Legal needs analysis using data from Citizens Advice Bureau

This research project will examine what type of legal assistance people need when seeking help for legal problems from Citizens Advice Bureau to inform access to justice policy and reform.

About the project

Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) plays a vital role in providing free community legal help. For many people, they are the first point of contact when seeking assistance. CAB receive over 100,000 client queries each year. This information provides valuable insights to legal need in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research will analyse the queries to identify what type of problems people experience, when they look for help and what barriers they face in seeking help.

See Expressed legal need in Aotearoa: From Problems to Solutions

Grant amount

$103,500 over 1 year in 2021 – 2022

 

About the grantee

Dr Bridgette Toy-Cronin is leading this research with input from Citizens Advice Bureau. Bridgette is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago – Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou, where she is also the Director of the Civil Justice Centre and Co-Director of the Otago Centre for Law and Society.

Citizens Advice Bureau is a nationwide, locally based, community organization that helps people to know and understand their rights and obligations, and how to use this information to get the best outcomes. The CAB is a champion of people’s rights, working to solve the underlying causes of the problems they face. They actively carry out social justice drawing on what they learn from about the issues affecting people in communities nationwide.

 

Contact person for this project

Dr Bridgette Toy-Cronin, Director, Civil Justice Centre and Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago