice Monitor – Queensland: a joint project of the Department of Justice, Queensland and the University of Wollongong
This report contains a comprehensive collection of quantitative measures in areas such as court delays legal costs, available services, and related measures of demand.
Case management: rolling list in the Family Court, Sydney Registry. A report on the DCM program in the Common Law Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
This report provides preliminary information about practitioners’ perceptions of rolling list, not an analysis of the impact of the procedure on the practitioners, their clients or the Court.
Awards made under the Motor Accidents Act 1988
The study was designed to take a close look at the awards for non-economic loss being made by judges and arbitrators and to provide a better understanding of how the…
