1 in 2 Australians have this problem...
Over 20,000 Australians were surveyed to ascertain prevalence and type of legal problems encountered over a 12 month period. They discovered 52,000 legal problems were identified by half the survey participants.
This means statistically 1 in 2 people have multiple legal problems within that same year.
When schools promote and uphold the democratic values of Australia, they are declaring the rule of law which entails access to the law or more acutely for some, it means access to justice. Access means more than internet access to sites that house legislation. Arguably this means the ability to navigate the legal system to the extent one understands what laws apply and operate. In fact, Australia’s legal system assumes we all have legal literacy as not knowing the law cannot be used as a defence for breaking the law.
Similarly, financial literacy can be described as ‘the ability to make informed judgements and to make effective decisions regarding the use and management of money.’ This definition can be transferred over to the definition of legal knowledge, illustrating the disadvantage that comes from not having basic knowledge about the Australian legal system.
Here we identify key points: the understanding, knowledge and benefit which form one’s ability to harness the law and receive the advantage that comes with it. A natural byproduct is confidence to problem solve and self advocate.
Legal literacy is then “the ability to make informed judgements and to make effective decisions regarding the application and operation of laws.”
-B Freudenberg, “Beyond Lawyers: Legal Literacy for the Future,” (2017) 45 ABLR 387
In the largest survey on legal needs, a representative sample of over 20,000 Australians were surveyed to ascertain prevalence and type of legal problems encountered over a 12 month period. They discovered 52,000 legal problems were identified by half the survey participants. This means statistically 1 in 2 people have multiple legal problems within that same year. Now, the majority were centred around disputes. The main areas that represented the sources of legal problems were government, business, telecommunications, employer/supervisor, neighbour disputes, and domestic partner disputes. We can see that these contexts are common experiences and ordinary daily interactions for many people.
The survey recorded equal responses of stress-related illness, physical ill health followed by relationship breakdown. By far the largest consequence of a legal problem is the loss of income and financial strain by just shy of one third of survey respondents. A legal problem only further exacerbates social and economic disadvantage.
Whilst this study focused on access to justice for socially and economically disadvantaged people, the reality is, all who do not have the privilege of legal literacy are disadvantaged and become vulnerable when confronted with a legal problem to which they find themselves in unfamiliar territory. The ordinary person is not privy to these specialised areas of the law or aware of the avenues of dispute resolution.
Please see below articles that have helped me to articulate my lived experiences, ideas and to acknowledge those who have explored the same important issues:
Australian Securities and Investments Commission, “Report 230: Financial Literacy and Behavioural Change” (2011) <www. financialliteracy.gov.au/media/218309/ financial-literacy-and-behavioural-change.pdf>.
B Freudenberg, Beyond Lawyers: Legal Literacy for the Future, (2017) 45 ABLR 387
C Coumarelos et al, “Legal Australia-Wide Survey: Legal Need in Australia”, Access to Justice and Legal Needs Vol 7 (Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, 2012) 29.
S Forell and H McDonald, “Beyond Great Expectations: Modest, Meaningful and Measurable Community Legal Education and Information” (Justice Issues Paper 21, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, 2015) 6.
