1000s access legal services via Community Legal Western Australia’s referral tool on Josef

Community Legal Western Australia (CLWA) helps connect people across Western Australia to free and low-cost legal services.

Via its network of 26 member community legal centers (CLCs), the CLWA team provides a vital resource to everyday people in WA, but ensuring everyone has easy access is no mean feat.

CLWA wanted to build a resource that would boost the organization’s capacity to help, but how?

To maximize their reach, streamline their referral process, and work at scale, CLWA built an Online Referral Tool on Josef.

The idea for the tool was generated during a University of Western Australia student hackathon and was developed with the support of law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth and the team at Josef.

Since launching just over a year ago, the automated tool has successfully connected more than 1,600 people to legal services. Here’s CLWA’s story and the results from automating one year in.

Problem

Helping people day in and day out, the team at CLWA learned that those seeking legal advice through CLCs notoriously get stuck on what’s called the “referral roundabout”.

That is, the infuriating, tail-chasing process of being endlessly referred to multiple service providers rather than receiving the right help the first time around.

Beyond frustrating, the process is traumatizing for those having to retell their stories over and over, and, from a service delivery point of view, as CLWA Strategic Communications Coordinator, Chantelle Lines notes, “it’s difficult for the centers to advertise to the right people and for those same people to find what they need online.”

Previously, CLWA advised via calls and provided resources in the form of lists or maps of information.

But as Chantelle explains, “Lists and maps wouldn’t necessarily help people understand which service was the right for them.”

“While one center might be closest to them, another center might be more appropriate due to either their circumstances or their issue. And although calls are very personal, we only have limited capacity and people often need help outside of office hours.”

Solution

For Chantelle and the team, no code automation was the ticket.

Fast forward through a period of ideation and careful planning and CLWA landed on its Online Referral Tool.

“We wanted to connect people to the right legal help to resolve their access issues, but as it stood, there was no central repository of information. With Josef, we set out to develop an easy way for people to find the right legal center every time.”

“The tool would ask users questions about their demographics and legal issues, and, once inputted, it would then directly refer them to the most appropriate community legal center in the state.”

“That way, they wouldn’t have to deal with any unnecessary referrals. The tool would figure it out for them,” Chantelle says.

1000s of direct referrals

It’s been a year since the launch of CLWA’s Online Referral Tool and the results are in.

Over the past year, more than 1,666 people have been directly referred to community legal centers via CLWA’s Josef tool. That’s around 139 referrals a month!

In turn, the CLWA team has experienced a boost in capacity and has been able to help more as a result.

“The tool has become a core part of our referral process,” Chantelle says.

Help delivered around-the-clock

71% of referrals have occurred outside of CLWA’s office hours, meaning that people have received help precisely when they needed it, whether that is during evenings or on weekends.

Highly recommended

The Online Referral Tool has made seeking legal help a whole lot easier and less stressful for CLWA service users. In a recent survey, the team found that:

• 93% of people would recommend the Online Referral Tool to someone else;
• 94% of people said they would reuse the tool; and
• 93% of people confirmed that they found the tool useful!

Switching up your service delivery can be a daunting task for organizations both big and small, but with Josef, CLWA has shown how investing time in automation pays off for everyone involved.

Now, everyday legal help is accessible to Western Australians in just a few clicks. Easy!

Learn more about Community Legal Western Australia.

See CLWA’s Online Referral Tool in action at communitylegalwa.org.au/findhelp.