Working in Community Legal Centres in Victoria: Technical report
Methodology and surveys used in the Working in Community Legal Centres project.
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Capturing the work of community legal assistance
The Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria Inc. engaged Victoria Law Foundation to conduct a survey of the community legal assistance sector workforce with the aim of capturing issues, experiences and views of their workforce across diverse roles, centres, and geography.
The Technical report
The Technical report details the project methodology, survey development and testing, topics and items, response rates and recruitment, and the analytical approach. Both surveys are included in the appendices: the Workforce Survey and CEO Survey.
The Technical report provides an overview of the research methodology and forms the basis for other reports from the Community Legal Centres Workforce Project
Key findings
Survey response rates
We received 664 survey responses from the community legal centre workforce and 31 completed CEO Surveys. We estimated response rate from employees at 41.8 per cent, from volunteers and students at only 4.3 per cent, and board members at 8.2 per cent. The response rate for the CEO Survey was 67 percent. Employees and CEO’s were well represented in survey responses and findings can be considered representative for these respondent cohorts.
Surveys covered a wide range of topics
The Workforce and CEO Surveys used a mix of closed and open questions. Topics covered in the Workforce Survey included ‘you and your role’, ‘working in the sector’, ‘work and life’, ‘your needs’ and ‘overall views’. The CEO Survey explored ‘staffing overview’, ‘agreements and awards’, ‘impact of COVID-19’, ‘challenges and pressures’, ‘funding and reporting requirements’ and ‘sector collaboration’.
Survey developed in consultation with key stakeholders
The two surveys and the research questions were developed in partnership with the Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria Inc. and the Project Advisory Group. The Advisory Group comprised of representatives from a mix of small, large, specialist, generalist, metropolitan and regional community legal centres in Victoria.
Community legal centres in Victoria invited to participate
All 46 community legal centres in Victoria were invited to participate. Responses were received from 45 legal centres with an average of 13 responses from each.
Implications and way forward
Publication resources
Related publications
Examining how administrative data is collected and used in the Victorian legal assistance sector.
The characteristics of the Victorian community legal centre workforce.
How the community legal centre workforce adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Building and sustaining the community legal centre workforce.
Preparing lawyers for work in the community legal sector.
Examining the factors that influence the pricing of legal services, how practitioners communicate costs, and how they affect the lawyer-client relationship.
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