Results from Victoria Legal Aid's Client Satisfaction Survey 2012 which measured levels of satisfaction with legal aid services provided by in-house and private practitioners and Victoria Legal Aid as an organisation.

2. 2
Background
Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) contracted Colmar The overall objectives of the research
Brunton to conduct a telephone survey using were to:
a representative random sample of
• clients who received criminal law Duty • find out more about clients and their
Lawyer, Casework (legal representation on a perceptions of VLA services;
grant of aid) and Legal Advice services
between July –December 2011
• help VLA make decisions about the
• clients who had ordered Community Legal
Education (CLE) resources in that same services provided; and
period (July – December 2011)
• clients who had called our Legal Help • be able to report findings to
telephone information service between March government and stakeholders.
– April 2012.

3. 3
Methodology
Between April - May 2012, Colmar Brunton conducted n=630 x 15 minute Computer
Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) with a sample of VLA clients. All respondents to
the survey had used one or more of the following VLA services
• n=122 Criminal Law Legal Advice
• n=159 Criminal Law Casework
• n=270 Criminal Law Duty Lawyer;
• n=100 Legal Help telephone service
• n=100 Community Legal Education (CLE) publications

4. 4
VLA services – glossary
Legal advice: initial advice about a legal problem including help in preparing an application for a
grant of legal assistance. Legal advice is a short, one-off session available face to face, or by
phone or video conference in some circumstances. The clients interviewed for this survey received
legal advice services exclusively from lawyers who work for Victoria Legal Aid (VLA salaried
lawyers).
Casework: a grant of legal assistance is money from the Legal Aid Fund that enables a lawyer to
help a person with their legal problem. The grant enables the lawyer to give legal advice, help
reach agreement, prepare legal documents and/or represent a person in court. Casework services
can be provided by a VLA salaried lawyer or a private lawyer.
Duty lawyer: duty lawyers provide advice and representation at a court or tribunal where a court or
tribunal appearance is imminent. Services are provided without prior arrangement. Duty lawyers
are mostly VLA salaried lawyers or can be private lawyers who are paid by VLA to undertake duty
lawyer work.
Legal Help: a telephone service where individuals receive information about the law, provided by
Victoria Legal Aid telephone advisors.
VLA publications/booklets: Victoria Legal Aid produces a range of free legal information booklets
to help people with their legal problems.

5. In a nutshell….
Victoria Legal Aid clients were very positive about VLA services with;
• 87% of clients either extremely satisfied or satisfied with Legal Aid services
overall.
• Between 76-86% reporting that the service they received helped them sort out
their legal problem.
• Between 94-98% of clients saying they would recommend our services to
others.

6. 6
Key Findings

7. 7
Satisfaction
with VLA and
VLA services

8. 8
% satisfied
2012 2011
Overall Satisfaction 87%
86% of clients
overall
with Legal Aid 89% of criminal
91% law clients
87% of respondents indicated they 90%
were satisfied with Legal Aid overall.
Although this was comparable to the 2011 findings
(86%), overall clients were less likely to indicate they 87%
were ‘extremely satisfied’ in 2012 (40%) compared
to the previous year (46%). Nonetheless, clients
were also less likely to indicate they were 87%
dissatisfied (6%) compared to the previous year
(10%).
Clients who had only used the Casework service 92% of criminal
85%
provided the highest ratings of satisfaction. In law clients
particular, they were significantly more likely to be
‘extremely satisfied’ with VLA (50%) compared to
Legal Help (35%), Legal Advice (35%) and Duty 85% of criminal
84%
Lawyer clients (37%). law clients
Satisfaction among Duty Lawyer clients dropped
overall from those surveyed in 2011.
Q7Q. Overall how would you rate your level of satisfaction with Legal Aid? (SR). Base: All respondents (n=630)
Note: where 2011 results do not appear, this means that the question was not asked last year, so results not
available for comparison.

9. 9
% agree
Satisfaction with 2012
97%
2011
-
the Legal Advice 95% 90%
service
95% -
Criminal Law Legal Advice 93% -
clients showed very positive
attitudes towards the service, 93% 84%
in particular for factors relating to how the
lawyer they dealt with treated them and the
90% 88%
information they were provided.
Clients were less likely to agree that the 86% 84%
service was what they expected (78%) and
that they would like to use the same lawyer
again for a similar situation (77%). 78% -
Overall, criminal law Legal Advice clients
77% 79%
were slightly more positive this year
compared to the criminal law Legal Advice
clients surveyed in 2011.
Q2F. I’m going to read out some statements about the lawyer you spoke with and ask you to say how much you
agree or disagree with each statement. Base: All Legal Advice clients that recalled using the service (n=111)

10. 10
% agree
2012 2011
Satisfaction with 96% -
the Casework 91% 89%
service 91% 87%
91% -
Criminal Law casework clients 90% 86%
also provided very positive
attitudes towards the service. 89% 83%
Clients were particularly positive about the 88% 88%
manner of the lawyer and how they were
treated.
87% -
Although still positive, clients were less likely
to agree that they were confident in their 87% 82%
lawyer’s ability (87%), that they would like to
use the same lawyer again (84%) and that
the lawyer helped them to prepare for their 84% 79%
court appearance (83%).
83% -
Overall, criminal law Casework clients were
slightly more positive with regards to the
lawyer that represented them this year
compared to the criminal law Casework
clients surveyed in 2011. Q3F. I’m going to read out some statements about your lawyer represented you and again ask you to say how much you
agree or disagree with each statement. Base: All Casework clients that recalled using the service (n=149)

11. 11
Casework client satisfaction and the type of lawyer.
There was no significant difference in satisfaction level between clients who had a VLA salaried
lawyer and clients who had a private lawyer.
However, casework clients who had been represented by a VLA salaried lawyer were more likely to be
satisfied with the outcome of their case (84%) compared to those who had been represented by a
private lawyer (68%). All Casework clients who had been represented by a VLA salaried lawyer indicated
they would recommend the Casework service; this was significantly higher than those who had been
represented by a private lawyer (94%).
Q7Q. Overall how would you rate your level of satisfaction with Legal Aid? (SR)

12. 12
% agree
2012 2011
Satisfaction 93% -
with the Duty 89% 91%
Lawyer service 88% 92%
87% 85%
Clients who had used the
87% 88%
criminal law Duty Lawyer
service provided positive
86% 91%
feedback of the lawyers.
However, overall, the findings indicated 83% 86%
criminal law Duty Lawyer clients were slightly
less positive compared to criminal law Duty 80% 86%
Lawyer clients in 2011, the exception being
for the proportion that agreed their lawyer
didn’t rush them (87%) and that they didn’t 80% 85%
have to wait too long to see the lawyer
(74%).
74% 69%
Q4F. I’m going to read out some statements about the help the duty lawyer provided you and ask you to say how much you
agree or disagree with each statement. Base: All Duty Lawyer clients that recalled using the service (n=235)

13. 13
% agree
2012
Satisfaction 97%
with the Legal 96%
Help service 94%
91%
Nearly all clients who had 90%
called the telephone Legal
Help service indicated the 88%
advisor they spoke to spoke
clearly (97%), listened to 87%
them (96%) and was polite
84%
and respectful (94%).
82%
While still high, these clients were less
likely to agree that the service was what
they expected (84%), that they would like 77%
to use the same advisor again (82%), that
the advisor helped them to get additional 73%
support (77%) and that their call was
answered in a reasonable timeframe
(73%).
Q5F. I’m going to read out some statements about the help the telephone advisor provided you and ask you to say how much
you agree or disagree with each statement. Base: All Legal Help clients that recalled using the service (n=98)

14. 14
% agree 2012
Satisfaction with
the Community 95%
Legal Education
(CLE) service 91%
A high proportion of clients who 86%
had ordered VLA booklets agreed
that the material was easy to
understand (95%) and made it clear
83%
where to get more help (91%).
Of these clients 86% indicated the material was
relevant to their problem, helped them to decide
80%
what to do next (83%), was easy to order online
(80%), and had an attractive look and feel (78%).
78%
Q6F. I’m going to read out some statements about the VLA booklets. For each statement, please tell me if
you agree, strongly agree, disagree or strongly disagree. Generally the VLA booklets: Base: All CLE clients
that recalled ordering VLA booklets (n=100)

15. 15
Satisfaction with outcome
Approximately 75% of all criminal law Legal Advice, Casework and Duty Lawyer clients indicated
they were satisfied with the outcome of their legal problem or case. There were no significant
differences in satisfaction between the services. % satisfied
76%
75%
75%
Q2H/Q4H How satisfied were you with the outcome of your <legal problem/case/legal problem>?
Base: All clients who recalled using the service (Legal Advice n=111; Casework n=149; Duty Lawyer n=235)

16. 16
Extent of help

17. 17
Extent of Help
Clients who had used the criminal law Legal Advice and Casework services were the most likely to indicate that
the service helped them to sort out their legal problem, followed by those that had used the criminal law Duty
Lawyer service. These clients were more likely to indicate that the service ‘helped a lot’ compared to those that
had used the Legal Help and CLE services. These findings are consistent with the level of intensity and
involvement that the VLA services have in the client’s life. The Legal Help and CLE services have a stronger
focus on self help and typically involve minimal contact with clients compared to the other services.
% indicating the
service helped
86%
86%
79%
80%
76%
Q2G/Q3G/Q4G/Q5G/Q6G To what extent did the <Legal Advice/Casework/Duty Lawyer/Legal Help/booklets> help you to sort out your legal problem?
Base: All clients who recalled using the service (Legal Advice n=111; Casework n=149; Duty Lawyer n=235; Legal Help n=98; CLE n=100)

18. 18
Self help

19. 19
Self-help with future problems
Just over half of all clients that had ordered VLA booklets (CLE clients) or had called the telephone Legal Help
service indicated they would be confident in their ability to sort out a similar legal problem in the future should it
arise. This was a significantly higher proportion compared to the Legal Advice and Duty Lawyer clients; only
approximately one third of these clients indicated they would feel confident to handle the problem without help
from VLA; approximately half indicated they would not feel confident (including a quarter who would not feel
confident at all). Again these findings are related to the intensity of contact that each service provides and the
seriousness of the problems that the different services assist with.
% confident
57%
56%
34%
30%
Q2I/Q4I/Q5I/Q6I How confident are you that if a similar problem arose again you would be able to sort it out without assistance from <Legal Advice service/a Duty Lawyer/calling
Legal Help/Legal Aid>? Base: All clients who recalled using the service (Legal Advice n=111; Duty Lawyer n=235; Legal Help n=98; CLE n=100). Note: question not relevant to
Casework clients.

20. 20
Likelihood to
Recommend &
Advocacy

21. 21
Likelihood to recommend
A high proportion of clients across all services indicated they would recommend the service they
used to others. Clients who had visited the website were the most likely to recommend; a
significantly higher proportion compared to those that had used the Duty Lawyer service.
Q2J/Q3J/Q4J/Q5J/Q6J/Q7J2. Would you recommend the <Victoria Legal Aid advice service /Legal Aid casework service/ Legal Aid Duty Lawyer service/Legal Help service/Victoria
Legal Aid booklets/website> to other people? Base: All clients who recalled using the service (Legal Advice n=111; Casework n=149; Duty Lawyer n=235; Legal Help n=98; CLE
n=100; website n=141).

22. 22
Advocacy on behalf I would be critical
of Legal Aid
without being
Don t know, 6%
of Victoria Legal Aid I would be critical
of Legal Aid if
asked, 2%
asked, 2%
Approximately 75% of all clients
I would speak
surveyed indicated they would highly of Legal
I would neither Aid without being
speak highly of VLA (46% if asked be positive or asked, 28%
and 28% without being asked). negative towards
Legal Aid, 16%
Only a very small proportion (4%)
indicated they would be critical of
VLA.
I would speak
highly of Legal
Aid if asked, 46%
Q7S. Which of these phrases best describes the way you would speak of
Victoria Legal Aid to your friends and family? Base: All respondents (n=630)

23. 23
Communications

24. 24
Communications
The most common and most preferred form
of communication with VLA was in person;
this was more common among criminal law Legal
Advice and Duty Lawyer clients and was
significantly lower compared to the proportion in 2011
(actual 78%, preferred 78%).
The proportion of clients that mostly communicated
with VLA via email significantly decreased from 5% in
2011 to 2% in 2012. A significantly higher proportion
would prefer email communication (8%); these were
more likely to be CLE clients (36%).
There was an increase in use and preference of the
website and in 2012 the proportion who would prefer
website communication was significantly higher than
those who actually used the website. Those that
preferred this method of communication were more
likely to be CLE clients.
Q7B. How did you mostly communicate with Victoria Legal Aid? (MR)
Base: All Criminal Law clients and Legal Help clients (n=530). Note: question not relevant to CLE clients.
Q6N. How did you mostly communicate with Victoria Legal Aid? (MR)
Base: All CLE clients that had received help from VLA for another legal problem (n=23)
Q7C. How would you prefer to communicate with Victoria Legal Aid? (MR)
Base: All respondents (n=630)

25. 25
% agree
2012
The information on the
w ebsite w as easy to 22% 71% 3% 93%
Website understand 5%
The information helped 1%
you to understand 25% 66% 3%6% 91%
w hat to do next
Just under a quarter of all clients
(23%) indicated they had used the The information w as 8% 1%
23% 66% 89%
VLA website. This was significantly easy to find 2% 1%
more common among Legal Help
(34%) and CLE clients (77%).
The information w as
1%
relevant to your 26% 61% 3% 1% 87%
Although small sample sizes restricted problem 7%
analysis between different service
types, there was a tendency for Legal It w as clear w hich
Help clients to be less positive about services Legal Aid
could provide to you
22% 63% 3%7% 6% 85%
the website.
The w ebsite had an 11%
15% 68% 3%2% 83%
attractive look and feel
1%
Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree Strongly Disagree N/A-Don't know

26. 26
Referrals

27. 27
Referrals
Clients indicated that they most
commonly received referrals from VLA
to private lawyers/Law Institute of
Victoria, social services, to a court
and/or a Community Legal Centre.
78% of those who had been given a
referral indicated they had followed up on
the referral. Of these clients, 81%
indicated the agencies they were referred
to were useful.
The main reason for not following up a
referral made by VLA, was that the client
felt they didn’t have a need to (44%).
Q7L. Did Legal Aid refer you or arrange for you to speak to any of the following services? Please just
indicate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ after each one I read out (SR)
Base: All respondents (n=630)

28. 28
Specific client
groups

29. 29
Clients from a non-English speaking
background (NESB)
Overall, 87% of clients indicated they speak English at home. Some of the other languages spoken at home
included (in order of frequency) Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chinese -
Mandarin, Greek, Serbian, Filipino, Indian, Spanish, Samoan, Punjabi, Portuguese, Chinese – Cantonese.
Of those who spoke a language other than English at home, 9% indicated they used an interpreter. Of those that
did not use an interpreter, approximately a quarter indicated they were offered one by VLA. For those that were not
offered an interpreter, only a very small proportion (2%) indicated they would have preferred one; this was lower
compared to 2011 (7%).
Clients who were not fluent in English were more likely to have communicated with VLA In person (83%), than
clients who were fluent in English (68%). They were also significantly less likely to indicate a preference for
communicating via the phone (2%) compared with clients who were fluent in English (40%)
3%
Fluent in English
Clients who were fluent in English were more likely to (n=589)
41% 47% 5% 3%
have used the Legal Help and CLE services. 1%
Overall, there was no significant difference in
satisfaction between clients who were fluent in
English compared to those who were not fluent in
English. However, none of the clients that were not
fluent in English were ‘extremely dissatisfied’ with VLA Not fluent in English
(n=41)
31% 48% 8% 7% 6%
compared to 3% of those that were fluent in English.
Q7Q. Overall how would you rate your level of satisfaction with Legal Aid? (SR)
Extremely satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Extremely dissatisfied N/A-Don't know

30. 30
Clients with a
disability
Overall, a quarter of clients indicated they had
some form of disability, most commonly
psychiatric and/or physical. Only 3% (n=18) of
clients indicated they had more than one
disability.
Overall, those clients indicating they had a
disability were more likely to have used the
criminal law Casework service and less likely to
have used the Legal Help service.
Overall, there was a tendency for those with a
disability to be less satisfied than those
without a disability. 83% of clients with a
disability were satisfied or extremely satisfied
with Legal Aid, compared to 89% of clients
without a disability. A significantly higher
proportion of clients (10%) who indicated they
had a disability were ‘dissatisfied’ with VLA
D7. Do you have a disability? (MR)
compared to those without a disability (5%). Base: All respondents (n=630)

31. 31
Sample
Information

32. 32
Demographic Information
Age Gender
D2. What was your age on your last birthday? (SR). D1. Interviewer to note gender
Base: All respondents (n=630) Base: All respondents (n=630)
Note: Demographic information represented unweighted data.

33. 33
Demographic Information
Disability Government benefit or pension
D7. Do you have a disability? (SR). D14 Do you receive a government benefit or pension? (SR)
Base: All respondents (n=630) Base: All respondents (n=630)
Note: Demographic information represented unweighted data.

34. 34
Conclusions

35. 35
Conclusions
•Overall, clients were very positive about •These clients were less likely to indicate
the services that Victoria Legal Aid offers. they would be confident in their ability to sort
•In particular, clients rated their satisfaction out a similar legal problem in the future
should it arise, particularly compared to the
highest for factors that related directly to how
the lawyer that they dealt with had treated clients that had used the Legal Help or CLE
them and the information that they had been services.
provided. •A very high proportion of clients indicated
•Most criminal law clients indicated they they would recommend the services of VLA
to others.
were satisfied with the outcome of their legal
problem or case and that the VLA service •A full report detailing all survey findings and
they used helped them to sort out their legal key subgroup analysis is available on
problem. request. For a copy please email
research@vla.vic.gov.au