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Legal Aid NSW seeks to replace ‘inadequate’ client info system

To provide updates on grants applications, appointments and access to communication, documents and resources.

Legal Aid NSW is looking for a partner to provide an online portal to serve as a “digital one stop shop” for clients receiving legal help, replacing its current “inadequate” system in the process.

According to a request for information (RFI), the portal is expected to provide real time updates on grants applications, appointments and access to communication, supporting documents and relevant resources to allow clients to prepare for appointments and court attendances.

Currently, Legal Aid NSW clients have limited access to information, the NSW legal advice government agency said in the document, with existing arrangements deemed “inadequate to meet our client’s expectations around digital engagement”.

Examples of such inadequacies, according to Legal Aid NSW, include long wait times on the phone and clients being redirected through multiple different divisions before receiving the required information.

“As a result, sometimes they miss their important appointments,” the document noted. “This creates stress and anxiety for them as they are already in a volatile or vulnerable situation.”

The implementation of the overall portal has been an ongoing process, with Legal Aid NSW already having implemented a grant tracking tool in August 2020.

Through the RFI, the agency is intending to conduct research for potential solutions in the market to support a portal for external clients, as well as the agency’s application programming interface (API) technology and its existing Microsoft Azure middleware.

The RFI is open until 31 May.