Understand better justice
Data and empirical evidence to help understand access to justice and build a better justice system.
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Research to understand legal need and capability
Our research focuses on the legal and related needs of Victorians, and over time, will make a significant contribution to the Victorian justice system.
Our Research Principles
Impact
We undertake useful research to support improved civil legal services for Victorians.
Rigour
We use sound methodologies and rely on clear evidence for any conclusions.
Collaboration
We work in a collaborative way with the legal sector, civil society and others in the interests of access to justice for Victorians.
Communication
We make our reports publicly available and engage with the sector on research activity.
Independence
We maintain our independence.
Discover how people understand and engage with the law
The Public Understanding of Law Survey (PULS) is ground-breaking research to understand legal capability, attitudes, and experience of the law in Victoria.
Our research plan
Our research program is divided into four streams, which will each produce complementary outcomes.
Mapping justice
Looking at the availability and content of institutional data across a broad range of civil justice bodies, to understand how legal matters progress, see possible issues with legal processes and identify barriers to access to justice.
Surveying legal literacy
Discovering what Victorians know about their justice system, its institutions and the role they see it play in their lives.
Researching programs and interventions
Taking a rigorous empirical approach to evaluate the need for different legal services, as well as their processes, impacts and outcomes, so that we can figure out 'what works.'
Coordinating and sharing research
Connecting the justice, community and academic sectors to enable knowledge sharing, encourage collaboration, extend the reach of our work and help us to learn from the experience of local and international experts.
Research projects
Our projects cover institutional and general public perspectives.
Mapping institutional data across a broad range of civil justice bodies.
A survey of the community legal centre workforce across Victoria.
Showcasing access to justice and legal need development
Connecting the justice, community and academic sectors around legal research and evaluation related to access to justice.
Research publications
Preparing lawyers for work in the community legal sector.
Methodology and surveys used in the Working in Community Legal Centres project.
How the community legal centre workforce adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The characteristics of the Victorian community legal centre workforce.
The use and utility of administrative data in Victorian Courts and Tribunals
Examining how administrative data is collected and used in the Victorian legal assistance sector.
Research News
Measuring legal capability
Our legal capability measures that can be used to form policy insights is central to our research.
Despite the importance of understanding legal capability, the development of relevant measures is recent.
Measuring different aspects of legal capability is not simple, and approaches will vary. Some things can be asked about directly - for example, specific skills associated with digital capability or functional literacy. Others can’t be observed directly (for example legal confidence or perceived accessibility of lawyers).
This challenge can be addressed by constructing scales to tap into latent traits (in this case, aspects of legal capability) and luckily there is a whole field of study to help with this – psychometrics.
Psychometrics is concerned with the theory and method of measurement, and in particular, measuring things you can’t directly observe. As a result, it is crucial in helping to capture many domains of legal capability.
Legal capability resources
Informing policy and practice
Drawing on our research, we engage with decisionmakers across the justice and community sectors to share our understanding of the legal experience, needs and capability.
Meet the Research Team
Victoria Law Foundation's highly-skilled research team have many years of experience in legal research.
Tenielle joined the Foundation in 2015 and has a strong background in the community legal world. She has coordinated our work with the profession on improving communication through our plain language and Better Information programs as well as providing plain language workshops to law students.
As Research Coordinator, she works across all research activity, and has a lead role in the development of the Research Network.
Clare joined the VLF in January 2017 as the Foundation’s legal writer and editor, managing the Foundation’s publications and producing legal content.
Clare joins the research team as a communications and content specialist. She brings a legal background, and extensive content and production experience to the role.
Zhigang joined Victoria Law Foundation in May 2024 as a Data Analyst.
Zhigang has a PhD in criminology from Griffith University and extensive research experience working in various government and non-government organisations. He previously worked at the Australian Institute of Criminology, at the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, where he was one of the authors of the seminal Legal Australia-Wide Survey reports, and more recently, at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and cohealth.
Zhigang is an expert in data analysis and drawing insights from large, complex datasets. He is also a published author of numerous peer-reviewed research publications.
Understanding and Capability is now available
Explore the knowledge, skills and attributes that are required to effectively understand and use the law.