National legal assistance data

Under the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-25 (NLAP), legal aid commissions, community legal centres and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services must collect and report legal assistance data.

This data provides a greater understanding of the delivery of legal assistance services and supports frontline service delivery.

National Legal Assistance Data Strategy

The National Legal Assistance Data Strategy was developed in consultation with the states and territories and the legal assistance sector, in accordance with the NLAP. The strategy sets the policy framework for the collection, storage, reporting, transmission, and analysis of data that is collected and reported under the NLAP.

National Legal Assistance Data Standards Manual

Data is collected in accordance with the National Legal Assistance Data Standards Manual across the legal assistance sector.

The manual aligns with the data reporting requirements in the NLAP.

This version of the manual (version 3) came into effect on 1 July 2021.

Read historical versions of the Data Standards Manual.

Legal assistance services data project

Under the NLAP, the Australian Government will have access to unit level data for legal assistance services for the first time. The Australian Bureau of Statistics will collect and store this data.

This collection of consistent and comparable legal assistance service data will form the basis of a national evidence base. This will enable us to analyse and gain meaningful insight into the delivery of frontline legal assistance services.