Submissions
We make submissions that draw on research on access to justice and legal need.
We do this to contribute to development of a justice system that meets the legal and related needs of Victorians.
Submission on policy questions for NLAP Schedule D legal assistance service data
22 April 2022
The National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–2025 (NLAP), the principal funding mechanism for Commonwealth funding for legal assistance services to state and territory governments, requires reporting of legal service data. NLAP Schedule D details reporting requirements.
Through our participation in the NLAP Advisory Group, Victoria Law Foundation was invited to comment on proposed policy questions that legal service data reported under NLAP Schedule D could be used to answer.
As one of the few organisations in Australia that has particular interest and expertise in justice system data, and whose research agenda includes both building and interrogating the empirical evidence base, we see reporting of NLAP legal assistance service data as a critical step.
In our submission we welcomed the enhanced policy role for legal assistance service data. However, we also identified several concerns with the appropriate use of legal assistance service data. Based on findings from our Data Mapping Project, including findings from our report Apples, Oranges and Lemons, we called for review of the utility and quality of National legal assistance data. This would help to first establish the utility of NLAP legal assistance service data, and potentially highlight the value of and need for other data measures and data sources for informing policy.
In our view, the utility of NLAP legal assistance service data is likely to remain limited without investment in data infrastructure and capability. Review of the use of national legal assistance service data provides opportunity to build shared understanding of legal assistance service data, data literacy and evidence informed policy.
We conclude by reiterating our view that leadership and collaboration are required to unlock a new era of evidence informed legal assistance policy, one which can support collaborative service planning as well as innovation required to better understand, communicate, and transform the Australian community’s access to effective legal assistance.
Submission on National Legal Assistance Data Strategy
13 May 2021
The National Legal Assistance Data Strategy (Data Strategy) is an important part of the suite of guidance and governance documents that together set out national legal assistance policy. With aspirations to improve the evidence base available to inform legal assistance policy, the National Legal Assistance Data Strategy is integral to realising national policy.
We welcomed new data requirements in the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–2025 (NLAP) and updated National Legal Assistance Data Standards Manual (DSM), and the roadmap of reform set out in the Data Strategy. However, while it points to improved data capability and use over the life of the agreement, our submission identified several issues likely to have a significant impact on progress.
Our submission noted that national legal assistance policy has shifted to focus on people facing disadvantage and provision of client-centric service based on people’s legal needs and capabilities. It also seeks to empower people and communities to address and prevent legal problems. Data requirements, however, do not yet match this direction. The shift in national legal assistance policy necessitates a shift to people-centred data, and additional demographic and other information not currently available or required in NLAP service data.
In our view the Data Strategy adopts an overly narrow view and overlooks several data capability issues. To drive improved legal assistance policy and services, we called for the Data Strategy to go further. We specifically called for:
- a working group be established to explore broader data strategy issues and to inform the next iteration of the Data Strategy.
- the scheduled review of the Data Strategy be brought on earlier than NLAP year four. This would also facilitate earlier conversations about legal assistance outcomes and the type of people-centred justice data required to see progress under national legal assistance policy.
- further research and development to effectively measure legal capability factors in a service setting. These are issues Victoria Law Foundation is already pursuing, and there is ample opportunity to expand that effort.
Submission on Estimated Time Spent measure for NLAP Jurisdictional Performance Report
4 November 2021
Victoria Law Foundation was invited to provide comment on proposed guidance and reporting of a new Estimated Time Spent (ETS) measure as required by the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–2025 (NLAP).
To date, understanding of legal assistance services, and identification of more effective legal assistance service models, is limited by the lack of sound, quality measures of the effort and expenditure that goes into different legal assistance services.
Teamed with outcomes measures and other National Legal Assistance Data Standard Manual (DSM) measures, an ETS is vital to building evidence about what works to most effectively and efficiently meet community legal need.
In our submission we strongly supported collection of ETS data for the purpose of better understanding legal assistance services. Collection of ETS is relatively straightforward, and principally a matter for the service who must collect it, and jurisdictions who must report it. However, we made a submission on the proposed ETS guidance material due to our concerns that the utility of the proposed methodology, and short time frame to operationalise collection, would result in poor quality data with low utility. We raised several concerns. Firstly, that the utility of ETS data would be outweighed by the burden of its collection. Secondly, that ETS data utility would be undermined by its quality. Thirdly, that the proposed approach risked eroding trust and confidence in NLAP data collection and use.
Our submission set out several suggestions to improve ETS data utility and reiterated our view that NLAP service data quality and utility requires investment in data capability.
Regulatory Impact Statement on Magistrates’ Court (Fees) Regulations and Juries (Fees) Regulations.
21 June 2022
Victoria Law Foundation was invited to comment on proposed amendments to the Magistrates’ Court (Fees) Regulations and Juries (Fees) Regulations.
Our submission noted the access to justice barriers that court fees present, particularly for those experiencing financial disadvantage and access to justice rationale underpinning fee waiver.
We supported the proposed introduction of three fee tiers and weighting of fees to better reflect capacity to pay, and the positive impact on court accessibility for those qualifying for concession rates. The risk some litigants, who might have previously received a fee waiver, may be shifted into a concession or standard fee was also identified.
Proposed fee reductions for wage theft cases and expansion of fee exemptions were also supported.
Our submission also noted how the proposed fee amendments provided opportunity to collect important additional information on the financial and other circumstances of those using the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and welcomed commitment to developing new ways to record court user characteristics. We see this as critical to assessing the access to justice impacts of fee reforms.
Our recent report, Smarter Data: The use and utility of administrative data in Victorian courts and tribunals found data on litigant characteristics often precludes assessment of the access to justice impacts of court and tribunal reform. The report recommended improved collection of litigant demographic and other characteristics to enable monitoring and evaluation of both court and tribunal operations and access to justice.
Our submission concluded by observing that as court fees are intended to defray cost of court services, systematic collection of litigant information should be covered by court fees and funding.
Submission on the Draft National Legal Assistance Service Data Strategy 2020–21 to 2021–22
16 November 2020
Victoria Law Foundation was invited to comment on the Draft National Legal Assistance Service Data Strategy 2020–21 to 2021–22.
Our submission is based on our knowledge of access to justice and legal need data, the utility of that data and how data can be used to better inform access to justice and legal assistance policy.
A national data strategy will have a key role in supporting access to justice and equity across Australia and in assessing progress against the objectives and outcomes of the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–25 and National Strategic Framework for Legal Assistance 2020–25.
Improved availability and use of legal assistance data is one piece of the policy puzzle. Legal assistance data, however, like all data, has limitations. Other data, such as how the public experiences legal problems, is required to understand how people interact with the law and legal services. One important approach are legal needs surveys, and our submission points to instituting regular public understanding of law and legal need surveys as another significant piece of the access to justice and legal assistance policy puzzle.
Developing a sound national approach, one that will reliably measure legal need and other fundamental legal assistance and access to justice policy issues, however, cannot be achieved without investment of time and resources.
Submission on the NLAP 2020–2025 Draft Client Survey Reporting Guidance
28 September 2020
The National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020–2025 (NLAP) is a funding agreement between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments. NLAP is the principal mechanism for Commonwealth funding for legal services provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, community legal centres and legal aid commissions.
One of the requirements of the NLAP is that state and territory governments report the findings of periodic client surveys conducted by legal assistance service providers funded through the NLAP.
Victoria Law Foundation was invited to make a submission on the Draft Client Survey Reporting Guidance, a document intended to support consistent client survey reporting. We based our submission on our extensive experience of empirical legal research using surveys, together with insights from our recent report Apples, Oranges and Lemons: The use and utility of administrative data in the Victorian legal assistance sector.
We highlighted the valuable information that sound client surveys can provide about client experience and service utility, identified data quality, consistency and utility concerns, and suggested a strategy to provide more meaningful and useful client experience, outcome and satisfaction measures.
Submission to Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department in response to COVID-19 pandemic
2 April 2020
Victoria Law Foundation made a submission identifying anticipated impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to justice and legal need in Australia. Just like COVID-19, legal problems can spread and cluster and have potential to increase exponentially.
Our submission identified and discussed the following likely impacts of COVID-19:
- increased community legal need and demand for public legal assistance should be expected in the medium to long-term
- increase in the number of people eligible for public legal assistance that will further stretch the capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services, community legal centres, family violence prevention legal services and legal aid commissions
- disrupted access to legal assistance and dispute resolution processes, with many people unable to make use of alternative digital access pathways at risk of falling through system cracks
- impacts of COVID-19 on legal problem experience and access to legal services must be monitored to ensure access to justice and community legal need is being met.
Submission on the National Legal Assistance Partnership Revised Official Draft
30 March 2020
The National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) is a funding agreement between the Commonwealth and all states and territories. NLAP is the principal mechanism for Commonwealth funding for legal services provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, community legal centres and legal aid commissions.
During the consultation process and development of the NLAP, we made a submission recommending further consideration of the data needs likely consequences of aspects of the draft NLAP text.
Drawing on findings from our project to map the use and utility of Victoria’s legal assistance administrative data, our submission identified practical consequences of proposed NLAP reporting requirements, and their impacts on Victorian community legal centres. We further identified and cautioned that many of the policy ambitions of the NLAP would be frustrated by poor quality data and measures, and suggested changes to proposed data collection and reporting requirements to improve data utility.
Submission on the National Legal Assistance Partnership Official Draft
14 February 2020
Victoria Law Foundation was invited to comment on the official draft text of the National Legal Assistance Partnership. Our submission focused on funding and service provision consequences, the roles and responsibilities of the parties, proposed performance monitoring and reporting requirements, financial and governance arrangements and collaborative service planning.
Submission in response to the National Legal Assistance Partnership Discussion Paper on Legal Assistance Service Data Requirements
9 February 2020
Victoria Law Foundation is a member of the Advisory Group to the National Legal Assistance Intergovernmental Committee. We were invited to make a submission in response to a discussion paper on legal assistance data requirements to inform development of the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP). The NLAP is the principal mechanism for Commonwealth funding for legal services provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, community legal centres and legal aid commissions.
Our submission was based on emergent findings from recent research to map the administrative data collected in Victoria’s civil justice system and addressed how administrative service data can be managed and improved to meet NLAP objectives.
Submission to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System
1 October 2019
Victoria Law Foundation made a submission to the Royal Commission highlighting the importance of integrated legal, health and broader human services for many people experiencing mental health issues. Drawing on the findings from our recently completed report Law…What is it Good For? How People see the Law, Lawyers and Courts in Australia, as well as other Australian and international access to justice and legal need research, we submitted that for people with serious mental illness more needed to be done to successfully overcome perceptions that courts and lawyers are inaccessible.
Read more about our research and findings on Victorians’ perception of law.