By Dr Georgie Rychner, Senior Researcher
A pioneering project
The Small Area Modelling project modelled estimates of everyday legal problem prevalence using the Public Understanding of Law Survey, and applied these estimates to unit-level ABS Census data before aggregating them to the small area level.
The interactive map allows users to view and compare estimated everyday legal problem prevalence across neighbourhoods, postcodes and electorates.
We know from the PULS that only 34% of justiciable problems (846 of 2,476) were recognised by respondents as legal. Rather than simply mapping ‘expressed’ legal need, this approach captures estimated legal problems regardless of whether they were characterised as legal in nature, or taken to legal services.
Next-level granularity
This project benefits from access to unit-level Census data granted by the ABS Datalab. The map can display estimates of everyday legal problem prevalence at the SA1 level, which means blocks of between 200 and 800 people. This provides a level of granularity that goes beyond that of existing visualisations, to reveal where pockets of problems might exist.
Who and what is this for?
The models serve anyone interested in understanding everyday legal problem prevalence across Victoria.
Key user groups include legal service providers (legal aid, community legal centres, and private practitioners), government agencies, community organisations, researchers, and policy makers.
They may also fill a range of purposes, including strategic planning, resource allocation, legal needs assessments, testing assumptions about where problems occur, supporting funding applications.
What’s next?
The Legal Services Research Centre will continue to develop and refine the models using data from their ongoing Legal Understanding and Lawyer Use (LULU) Survey, and will publish a report setting out the development of the models, detailed statistical output, and their research and policy context.
Read more about this project and view the map