A sophisticated single integrated service, accessible by telephone and internet, which provides information, warm referrals and (where appropriate) legal advice would provide accessible legal information and effective triaging to resolve disputes. This would require significant resources and lead times, to ensure all jurisdictions participate, and to develop and transition to common information technology systems and training.
A better option is to ensure that, no matter which information provider, legal assistance or related service a person approaches, a referral system is in place to help connect them to the most appropriate service. The no wrong number, no wrong door approach recommended below seeks to ensure this. Evidence indicates that many people contact government to find ways to respond to legal issues, making the policy a viable step towards quicker and better resolution of legal issues.169
A large proportion of legal issues that people experience in the Commonwealth jurisdiction involve Government. Coupled with the millions of approaches fielded by government agencies and Commonwealth‑funded service providers, the no wrong number, no wrong door policy has the potential to significantly assist people’s progress through dispute resolution.
Significant additional resources would not be required, as all government agencies, courts and legal assistance services already have information functions within their core business. There is already evidence that warm referral practices within government work to improve justice outcomes. As part of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) ‘complaint assisted transfer project’, the Commonwealth Ombudsman currently facilitates the transfer of ATO complaints from its office to the ATO, for internal review.170 The Ombudsman commenced this initiative due to the low take‑up of referrals
by complainants.
One feature of the no wrong number, no wrong door approach would be a common referral
database, which lists available services (both legal and non‑legal) by service type and location. There is currently no such database—each legal assistance provider, including lACs and ClCs, maintains its own referral database. In response to a survey conducted by the Taskforce, ClCs indicated that significant time is spent updating their referral databases (responses ranged from 1–2 hours to 1–2 days per month). This is a significant drain on resources.
many ClCs indicated that they do not have the resources to update their database as frequently as they would like. There is a high likelihood that some services are regularly referring clients to services which no longer exist or whose contact details have changed.
169 Ipsos Australia (prepared for the victorian Department of Justice), Dispute Resolution in Victoria: Small Business Survey 2007
Report, 2007, p 19.
The ‘no wrong number, no wrong door’ approach provides a triage function for people with legal issues, as:
timely and appropriate referrals can prevent legal problems from escalating
•
information providers provide more effective service, and
•
the issue gets the most appropriate treatment in the shortest and most efficient manner
•
possible—be it referral to accurate information (rather than Google, the White Pages, friends or simply ignoring the issue) or more specific legal or non‑legal services such as counselling, personalised assistance or advice.171
RecommendATIon 6.1
That Commonwealth agencies that provide services and information to the public and Commonwealth‑funded service providers adopt a no wrong number, no wrong door approach to the provision of information about government services, or queries seeking information about legal issues. This will reduce information barriers to accessing justice, by ensuring that whichever source of assistance people turn to is able to assist, either directly or by taking people to the correct source.
The no wrong number, no wrong door approach involves development of a best practice protocol, through consultations with all interested parties led by the Attorney‑General’s Department, for the provision of legal information, assistance or referral. A referral policy may require that the first agency contacted would not refer on without endeavouring to make some assessment of an appropriate referee, and ensure that referee has the capacity to take the referral.172
RecommendATIon 6.2
The no wrong number, no wrong door approach can be implemented at a purely Commonwealth level, but would be most effective if it involved the States and Territories. Accordingly, the Attorney‑General should consult with State and Territory Attorneys‑General for the adoption of the policy by relevant state bodies.
RecommendATIon 6.3
The Attorney‑General’s Department should develop a consultative process to enable relevant agencies, service providers, courts and tribunals to consolidate existing information about the type and location of services on a common referral database.
Information; Action; Triage; Outcomes; Resilience; Proportionate cost; Inclusion.
171 The ‘no wrong number, no wrong door’ policy does not need to be limited to referral to legal services; in some instances it
may be more appropriate to refer someone to a financial counselling service or a welfare rights service for example. The default referral point when it is not clear where to refer a person would be a legal aid commission, where staff are best equipped to assist in a wide range of instances, including through referring on further where appropriate.
172 This practice is commonly described as ‘warm referral’. It involves assisting a person to approach a more appropriate
service, usually by contacting that service and arranging an appointment, or arranging for the service to contact the person. Importantly, a move towards warm referrals will counteract the effect of ‘referral fatigue’, where users of the justice system become less likely to follow their issue through to resolution the longer it takes or the harder it is to obtain the information needed. Warm referral is especially effective for clients who may not have the means or are hesitant to contact other.