Our research sought to understand how health justice partnerships (HJPs) can support frontline staff and consumers. This included:
- A national survey of 999 Neami staff to identify common legal issues faced by consumers.
- In-depth legal needs assessments at three sites, including interviews and focus groups with staff.
Staff identified a wide range of legal issues commonly experienced by consumers including:
- Money issues (e.g. debts, fines, payday loans and mortgage stress)
- Social security/Centrelink issues (e.g. breaches and eligibility)
- Housing/tenancy issues (e.g. eviction and disputes with landlords)
- Family/relationship issues (e.g. separation and child access)
- Domestic or family violence (e.g. risk to self or family)
The mix of legal issues varied across sites, influenced by the demographics and intersecting needs of local consumer groups.
Barriers to Accessing Legal Help
Consumers often face significant barriers to addressing legal issues, including:
- Not recognising their problems as legal in nature
- Lack of awareness of available legal services
- Mistrust of the legal system
- Overwhelming life circumstances that prevent help-seeking
Staff Time Spent on Legal Issues
A substantial portion of staff time is spent responding to legal issues:
- 67% of survey respondents reported spending half or more of their time dealing with legal matters affecting consumers.
“We need to think more creatively about how we partner to have these needs addressed and see health justice partnerships as a valuable opportunity to do this.”
— Priscilla Ennals, Senior Manager Research and Evaluation, Neami National
What Staff Need
To better support consumers with legal issues, staff identified the need for:
- Greater knowledge of other services
- Stronger connections with professionals in other organisations
- Improved links with community resources
- Clearer referral pathways and collaborative relationships with legal services
These findings have informed Neami’s approach to building partnerships with legal services and developing practical tools to support staff capability and consumer outcomes.
See Resources to download the full research reports. Findings are also published in a joint report in the International Journal of Integrated Care.
