Frequently asked questions - Legal Needs Survey

What is the Access to Justice Legal Needs Survey?

The Access to Justice policy team at the Ministry of Justice and the Government Centre for Dispute Resolution at MBIE are undertaking an Access to Justice Legal Needs Survey to explore the prevalence of met and unmet legal need in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The survey aims to establish a robust and up-to-date evidence base necessary to inform and prioritise policy and operational decision making. This information will ensure that future interventions to improve access to justice are based on up-to-date evidence.

It is crucial that the survey reflects a broad range of New Zealanders’ experiences. We intend for the survey to be comprehensive enough to separately describe the legal needs of:

  • adult residents of New Zealand
  • small businesses
  • Māori and Pasifika communities
  • people who live in rural/non-metro areas

Who else will be surveyed?

The survey will include a small business section with data being collected for the Government Centre for Dispute Resolution at MBIE.

MBIE wants to better understand:

  • what sorts of disputes arise and what businesses do (or don’t do) to resolve them
  • the personal impact (financial and wellbeing) on people who own or manage small businesses.

MBIE will use this information to identify if there is a need for new services or policy changes to better help small businesses resolve issues and disputes.

What is Access to Justice?

Broadly, access to justice can be defined as the ability of people to get a just resolution to their legal issues and enforce their rights. Justice can be accessed through avenues such as legal advice and services, legal representation, courts and tribunals, alternative dispute resolution such as mediation, and information about legal rights.

What is Legal Need?

Legal need arises when someone has a problem or issue that requires a legal solution. Legal issues that are resolved through the formal justice system, such as the courts, only capture part of the picture of legal need in New Zealand.

Even if someone’s issue could be resolved with legal assistance, they may not recognise this is the case, or act on it, resulting in unmet legal need. People may also not understand the full range of possible options to resolve their issues.

Legal need that is unmet inhibits access to justice.

What is the purpose of a Legal Needs Survey?

Legal Needs Surveys (LNS) are valuable tools to understand who experiences legal issues, where they arise, their impacts and costs, and what works to address issues in an effective way.

They provide a unique view on justice needs and impacts from the perspective of the person experiencing them. The value of these surveys is that they provide:

  • a more complete picture of the extent of experience of everyday legal issues
  • an understanding of the types of problems with the greatest consequences, and the nature and scale of that impact
  • awareness of the different resolution options and the accessibility of legal assistance, from self-help to not-for-profit and private lawyers
  • the actions taken in response to legal problems and how successful these are in improving outcomes
  • an understanding of the different experience and response to legal issues across population sub-groups

What kind of legal issues will the survey focus on?

Our survey concentrates on civil legal issues, which can arise from everyday activities and span many areas of life. The types of everyday issues the survey will be looking at include:

  • employment
  • welfare benefits
  • housing and land
  • product or service
  • money or debt
  • financial advisors or providers
  • caring and end of life issues
  • government officials or public services
  • immigration
  • family/whanau and relationship issues
  • injury or difficulties with ACC
  • environmental issues

We expect that the data and analysis on these issues that the LNS will provide will be of interest to a wide range of people and organisations.

When was the last time a project like this was completed?

The most recent LNS in New Zealand was completed in 2018 and it captured data from the general population and low-income New Zealanders.

Key findings from that survey include:

  • 37% of the general population and 39% of the low-income population had experienced a problem or dispute in the past two years.
  • Low-income respondents were more likely to experience multiple types of problems.
  • The majority of people with unmet legal need experience stress, financial loss and loss of confidence, or fear. The low-income population were more likely to experience multiple negative impacts
  • Most people seek information or advice from friends and family.
  • 47% of the general population compared with 38% of the low-income population described their problem as fully resolved.
  • Money or debt problems were more likely than other problems to remain unresolved.

The 2023 LNS aims to build on the 2018 LNS by surveying five times more people, including small businesses, and asking more comprehensive questions on resolution options.

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