Is early intervention timely? Justice issues paper 20
Better to have a fence at the top of the cliff than a fleet of ambulances at the bottom. Such is the call to early intervention: preventing legal problems from...
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Showing publications between: 1991 - 2026
Beyond great expectations: modest, meaningful and measurable community legal education and information, Justice issues paper 21
Great expectations accompany many community legal education and information (CLEI) strategies - as tools to empower, to prevent legal issues escalating and to improve access to justice. But are these...
Collaborative Planning Resource – Service Planning
The Foundation developed the Collaborative Planning Resource (CPR) in support of the 2015 National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services (NPA) between the Commonwealth of Australia and the states/territories. It...
Timing early intervention
This paper is drawn from Reshaping legal assistance services: building on the evidence base: a discussion paper by Pleasence, P, Coumarelos, C, Forell, S & McDonald, HM (2014). The Reshaping...
Indigenous people, multiple disadvantage and response to legal problems
This paper extends analysis of the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey national dataset by examining response to legal problems and barriers to obtaining advice by Indigenous status and level of disadvantage....
Community legal education and information at Legal Aid NSW: activities, costs and future planning
This report profiles Legal Aid NSW's community legal education and information (CLEI) activities over a 12-month period to 30 September 2014, and discusses issues in costing CLEI. This is the...
Planning legal assistance services by area: is SEIFA the answer?
Results from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey demonstrate that certain disadvantaged groups are particularly vulnerable to legal problems. Thus, data that identify the demographic groups with high legal need and...
Planning legal outreach
This paper defines legal outreach and summarises the different models that can be used to deliver legal outreach. It describes the key characteristics of successful legal outreach and the benefits...
Availability of lawyers in RRR NSW: what we have learnt
Recent concerns about the perceived loss of lawyers from regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas have centred on recruitment and retention issues. This paper highlights key findings of two studies...
The outcomes of community legal education: a systematic review, Justice issues paper 18
Community legal education (CLE) has been conducted in NSW for the last 30 years. It aims to raise awareness among community members about the law and legal processes, and improve...
The development of the Legal Assistance Service Data Digest and Data Digest Online
This paper reports on a project by the Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales to develop a database and associated online application to facilitate access to data on...
Reshaping legal assistance services: building on the evidence base: a discussion paper
This report draws on more than a decade of empirical research evidence - together with current experience of service providers - to inform the design and delivery of efficient and...
Reaching in by joining-up: evaluation of the legal assistance partnership between Legal Aid NSW and Settlement Services International
In March 2013, Legal Aid NSW and Settlement Services International entered into a partnership to provide legal services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who are disadvantaged....
Lawyer availability and population change in regional, rural and remote areas of NSW
This research is the second of two studies undertaken by the Law and Justice Foundation into the availability of solicitors in regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas of New South...
Reshaping legal assistance services, building on the evidence base: summary
The Reshaping legal assistance services discussion paper draws on a substantial base of empirical research – together with current experience of service providers – to inform the design and delivery...
Limits of legal information: when knowing what to do is not enough
One aim of community legal information and education strategies is to promote community understanding of law and what to do about legal problems. Key to this is a focus on...
Legal capability and inaction for legal problems: knowledge, stress and cost
Deficiencies in legal capability may limit a person’s ability to effectively resolve legal problems. This paper examines three reasons provided by respondents for taking no action in response to legal...
Are renters worse off? The legal needs of public and private tenants
International legal needs research has revealed that people who live in rented accommodation are particularly vulnerable to experiencing legal problems. This paper uses LAW Survey data to address the legal...
Barriers to obtaining advice for legal problems in New South Wales
The Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey found that a sizeable proportion of people seek advice for the legal problems they experience, however, many report barriers to accessing the legal help they...
Do some types of legal problems trigger other legal problems?
Legal problems that have the potential to trigger other legal problems can set off a series of multiple problems, which can spiral out of control. Identifying trigger problems can help...
Youth and the law: the impact of legal problems on young people
Stress-related illness, physical ill health, relationship breakdown, moving home, and loss of income or financial strain, were all adverse consequences attributed to the legal problems reported by respondents to the...
Indigenous people’s experience of multiple legal problems and multiple disadvantage – a working paper
The Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey found that Indigenous people who experience legal problems had an increased likelihood of experiencing multiple legal problems. New analyses using the LAW Survey national dataset...
Youth and the law: it’s not all about juvenile justice and child welfare
New findings from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey reveal that young people aged 15–17 years, like their 18–24 year old counterparts, are not immune to the experience of legal problems,...
Crime in context: criminal victimisation, offending, multiple disadvantage and the experience of civil legal problems
Disadvantaged groups have been found to be particularly vulnerable to civil legal problems. Disadvantage has also been linked with crime victimisation and offending. However, while it has been observed that...
Legal need and main language across Australia
People whose main language is not English are less likely to take action or seek advice to resolve their legal problems compared to other Australians. Knowledge of the socio-demographic characteristics...
Law and disorders: illness/disability and the experience of everyday problems involving the law, Justice Issues 17.
This paper draws on the LAW Survey data to examine the relationship between legal problem experience and different types of mental and physical illness/disability. The findings confirm the existence of...
Review of Legal Aid NSW outreach legal services. Stage two report: Evolving best practice in outreach – insights from experience
This report is published by the Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales, an independent, not-for-profit organisation that seeks to advance the fairness and equity of the justice system,...
Review of Legal Aid NSW outreach legal services Stage 1 report: statistical overview of services, 2010-2012
The Law and Justice Foundation of NSW was asked by Legal Aid NSW to provide an overview of existing outreach services at Legal Aid NSW (Stage 1), and draw upon...
Disadvantage and responses to legal problems in remote Australia – a working paper
New analyses from the Legal Australia-WIDE (LAW) Survey confirm that high levels of disadvantage are associated with a lower likelihood of taking action and seeking professional advice in respones to...
Who is the ‘other side’ in legal problems and disputes in Australia?
This paper summarises findings from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey concerning the ‘other side’ in legal problems and disputes in Australia. A wide variety of people and organisations were identified...
Law and disorders: illness/disability and the response to everyday problems involving the law, Updating Justice 30.
The Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey has demonstrated a strong relationship between the prevalence of legal problems and long-term illness/disability, with elevated levels for all types of illness/disability and particularly for...
What price justice? Income and the use of lawyers
This paper presents new findings from the LegalAustralia Wide (LAW) Survey. The first major findings for Australia as a whole were published in Legal Australia-Wide Survey: legal need in Australia...
Legal needs of younger people in Australia
This paper summarises findings from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey on the legal problems experienced by younger people aged 15–24 years in Australia. Similar to previous studies, the findings show...
Seeking formal advice for legal problems in the ACT
This paper summarises findings from the Legal Australia-Wide Survey (LAW Survey) concerning the use of advisers for legal problems in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). What people in the ACT...
Awareness of legal services and responses to legal problems in remote Australia
New findings from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey suggest that, overall, the use of legal advisers decreases with remoteness. In very remote areas, respondents who were not aware of various...
Concentrating disadvantage: a working paper on heightened vulnerability to multiple legal problems
The Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey found that some demographic groups, including many disadvantaged groups, had heightened vulnerability to multiple legal problems. New analyses of the LAW Survey national data set...
Legal needs of Indigenous people in Australia
This paper summarises findings from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey showing that Indigenous Australians had high prevalence of multiple legal problems and government, health and rights problems. They were also...
Law and disorders: illness/disability and the experience of everyday problems involving the law, Updating Justice 22. [Working paper]
New findings from the LAW Survey confirm a strong relationship between the experience of a broad range of everyday problems involving the law and long-term illness/disability. This relationship was generally...
Home is where the heart of legal need is: a working paper on homelessness, disadvantaged housing and the experience of legal problems
Preliminary findings from the Legal Australia-Wide (LAW) Survey indicate that homeless people are an especially disadvantaged group who have increased vulnerability to a wide range of legal problems. The findings...
Seeking formal advice for legal problems in New South Wales
This paper summarises findings from the Legal Australia-Wide Survey (LAW Survey) concerning the use of advisers for legal problems in New South Wales (NSW). What people in NSW do about...