The Ministry aims to audit all legal aid providers at least once every five years. The audit programme enables the Ministry to review the quality and value of the service provided to legally aided clients. It ensures that everyone accessing legal aid services is receiving a consistent level of service.
The Legal Services Act 2011,(external link) gives the Secretary for Justice the authority to conduct audits.
There are two types of legal aid audits
Limited audit
Full audit
Find out more:
Legal aid audit policy [PDF, 376 KB]
Full audit methodology [PDF, 567 KB]
Legal Aid Provider internal policy file management [PDF, 195 KB]
If you would like to contact the legal aid audit team you can do so at legalaidaudits@justice.govt.nz
Each year the Ministry prepares a report about the legal aid audits completed during the previous financial year. Each report includes information about the number of audits completed, the ratings given to the legal aid providers audited, and the major themes and issues identified in that year’s programme.
The reports also include a breakdown of the type of issues found at each audit rating, ranging from 1 – Excellent to 5 – Very poor. Those sections also feature direct quotes from individual audits. Some of the reports also discuss the steps taken by the Secretary for Justice to sanctions legal aid providers who have not complied with their obligations.
The most recent reports are available below:
Audit Summary Report 2023-2024 [PDF, 135 KB]
Audit Summary Report 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 [PDF, 401 KB]
Audit Summary Report 2017-2018 [PDF, 367 KB]
Audit Summary Report 2016-2017 [PDF, 433 KB]
Audit Summary Report 2015-2016 [PDF, 609 KB]
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