Annual Report 2020 - 2021
Measuring our performance
We measure our performance against a range of key performance indicators to determine our effectiveness in providing community awareness, in ensuring accessibility to legal aid, and in upholding our service standards.
| Key performance indicators | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community awareness of legal rights and responsibilities | ||||
| Client satisfaction* | 84% | N/A | 76% | |
| Information services we provided** | 325,156 | 196,435 | 170,981 | |
| Advice and minor assistance services we provided | 138,639 | 125,001 | 19,003 | |
| Number of publications distributed | 588,536 | 495,680 | 420,145 | |
| Accessibility of legal aid | ||||
| Means test income limit as a percentage of national minimum weekly wage | 55.6% | 54.0% | 53.1% | |
| Percentage of Local Court sittings served by duty solicitor schemes | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Representation service standards | ||||
| Percentage of satisfactory comprehensive in-house file reviews | 96.8% | 97.9% | 97.3% | |
| Number of Legal Aid NSW lawyers with specialist accreditation | 63 | 60 | 61 | |
*We measure client satisfaction through surveys conducted every two years. The methodology and scope of the 2020–21 survey differed from past surveys in that it covered grants and advice clients, and client responses were collected through both online surveys and phone interviews. The comparable client satisfaction figures for grants clients who responded via telephone interviews only are 84% in 2018–19 and 83% in 2020–21.
**In September 2018, we changed the way we define information services to align with the agreed national standard. This led to an
ongoing reduction in the recorded number of information services.
Reporting against the National Partnership Agreement
Legal aid commissions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services and community legal centres receive Commonwealth funding to improve access to justice for disadvantaged people under the National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) 2020–2025.
We reported the number of legal assistance services for service types and law types, facilitated resolution processes and their outcomes, and the number and proportion of representation services we delivered to priority clients.
Selected National Legal Assistance Partnership performance indicators, July 2020 to June 2021
| Performance indicator | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of Legal Aid NSW Commonwealth representation services delivered to people experiencing financial disadvantage | 97.7% | |
| Proportion of facilitated resolution conferences held by Legal Aid NSW that resulted in either partial or full settlement | 76.7%* | |
*Commonwealth conferences only. The combined total for NSW and Commonwealth conferences was 76.9 percent.