May 2014
Research brief
Hotspots of legal need
Summary
The research paper identifies which postcodes in Victoria attract the highest usage of VLA
services. Any existing or emerging hotspots of legal need were identified. The research relies
on data from all past VLA clients (in office, via outreach or telephone advice and information)
spanning the years 2010-2014.
The top metropolitan and regional postcodes that have provided the most total unique clients
in the research are identified as including 3350 (Ballarat), 3550 (Bendigo), 3214 (Geelong)
and 3630 (Shepparton), as well as 3175 (Dandenong), 3021 (Brimbank), 3199 (Frankston)
and 3977 (Casey).
Postcodes trending upward in terms of VLA clients and activities over the past three years
were characterised as emerging hotspots of legal need. Where a number of postcodes within
the same LGA appear to attract higher rates of VLA activity, that wider area is identified as a
hotspot of legal need. Such areas include Whittlesea, Brimbank, Geelong, Latrobe and Melton
areas. Areas such as Mildura and Wodonga have tended to be seen as hotspots of unmet
legal need and in this study exhibited a large number of office/outreach clientele.
Author: Lucy Andressen (Monash University, Juris Doctor student)
This paper was written as part of a student research practicum co-ordinated with Victoria Legal Aid and Monash University.
Contact: research@vla.vic.gov.au
© 2016 Victoria Legal Aid. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. You are free
to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the author. The licence does not apply to any images
or branding.
Disclaimer. The material in this publication is intended for general information only. Any views expressed are those of the
author and are not intended to represent the views of Victoria Legal Aid.
Published by Victoria Legal Aid
Executive summary
The research was conducted with the aim of identifying which postcodes in Victoria attract the
highest usage of VLA services. It was intended that any existing or emerging hotspots of legal need
in Victoria would be identifiable from the research. The research references data from all past VLA
clients (in office or via outreach) and all past telephone advice sessions, spanning the July 2010 to
July 2013 completed financial years as well as the incomplete 2013-2014 financial year. Both
metropolitan and regional postcodes are explored. The top metropolitan and regional postcodes that
have provided the most total unique clients in the research are identified as including 3350
(Ballarat), 3550 (Bendigo), 3214 (Geelong) and 3630 (Shepparton), as well as 3175 (Dandenong),
3021 (Brimbank), 3199 (Frankston) and 3977 (Casey), among others. According to this data, VLA
offices have been rightly positioned in larger regional centres and more populous metropolitan
areas, in order to meet existing high demand for legal assistance in these hubs. The disadvantage
that tends to cluster in city-like localities provides further support to the need for maintaining the VLA
offices in their existing locations. The research has identified that postcodes constituting regional
hubs or more populous metropolitan suburbs and exhibit correlating disadvantage are producing the
largest numbers of regular VLA clients.
Population was also taken into consideration to identify which postcode and Local Government Area
localities outside of the top five may disproportionately use VLA services generally with regard to
their size. Postcodes trending upward in terms of VLA clients and activities over the past three years
were characterised as emerging hotspots of legal need. Where a number of postcodes within the
same LGA appear to attract higher rates of VLA activity, that wider area is identified as a hotspot of
legal need. Such areas include Whittlesea, Brimbank, Geelong, Latrobe and Melton areas. Areas
such as Mildura and Wodonga have tended to be seen as hotspots of unmet legal need and in this
study exhibited a large number of office/outreach clientele. However, these areas did not generate a
high number of Legal Help calls, which may be attributable to lack of knowledge about the service.
The demographics and environmental factors of each locality are explored to gain an understanding
as to why the enhanced or emerging need has materialised.
In the various areas of law covered by VLA, certain areas did produce standout results. For
example, family law matters increased in Casey but decreased in Brimbank postcodes over the past
three and a half years studied. Dandenong and Brimbank ranked highly in criminal matters over the
time frame, while civil law matters were dominated by Warrnambool’s main postcode.
Figures from VLA’s Legal Help telephone service are considered separately. It was anticipated that
Legal Help as a free and accessible telephone advice service might attract a different demographic
of clients and thereby the numbers might cluster in different areas. Particularly regional areas were
expected to attract higher numbers of Legal Help calls, given their isolation from VLA offices and the
limited access to other forms of legal assistance. However, even after taking population into
account, Legal Help calls were far more prolific from metropolitan areas than from regional areas.
This may be attributable to better knowledge distribution via advertising and word of mouth in
metropolitan Victoria.
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Contents
Executive summary ......................................................................................................................................... 1
Contents .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Regional and metropolitan areas .................................................................................................................... 3
Map key ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
Shortened Forms............................................................................................................................................. 5
Postcode Index ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Context ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 9
Limitations ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Outline ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Regional areas .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Top ranking postcodes .............................................................................................................................. 11
Metropolitan areas ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Legal Help telephone service .................................................................................................................... 18
Emerging hotspots of legal need ............................................................................................................... 21
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 26
References .................................................................................................................................................... 27
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Regional and metropolitan areas
Image source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘SBFA 2011’, (ABS Census statistics on Google Earth 2011)
Image source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘SBFA 2011’, (ABS Census statistics on Google Earth 2011)
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Map key
Hotspots of legal need (LGAs) =
Index for Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (Socio-Economic Indicators For Areas) scale used
by the accompanying maps to show disadvantage in=Victoria:
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Shortened Forms
ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics
CLC: Community Legal Centre
IRSD: Index for Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (one of the SEIFA index measures of
disadvantage)
LGA: Local government area
POA: Postal area (an ABS equivalent to postcode)
SEIFA: Socio-economic indexes for areas
VLA: Victoria Legal Aid
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Postcode Index
Postcode
LGA
Example of Suburbs
3350
Ballarat
Ballarat CBD, Bakery Hill, Sovereign Hill
3550
Greater Bendigo
Bendigo CBD, Strathdale, Kennington, Long Gully, Ironbark
3214
Greater Geelong
Corio, Norlane, North Shore
3220
Greater Geelong
Geelong CBD, Newtown, South Geelong
3840
Latrobe
Morwell, Hazelwood, Driffield, Jeeralang, Maryvale
3037
Melton
Calder Park, Delahey, Taylors Hill, Sydenham, Hillside
3337
Melton
Melton, Melton West, Toolern Vale, Kurunjang
3500
Mildura
Mildura, Buronga
3630
Greater Shepparton
Shepparton CBD, Caniambo
3280
Warrnambool
Warrnambool, Dennington, Minjah
3689
Wodonga
Wodonga
3021
Brimbank
St Albans, Kings Park, Albanvale, Kealba
3810
Cardinia
Pakenham, Pakenham Upper and South, Rythdale
3977
Casey
Cranbourne (all), Cannons Creek, Five Ways, Junction Village
3073
Darebin
Reservoir
3072
Darebin
Preston, Gilberton, Regent West, Northland
3175
Greater Dandenong
Dandenong, Bangholme
3199
Frankston
Frankston, Frankston South
3048
Hume
Coolaroo, Meadow Heights
3064
Hume
Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Roxburgh Park
3134
Maroondah
Ringwood, Ringwood North, Warranwood, Warrandyte South
3075
Whittlesea
Lalor
3754
Whittlesea
Mernda, Doreen
3030
Wyndham
Werribee, Point Cook, Cocoroc, Derrimut, Chartwell
3029
Wyndham
Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Truganina
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Introduction
VLA aims to provide access to justice for those who would not otherwise have the means to protect
their legal rights or respond to claims about their legal responsibilities. VLA identifies a range of
clients as their “priority” and primarily focuses on assisting these groups of clients with their legal
affairs. “Priority” clients include clients with a low income, those who identify as Indigenous and
those who are geographically isolated, among other forms of disadvantage.1 The organisation has
three key focus areas of law, those being family, criminal and civil law. VLA has 14 offices across
Victoria as well as a telephone advice service called “Legal Help”, which any member of the public
can contact for advice at the cost of a local call. The VLA offices are dispersed across regional and
metropolitan Victoria, and the open availability of the “Legal Help” telephone service means that the
services provided by VLA are ultimately accessible throughout the state.
Equal access to justice is an aspirational principle enshrined in legislation and crucial to the
unwritten law and order of society. Justice Ronald Sackville described access to justice as the
proposition that all people should have the means of protecting their rights under the law.2 These
rights and responsibilities are forever changing, as the law develops and societal responses to the
law evolve. Furthering access to justice is one of VLA’s key objectives, according to section 4 of the
Legal Aid Act.3 It is an essential concern for the Australian government because international law
compels action toward maintaining and improving access to justice for all people. The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights mandates that signatory countries, such as Australia, work towards
establishing equal and widespread access to justice.4 The notion of improving access to justice
challenges the question of whether universal equality before the law exists at present, by implying
that some citizens do not yet have access to fully exercise their legal rights.5 In reality, universal
access to equality is a fallacy, as poor and disadvantaged people may have legal remedies available
in theory but are not able to access these due to systemic barriers resulting from their
disadvantage.6 VLA provides fundamental access to justice, especially for priority clients who are
poor or disadvantaged and accordingly do not have the finances, knowledge or skills to engage their
rights under the law.
Context
Geographic location is one factor in society that regularly impairs access to justice. Measures for
improving access to justice must focus not only on the economically disadvantaged but also on the
widespread administration of justice into areas where physical accessibility is at issue.7 Place is
doubly important, in that geographic location might be a shared characteristic for members of groups
of people who lack access to justice, even where the reason for the lack of access is socio-
1
Other priority clients include people in custody, detention or involuntary psychiatric settings, children, people experiencing
or at risk of experiencing family violence, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people who are
homeless and people with a disability.
2 Ronald Sackville AO ‘Access to justice: towards an integrated approach’ (2011) 10 The Judicial Review 232.
3 Legal Aid Act 1978 (Vic) s4.
4 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res 217A (III), UN GAOR, 3rd session, 183 plen mtg, UN Doc A/810 (10
December 1948).
5 Deborah Baker and Stephen Barrow, ‘Proxy Models of Legal Need: Can They Contribute to Equity of Access to Justice?’
(2006) 35 Journal of Social Policy 2, 279.
6 Liz Curran and Mary Anne Noone, ‘The challenge of defining unmet legal need’ (2007) 21 Journal of Law and Social
Policy, 85.
7 Richard Coverdale, Postcode Justice: Rural and Regional Disadvantage in the Administration of the Law in Victoria
(Report, Deakin University, 2011) 9.
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economic rather than geographic.8 While regional areas suffer from lack of physical access to
justice, cities may find that the structure of urban life excludes poor and disadvantaged people from
certain opportunities, such as the attainment of justice.9 That is, geographic isolation might be the
reason behind a lack of access to justice or alternatively, people with shared characteristics might
be clustered in a particular geographic location (isolated or otherwise) because of their socioeconomic status and restricted access to justice.10 It is known that legal problems tend to cluster
together in their location and that groups with characteristics of disadvantage are likely to face
multiple legal problems in their lifetime.11 Ideologically, legal empowerment should not be spatially
dependent – although this is not true in reality, where there are blatant geographic divergences in
the way that the law is administered, as the system fails both isolated and disadvantaged
communities.12 While it is essential that the legal system generally becomes more inclusive, it is
imperative that VLA as a beacon for access to justice continually evaluates the locations of
Victorians with serious legal needs to ensure that clusters of legal need can be serviced.
Place is not just a context for legal rights and responsibilities. In fact, the characteristics of a place
are often fundamental to the way in which rights and responsibilities are realised or ignored in that
location.13 This report aims to identify emerging and existing hotspots of legal need in Victoria, by
analysing VLA client activity and telephone session data. It is hypothesised that the data will assert
that VLA offices and outreach services are appropriately positioned and structured to meet the
needs of less fortunate people, given that the intention in setting up the organisation was to satisfy
the most dire and concentrated legal problems in the state. The report will work toward gaining an
understanding of the detailed social and economic factors at play to create legal need in each of
these key localities. Human geography involves this process of inquiry as to the reasons for a
phenomenon becoming evident in a particular area.14 The Legal Australia Wide Survey
recommended that geographic clustering of legal problems deserves holistic service provision
tailored to serve the specific needs of that area.15 VLA is already rolling out holistic service provision
schemes throughout the organisation, a tack that will be particularly useful in these hotspot areas.16
The combination of geography and legal studies can develop VLA’s utilisation of space and assist
the organisation to continue improving widespread access to justice.17 In the event that the data
identifies emerging hotspots of legal need and increasing numbers of clientele, VLA can tailor their
Simon Rice, ‘Access to a Lawyer in Rural Australia: Thoughts on the Evidence we Need’ (2011) 16 Deakin University
Law Review, 18.
9 Brian Simpson ‘Better Laws for Better Cities’ (1994) 19 Alternative Law Journal 152, 152.
10 Simon Rice ‘Access to a Lawyer in Rural Australia: Thoughts on the Evidence we Need’ (2011) 16 Deakin University
Law Review 13, 18.
11 Christine Coumarelos, Deborah Macourt, Julie People, Hugh M. McDonald, Zhigang Wei, Reiny Iriana and Stephanie
Ramsey ‘Legal Australia-Wide Survey: Legal Need in Victoria’ (2012) 14 Access to Justice and Legal Needs part xviii.
12 Russell Hogg ‘Governing crime at a distance: Spatiality, Law and Distance’ (2011) 22 Current Issues in Criminal Justice,
3, 361.
13 Jean Connelly Carmalt ‘Rights and Place: Using Geography in Human Rights Work’ (2007) 29 Human Rights Quarterly,
1, 73.
14 Jean Connelly Carmalt ‘Rights and Place: Using Geography in Human Rights Work’ (2007) 29 Human Rights Quarterly,
1, 73.
15 Christine Coumarelos, Deborah Macourt, Julie People, Hugh M. McDonald, Zhigang Wei, Reiny Iriana and Stephanie
Ramsey ‘Legal Australia-Wide Survey: Legal Need in Victoria’ (2012) 14 Access to Justice and Legal Needs 240.
16 Victoria Legal Aid ‘Holistic lawyering and high quality services for our clients a priority for Victoria Legal Aid’ Victoria
Legal Aid (online) 2 July 2013 <https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/holistic-lawyering-and-high-qualityservices-for-our-clients-continuing-focus-for-victoria-legal-aid>.
17 William Taylor (Ed) The Geography of Law: Landscape, Identity and Regulation (Hart Publishing, Volume 16(10), 2006),
176, 817.
8
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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services to those areas, such as through increased outreach or promotion of the Legal Help
telephone service.
Methodology
This report is based upon client data compiled by VLA since 2010, including each completed
financial year and the first six months of the present financial year (so three and a half years in total
are covered). Comparative data on demographics and population are used throughout the report to
provide an understanding of the contextual factors that might lead to higher levels of need for VLA
services in certain postcode areas. The Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) has also been
considered where relevant to provide an understanding of disadvantage levels in each of the areas.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines disadvantage for the purposes of discussing
SEIFA as “people’s access to material and social resources, and their ability to participate in
society.”18 Although there are a number of SEIFA scales, this report has used the Index of Relative
Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) because it compares the disadvantage of areas in Australia
on a scale from one to ten, with those areas in the first decile the most disadvantaged and those in
the tenth decile the least disadvantaged. This index is available for postcode, which made it
particularly useful for the purposes of this research.
Limitations
The data has been separated into postcodes to gain an understanding of the more concentrated
areas of VLA clients and legal need in Victoria. Population is used in this research to provide
perspective on the raw data. Postcode, however, is not a common method of measuring data and
accordingly it is difficult to obtain population data for postcode. However, the Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS) has released data on Postal Areas (POAs) which are approximately equivalent to
postcode.19 The most recent release of POA population numbers is the 2011 Census data. While
somewhat dated now, for the purpose of identifying areas attracting disproportionate use of VLA
services, the 2011 population figures are sufficient.
The definition of legal need as discussed throughout this paper is limited to the legal need that
manifests in a person’s contact with VLA. That is, conclusions are limited to expressed need (active
requests for assistance) rather than measured need (where a person may not know legal assistance
is needed or warranted).20 If there is no legal service in a particular location it is impossible to predict
whether legal needs would surface if the service were available. 21 This paper acknowledges that
many people and groups with serious legal needs may never contact VLA and others may not be
able to identify that their need is legal in the first place. An analysis of broad legal need in Victoria is
Australian Bureau of Statistics ‘New data from the 2011 Census reveals Victoria’s most advantaged and disadvantaged
areas’ (Media release, 43/2013, 28 March 2013)
<http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/DDAFCF94BD0F50E7CA257B3B001AF6D
A?OpenDocument>.
19 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Postal Areas (27 July 2012) Australian Bureau of Statistics
<http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/736A18F4CBF81595CA2578D40012CF51?opendocument
>.
20 Peter Hanks, ‘Social Indicators and the delivery of legal services’ (Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service,
1986).
21 Liz Curran and Mary Anne Noone, ‘The challenge of defining unmet legal need’ (2007) 21 Journal of Law and Social
Policy 67.
18
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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beyond the scope of this paper, as this research is limited to an investigation of the existing and
emerging locations of VLA clientele.
Outline
This report by necessity considers metropolitan and regional areas separately, given the vast
differences between the two social landscapes. Regional areas tend to have a larger proportion of
the disadvantaged groups in Victoria, however on balance metropolitan areas tend to have more
concentrated clusters of disadvantage.22 Investigation begins with analysis of the top ranking
postcodes (in terms of total clients) for both metropolitan and regional areas as well as hypotheses
as to the phenomenon seeing particular postcodes rise to the top. To provide perspective on these
raw figures, the report then explores postcodes that disproportionately bring in large numbers of
clients to VLA, relative to their population. Legal Help telephone data measured by the number of
sessions engaged by each postcode helpfully identifies areas where access to a VLA office might be
a barrier for residents. Finally, a number of areas in Victoria emerging as hotspots of legal need are
identified in a general sense from looking at both client and Legal Help session data.
22
Jeanette Pope ‘Change and disadvantage in regional Victoria: an overview’ (Governmental Report, Department of
Planning and Community Development, 2011) 8.
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Discussion
Regional areas
VLA has a number of offices and outreach services which service regional Victoria. Geographic
isolation in terms of distances and limited transportation methods to visit major cities means that
VLA is often the only accessible legal service for some clients, whether it is a direct service (office or
outreach) or the telephone advice facility.23 Even where there are other legal avenues in a
geographically isolated area, there are numerous considerations in determining whether adequate
access to justice is available, as there will often be enhanced problems relating to conflicts of
interests, niche expertise and services for minority groups.24 VLA data that shows postcodes
generating a high number of clients may be useful in targeting outreach to particular regional areas
and affirming the importance of existing regional offices.
Top ranking postcodes
The regional postcodes producing the most VLA clients have not changed dramatically between
2010 and today. In fact, the same regional postcodes constitute the top 7 for total VLA clients in
every period studied. The postcodes are 3350 (part of Ballarat LGA), 3550 (part of Greater Bendigo
LGA), 3214 (part of Greater Geelong LGA), 3630 (part of Greater Shepparton LGA), 3280 (part of
Warrnambool LGA), 3810 (part of Cardinia LGA) and 3840 (part of Latrobe LGA).
The top regional client data is not surprising; these postcodes constitute the larger regional hubs,
which are effectively just small cities and the capital of key regions across the state. In fact,
postcodes 3350, 3550, 3630 and 3280 constitute the exact city centre of their respective regions,
regardless of the fact that the IRSD is often lower for the surrounding postcodes (and thus more
disadvantaged than the actual city centres). Traditionally, Australia has been defined by the clusters
of working class disadvantage in central business districts of its cities, however the trend has
generally been leaning toward suburbanisation of disadvantage such that these clusters are moving
outward from the city centre.25 It might be that for regional cities, the suburbanisation of
disadvantage is in motion, but not yet complete, accounting for the tradition of central business
district legal need without the poverty characteristic changing yet.
Contrary to this observation is postcode 3214, which is part of Greater Geelong LGA but does not in
fact comprise the city centre. Rather, 3214 contains suburbs such as Corio and Norlane on the
outskirts of the Geelong LGA. The suburb of Norlane ranked as the most disadvantaged in Victoria
according to a Department of Planning and Community Development study conducted in 2011,
which identified the 100 most disadvantaged localities in regional Victoria according to size.26 The
city centre of Geelong is one exception to the rule noticed in the Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and
Warrnambool LGAs, in that it does not arise in the top ranking of VLA clients and instead each of the
city’s surrounding postcodes ranked higher. Given that Geelong is Victoria’s largest regional area
and also one of the largest in Australia, it might be that the city centre is bigger and the concept of
Jeff Giddings, Barbara Hook and Jeff Nielsen, ‘Legal Services in Rural Communities: Issues for Clients and Lawyers’
(2001) 26, Alternative Law Journal, 58; Jeanette Pope ‘Change and disadvantage in regional Victoria: an overview’
(Governmental Report, Department of Planning and Community Development, 2011) 9.
24 Jeff Giddings, Barbara Hook and Jeff Nielsen, ‘Legal Services in Rural Communities: Issues for Clients and Lawyers’
(2001) 26, Alternative Law Journal, 58-59.
23
S Baum, P Mullins, R Stimson, and K O’Connor, (2002) ‘Communities of the post-industrial city’ 37 Urban Affairs Review
2, 322.
26 Jeanette Pope ‘Change and disadvantage in regional Victoria: an overview’ (Governmental Report, Department of
Planning and Community Development, 2011) 5.
25
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the CBD is less definitive.27 Further analysis of the Geelong LGA and the high-ranking postcodes will
be undertaken later in this report.
Postcode 3840 is the highest on the regional top rankings list with a small population that is
disproportionate to the large number of clients it is attracting. While Morwell contained in this
postcode is a regional hub of sorts, it is not comparable to the other regional centres that made the
top of the list. This postcode will be discussed in depth later in this report with respect to these
disproportionate number of clients compared with the population size. As for 3810 (Cardinia), this
postcode is on the outskirts of Melbourne, and is one regional postcode that might be considered
almost metropolitan, a factor that could account for the increased number of clients.
Reflections about disproportionate figures for postcodes with smaller populations
The data for each postcode must be considered in terms of population, especially given that first
analysis of the regional figures revealed that the larger and more populous regional centres top the
list for total VLA clients. It is accepted that a postcode with more people is expected to generate
more use of VLA services than a postcode with a smaller population. In support of this hypothesis,
the postcode 3350 that encapsulates the main part of Ballarat LGA (areas like Ballarat Central,
Bakery Hill and Sovereign Hill are all part of this postcode) topped the list for each time period, and
unsurprisingly has the largest population of any of the top regional postcodes, with 54341 people.
Furthermore, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported that Ballarat’s wider population
has seen one of the highest regional population growths in Victoria up until June 2012, and it is likely
that a great deal of this growth was in the main business districts of Ballarat which are encompassed
by postcode 3350 – so the 2011 figures may have even been surpassed.28 While Ballarat’s VLA
usage is still significant since it has produced the most VLA clients over the past four years, it is
important to contextualise these figures with data from other regional areas that have smaller
populations.
In contrast to Ballarat’s 54341 people, postcode 3840 (which is within Latrobe LGA and consists of
towns such as Morwell and Hazelwood) had a population of just 16617 people as of the 2011
census. Even with such a small population this postcode remained in the top seven postcodes for
total VLA clients for each of the periods investigated in this study. It is likely that the primary
explanation for the disproportionate numbers in relation to the postcode’s population can be
attributed to the fact that Morwell has its own VLA office and accordingly the population has better
knowledge of and physical access to VLA. However, it should be noted that the wider Latrobe LGA
places in the first decile being the most disadvantaged decile in Victoria, and third decile when
compared to Australia, according to the Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA).29 Similarly, in a
Victorian government study on change and disadvantage, the town of Morwell ranked at number 21
in Victoria for overall disadvantage.30 In the Victorian Legal Needs Report, Latrobe was one area
identified as having triple cause for concern because it has a relatively high calculated legal need,
lower levels of expressed legal need (determined by the number of Community Legal Centre clients)
Department of Planning and Community Development ‘Victoria’s Regional Centres: a generation of change’
(Governmental Publication, State Government of Victoria, November 2010) 1.
28 ABC News ‘Ballarat population nears 100,000’ ABC (online) 4 September 2013 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-0904/ballarat-population-nears-100000/4933874>.
29 Judith Stubbs, Colleen Lux and Lewis Wilson ‘National Legal Needs & Strategic Planning Project: Victoria’ (Report for
the National Association of Community Legal Centres, 2012) 52.
30 Jeanette Pope ‘Change and disadvantage in regional Victoria: an overview’ (Governmental Report, Department of
Planning and Community Development, 2011) 5.
27
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and high levels of disadvantage compared to other areas of the state.31 These statistics cannot be
disregarded, for they provide explanation for the positioning of a VLA office in Morwell and together
with the considerable client numbers provides justification for this location. It cannot be predicted
whether the increased need in 3840 would be expressed in other ways if there were no VLA office,
but the high number of clients is sufficient to justify the office location.
None of the other postcodes in the top seven were remarkably disproportionate in terms of VLA
clientele compared to overall population, but there were others outside the top rankings that had
attracted a relatively high number of VLA clients over time compared to their size. For example,
postcode 3400, which encompasses the major part of the town of Horsham in Western Victoria,
placed fairly high on the list for total unique clients in each time period, around tenth to twelfth and
not differing greatly in numbers from other postcodes in the same region of the list. This is relatively
significant for VLA purposes, given that the population for postcode 3400 as of 2011 was only 14285
people – and studies show that the population has been growing, but it appears only a slow and
steady growth over time.32 The increased number of VLA clients from the Horsham area is also likely
to be mainly attributable to the fact that there is a VLA office in the township but again validates this
positioning.
Reflections about data for the different types of matters
While Ballarat’s postcode 3350 topped the list for most time periods in criminal, family and civil law,
at least one other of the regional hubs accompanied Ballarat 3350 decisively at the top of each list.
Postcode 3350 contains key areas of Ballarat such as Bakery Hill, Sovereign Hill and the central
business district. As mentioned previously, Ballarat’s place at the top for each matter may ultimately
be explained by its larger population, however there are certainly factors at play for VLA to explore
which lead to the accompanying postcode attracting large numbers of clients for the different types
of legal matters.
For family law matters, postcode 3550 (the main hub for Greater Bendigo LGA) dominated in the
number of VLA unique clients, together with Ballarat’s postcode 3350. The following postcode was
far behind the two top rankings for family law matters, which adds further significance to Bendigo
and Ballarat’s figures. A younger age group, having more than two children less than 18 years of
age, a disability or mental impairment and higher social class are just some of the characteristics
identified as likely to create a cluster of family law problems.33 This may explain the fewer clients for
family law in general at VLA, because means testing restricts many people in need of this type of
assistance. Bendigo does have above average numbers of lone parents, which is another
characteristic that tends to correlate with needing legal assistance for family matters.34 Bendigo
generally has appropriate levels of VLA clients, but in relation to family law matters the enhanced
need is explicable by the area’s specific characteristics.
A postcode within Geelong’s LGA (3214, encompassing Corio, Norlane and North Shore in the main
area of Geelong) accompanied the Ballarat postcode at the top for total clients seeking assistance
Judith Stubbs, Colleen Lux and Lewis Wilson ‘National Legal Needs & Strategic Planning Project: Victoria’ (Report for
the National Association of Community Legal Centres, 2012) 69.
32 ABC News ‘Ballarat population nears 100,000’ ABC (online) 4 September 2013 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-0904/ballarat-population-nears-100000/4933874>; Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, Horsham
Rural City Council (26 November 2013) State Government of Victoria <http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/localgovernment/findyour-local-council/horsham-rural-city-council>.
33 Deborah Baker and Stephen Barrow ‘Prioritising Legal Need’ (2006) 35 Journal of Social Policy 2, 276.
34 Department of Health, Bendigo: 2012 Local Government Area Profiles (Modelling, GIS and Planning Products online,
State Government of Victoria, 2012), <http://www.health.vic.gov.au/modelling/planning/lga.htm> 81.
31
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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with criminal law matters in each time period. The criminal law figures do not show a hugely
significant disparity between Geelong and Ballarat during each period (around 50 or 60 clients
difference) and there was a similarly small gap before the third highest postcode for criminal law
matters, which was postcode 3630 (part of Greater Shepparton). Within the community, these three
regions are infamous for high crime levels, so it should not come as a surprise that they attracted
the highest numbers of clients seeking assistance with criminal matters.35 Each of these areas is
attempting to tackle their crime problems, which may see different results and hopefully a decrease
in each region’s criminal matters at VLA and police conviction rates over time. Geelong has seen
increased government funding in response to the area’s high criminal activity.36 The crime problem
has also led to an increase in police activity in an attempt to increase detection and deterrence of
crime in the area.37 Most concerning, however, is the fact that Ballarat’s crime rate is increasing
exponentially over time, particularly in violent crimes.38 Even in the decade leading up to 2010,
Ballarat’s violent crime increased by 50%, leading to state government decisions to increase police
services and other monitoring measures in the area.39 Shepparton too has experienced industry
closures and drought, which have caused the city’s economic value to deteriorate and as a result
render the residents of the area more economically vulnerable than other areas in Victoria.40 The
disadvantage may account for the higher incidences of clients from Shepparton using VLA for
criminal law matters.
A number of areas have developed specialist programs for civil law assistance, which have been
well received, as evidenced by the VLA client data. The central Warrnambool postcode of 3280
topped the list for VLA clients needing help with civil matters in the 2012-2013 financial year, and is
also leading the client count for the present, incomplete financial year. In the prior two time periods,
the 3280 postcode had only around 80 clients for civil law matters and featured outside the top ten
postcodes ranked by total clients, however even for this financial year at the time of obtaining data
the postcode 3280 already had 131 unique clients and for the prior year there was a total of 199
clients. This increase is almost certainly attributable to the South West Civil Justice Project that was
established at the Warrnambool VLA office in 2012.41 The increasing trend in civil law clients
provides justification and support for the new program, which has identified an unmet need for civil
law legal assistance in the area and taken positive steps toward better satisfying that need.
Jack Clarke ‘Crime wave crawls dark streets of Ballarat’ The Age (online), 28 July 2013,
<http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/crime-wave-crawls-dark-streets-of-ballarat-20130727-2qrhj.html>.
36 G21, ‘Geelong to benefit from extra police’ G21 (online) 4 June 2012 <http://www.g21.com.au/news/geelong-benefitextra-police>.
37 Erin Pearson ‘New police data shows 8.9 per cent rise in crime’ Geelong Advertiser (online), 27 November 2013
<http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/geelong/new-police-data-shows-89-per-cent-rise-in-crime/story-fnjuhovy1226770347792>.
38 Jack Clarke ‘Crime wave crawls dark streets of Ballarat’ The Age (online), 28 July 2013,
<http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/crime-wave-crawls-dark-streets-of-ballarat-20130727-2qrhj.html>.
39 Ballarat ‘$2.5M promised for new police stations’ ABC (online), 24 November 2010,
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/24/3074796.htm?site=ballarat>.
40 Dr Katrina Alford ‘Socio-economic profile of Shepparton: compared with other Victorian regional cities, Victoria and
Australia’ (2013) Sir Andrew & Lady Fairley Foundation (online) 1, 2.
41 Victoria Legal Aid ‘Addressing legal need in south-west Victoria’ Victoria Legal Aid (online) 2 July 2013
<http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/addressing-legal-need-in-south-west-victoria>.
35
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Metropolitan areas
Top Postcodes
In the Melbourne metropolitan area, the top ranking postcodes for total VLA clients have not differed
greatly over the past three and a half years. Similar to the regional rankings, there are approximately
six postcodes consistently ranking in the top section of the total unique client counts for each time
period. The postcodes are 3175 (part of Greater Dandenong LGA, encompassing Dandenong itself,
the South and North, as well as Bangholme), 3021 (Brimbank LGA, including St Albans, Kings Park,
Albanvale and Kealba), 3199 (Frankston and Frankston South), 3977 (part of Casey LGA), 3064
(Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Roxburgh Park – part of the Hume LGA), as well as the final two
postcodes 3030 and 3029 (each are part of Wyndham LGA, the former postcode contains Point
Cook and Werribee to name a few, while the latter is Hoppers Crossing, Truganina and Tarneit).
Reflections about disproportionate figures for postcodes with smaller populations
While the populations of the top ranked postcodes range between 40,000 and 80,000 people, there
are a number of postcodes with much smaller populations attracting relatively large numbers of VLA
unique clients. It may be that the disproportionate use of VLA services in a less populous locality is
statistically significant and can be attributed to contextual or societal factors of interest. In fact, a
disproportionate number of clients to the total population in a metropolitan postcode is probably
more significant than for regional postcodes, given that the regional areas where the phenomenon of
disproportionate client numbers arose was generally in the vicinity of VLA office locations. Certainly
in both regional and metropolitan areas, VLA clients cluster around VLA offices. In metropolitan
areas where an office will always be (relatively) accessible, the identification of a postcode with
disproportionate numbers to its population is more determinate of high legal need.
The postcodes 3047 and 3048 (in Hume area) are both examples of this in the metropolitan context,
both with smaller populations of 18,000 or 19,000 but always ranking high on the list for total unique
clients in each time period. A VLA office is centrally located to these postcodes (at Broadmeadows)
such that it is very accessible for people residing in each of these postcodes and accordingly the
smaller population using VLA services disproportionately is not necessarily an overly momentous
finding. There is a slight downward trend in the VLA client totals for both postcodes over the three
and a half years, which is also reflected in a decline in the number of telephone sessions. However,
it should be noted that this postcode is one of the only ones in this study that reflects the findings of
the seminal postcode disadvantage study by Tony Vinson in 2007.42 It might be that the social
climate in this area has improved, after studies such as this found Broadmeadows to be the most
disadvantaged suburb in Victoria, leading to measures being put in place to satisfy the dire legal and
other needs in the community.43 The smaller population and high levels of disadvantage have been
reason for concern in the Hume LGA in the past, however it can be hoped that these downward
trends continue for the area.
In contrast is the postcode of 3075 containing the suburb of Lalor, part of Whittlesea LGA. The
population (as of 2011) was 19,847 people, however the postcode ranks in the top 30 for total
Karen Collier ‘Broadie our poorest suburb’ Herald Sun (online), 26 February 2007,
<http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/broadie-our-poorest-suburb/story-e6frf7kx-1111113059734>.
43 Tony Vinson, Margot Rawsthorne and Brian Adrien Cooper ‘Dropping off the edge: the distribution of disadvantage in
Victoria’ (2007, Jesuit Social Services).
42
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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clients in each time period studied. While VLA offices are relatively accessible anywhere within the
metropolitan boundaries, the closest VLA office to Lalor is Broadmeadows, which in spite of minimal
travel times is not at all within the same area. Even within metropolitan Melbourne, physical isolation
from the point of legal assistance is a barrier to accessing justice in itself. Many disadvantaged
people do not have a vehicle with which to travel and may be required to work long hours to sustain
themselves and their families, restricting their ability to travel across suburbs.44 In 2013, VLA
commenced a program in conjunction with Whittlesea Community Connections and Community
Legal Service, which saw VLA lawyers attending the centre to provide a specialist outreach service
in criminal, civil, family, youth and children’s law.45 This measure will go far in improving the situation
for residents of this postcode. There is no other postcode in the metropolitan area with such a small
population that arrives as highly on the unique client count for each time period. Given that the
service was established in response to this heightened need for that community, the figures showing
that 3075 is an emerging hotspot of legal need provide a useful validation of the program and
asserts that the program should continue.
Reflections about data for the different types of matters
Particularly in the metropolitan area, the postcodes arriving at the top for each type of legal matter
were unsurprising. In civil law matters, postcodes with the top most clients tend to be those near
VLA offices. This is particularly noticeable in that the postcodes within Darebin LGA (3073 and
3072) reached far lower levels on the list in the past six to eight months of this financial year after
the closure of the Preston office than they did in previous years. While the 3073 postcode in
particular featured in the top five for civil law matters in every other time period, the more recent
months have seen it positioned eighth for total unique clients seeking assistance with civil law
matters.
Significantly, the postcode 3977 (part of Casey LGA) has seen the most family law clients in every
period since the 2011-2012 financial year, whereas for every other type of law this postcode ranked
far lower on the list. The Casey Cardinia Community Legal Service has also noticed increased
demand in the family area and the centre announced that it had been granted extra funding in
response to this emerging need.46 The phenomenon might be attributable to the specific
disadvantage that is predominant in Casey, with a much higher proportion of persons born overseas
and in non-English speaking countries than the Victorian average.47 While there is only a slightly
higher number of single parents than the Victorian average, but less than half of the Victorian
average for percentage of people owning a vehicle.48 In a positive for family matters, postcode 3021
(part of Brimbank LGA) trended downward since the 2010-2011 financial year when it placed
second on the list for unique clients engaging VLA, however Brimbank has seemed to be trending
downward in clients across the board.
Postcodes 3175 (Greater Dandenong LGA) and 3021 (Brimbank LGA) dominate the criminal law
matters for each time period studied. While the other suburbs for criminal law tend to fluctuate these
PILCH Homeless Person’s Legal Clinic ‘Dividing walls’ (Report, Public Interest Law Clearing House, 2012) 15.
Victoria Legal Aid ‘More free legal help for people in Whittlesea’ (online, Victoria Legal Aid, 12 August 2013)
<https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/more-free-legal-help-for-people-in-whittlesea>.
46 ‘Cash splash for legal service,’ Star Community News (online) 15 August 2013
<http://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/journal/2013-08-15/cash-splash-for-legal-service/>.
47 Department of Health Casey: 2012 Local Government Area Profiles (Modelling, GIS and Planning Products online, State
Government of Victoria, 2012), <http://www.health.vic.gov.au/modelling/planning/lga.htm> p61.
48 Department of Health Casey: 2012 Local Government Area Profiles (Modelling, GIS and Planning Products online, State
Government of Victoria, 2012), <http://www.health.vic.gov.au/modelling/planning/lga.htm> p61.
44
45
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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two postcodes are consistently and unquestionably at the top of the list. However, recently 3021 has
been slightly trending downward, but this may be attributable to Brimbank’s overall downward trend
in total VLA matters, as there has not been a decrease in criminal law matters generally. The
downward trend in Brimbank is reflected across the board, including in its total number of VLA
clients, while Legal Help calls from this postcode are relatively steady, even trending slightly upward.
This might be explained by the fact that the residents of this postcode are beginning to experience
less serious criminal matters but because of the relative disadvantage in the area still regularly
require legal advice (which can be resolved by telephone). It is interesting to note that of all the
LGAs identified in this study, Brimbank records the lowest percentage of residents who feel “safe or
very safe” walking in their local area alone at night, according to the VicHealth Indicators survey in
2011.49 It remains to be seen whether this figure would have improved today in keeping with the
decrease in VLA clients from that area.
49
‘Emerging Areas Data’ Community Indicators Victoria, <www.communityindicators.net.au/node/14088>.
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Legal Help telephone service
VLA’s Legal Help telephone service session data was separated from other VLA client data with the
view that it would provide a clearer picture of legal need in Victoria. Legal Help sessions are not
means tested, so there will not be the same skew caused by priority clients when analysing
demographics and SEIFA. It may be that there are still a large number of disadvantaged people
utilising Legal help, given that the simple and accessible process lessens the barriers to access for
vulnerable groups, who may be too embarrassed, uncertain or afraid to attend a VLA office in
person. Furthermore a Legal Help telephone session does not require engagement with a VLA office
and as a result the clients will not necessarily be concentrated in areas where offices are located. If
the numbers do materialise in those areas it is not primarily because of office accessibility such that
other inferences about the legal needs of that locality can be made.
On analysis, the Legal Help numbers are very different to what might have been expected. Although
the population rates were relatively comparable, the aforementioned top ranking postcodes for
metropolitan areas generally ranked much higher than the top ranking regional areas did. In general
too, the data suggests that people from metropolitan postcodes tend to use Legal Help far more
than people from regional postcodes do at present. It may be that this is merely a knowledge issue,
such that with sufficient publicity and advertising Legal Help may begin to have a more widespread
impact across the state. The lack of means testing is obvious when comparing the Legal Help
session list to the VLA client lists, as the middle part of the list is overwhelmingly comprised of
affluent postcodes. While the top of the Legal Help list is weighted heavily toward disadvantaged
areas, the bank of affluent postcodes have outdone more needy regional areas that might have
been expected to use the telephone service and perhaps will do so in the future when knowledge of
the program is disseminated.
Top Postcodes
While the top two postcodes for total Legal Help sessions are 3000 and 9999, these results are not
significant for VLA purposes given that these areas are recorded for the majority of clients who fail to
provide their postcode or do not know their correct postcode rather than because these clients
constitute a geographically clustered portion of the actual resident population. The less stringent
recording of client characteristics is one limitation of working with the Legal Help data. There are no
detailed demographics about the clients calling Legal Help because it is an anonymous service such
that only session data is recorded. Notably because the data is divided by total sessions, there are a
number of clients who call up the service multiple times and presumably could account for a large
proportion of the calls attributed to a given postcode.
Outside of the top two, the higher-ranking postcodes were generally the same postcodes that
continually produced a large numbers of clients in the overall and matter type datasets. Postcodes
3199 (Frankston LGA), 3175 (Dandenong LGA), 3030 (Wyndham LGA) and 3020 (Brimbank LGA)
were all ranked highly for telephone calls over the relevant time periods, as they did in the regular
VLA client counts.
Interestingly, Legal Help sessions were dominated by metropolitan area postcodes rather than
regional and isolated areas even when taking population into account. It would be reasonable to
expect that the regional and isolated areas would utilise Legal Help due to distance from VLA
offices. In fact the middle range of the list was reserved exclusively for the wealthy eastern and
southern suburbs of Melbourne.
Trends in Legal Help calls
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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In the 2012-2013 financial year and the prior years, postcode 3220 in Geelong ranked as highly as
the aforementioned top metropolitan areas and in fact even higher than one of those top ranks
(3020 in Brimbank LGA). Curiously, postcode 3220 consists of the Geelong central business district,
where the main shopping precinct and entertainment areas of Geelong are placed. The population
of this postcode is equivalent to the other postcodes in Geelong yet in the VLA client data this
postcode failed to rank in any of the data sets, producing meagre client numbers in every period and
matter type. As discussed previously, the Geelong central business district was one postcode of
Geelong that did not rank highly in total clients, where the other Geelong postcodes were prolific.
For Legal Help calls, however, this central business district postcode has trumped the other Geelong
based postcodes. At this point it is interesting to look at the break down of matter type for that
postcode 3220. In telephone calls, civil law comes out well ahead in this postcode, beating family
law by a reasonable margin for the total number of calls and criminal law by at least double in each
time frame. Over time, the majority of these civil law matters have been those classified as social
inclusion, such as debt, administrative law, property, contracts and matters following death. It may
be that by virtue of 3220 encompassing the central business area with many small business owners,
there is a greater legal need for civil law assistance. It may also be that these civil law matters
consist of less serious queries that can be resolved via telephone, which is why family and criminal
matters do not see such high figures when there is an office nearby.
Contrary to what might have been expected, localities away from VLA offices did not tend to feature
highly on the Legal Help sessions list. However, there are some notable areas that saw a striking
upward trend or high ranking as opposed to their minor role in the VLA client lists. One such area is
postcode 3037 part of Melton LGA, enclosing Hillside, Calder Park, and some of Sydenham. 3037
has seen a steady rise in the number of clients. Postcode 3337, also part of Melton LGA, makes a
surprisingly high entry on the Legal Help list, arriving in the top ten for each time period. While
neither of these postcodes placed in positions of note for the regular client totals, their relevance in
the Legal Help lists shows that there is a cluster of legal need in the Melton area of great
significance to VLA, given that there is no office in the immediate area and people are utilising the
telephone service to seek assistance.
Postcode 3550 (part of Bendigo LGA) was the highest-ranking regional postcode for Legal Help
calls in the present financial year. Fascinatingly, in this postcode, civil law and family law matters
received equally high numbers of inquiries via telephone whereas people with criminal law issues
obviously resorted to attending the office in that area rather than calling by telephone.
The postcode 3350 (Ballarat LGA) is increasing somewhat, but not in a sense that suggests it is
attributable to anything but population growth. In spite of the upward trend, this financial year 3350 is
well below the top figures with 691 sessions at the six-month mark – whereas the top postcode 3199
(Frankston LGA) has already seen 1,363 sessions this financial year.
A further observation from the Legal Help data is that postcode 3134 has seen an astonishing
decline in sessions over the relevant period. Postcode 3134 consists mainly of Ringwood and
surrounding suburbs. Decreasing from over 1000 sessions in 2010-2011 to around 700 in 20122013. The majority of calls from this postcode relate to family law matters, however there is not a
huge disparity between matter types. There are many hypothetical reasons for the marked decrease
in calls from people in this postcode, one of which might be that residents are increasingly relying on
the Ringwood VLA Office or the Eastern Community Legal Centre rather than any environmental or
contextual change in the area. VLA commenced a ‘Settled and Safe’ program, operating from a
number of locations including Ringwood, which involved educating new arrivals about family law
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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rights and responsibilities in Australia.50 It may be that people who were initially using the Legal Help
service to obtain advice relating to family law matters are now able to obtain this information from
participation in the program, given that the decline in calls occurred around the same time as the
program’s commencement. The recent establishment of the Yarra Ranges Community Legal Centre
to deal predominantly with family violence matters means that the trend is likely to continue for VLA
as the external providers are able to increasingly assist those in need in the region.51 A further
explanation might be that gentrification processes are commencing in the Maroondah region, as has
been projected given that these outer suburbs are becoming wealthier and more accessible to
developers.52 Whether the decrease in calls from Ringwood can be considered significant is perhaps
something that needs to be re-evaluated in time, when we will know more about this trend.
Victoria Legal Aid ‘Building connections with newly arrived communities about family law’ Victoria Legal Aid (online) 13
December 2012) <http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/building-connections-with-newly-arrived-communitiesabout-family-law>.
51 Eastern Community Legal Centre ‘New Yarra Ranges Community Legal Centre opens its doors today’ Eastern
Community Legal Centre (online) 18 February 2014 <http://eclc.org.au/media>; Victoria Legal Aid ‘Yarra Ranges to
benefit from funding boost for legal services’ Victoria Legal Aid (online) 17 September 2013
<https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/yarra-ranges-to-benefit-from-funding-boost-for-legal-services>.
52 SGS Economics and Planning ‘Maroondah 2040 Research Report’ Maroondah City Council, May 2013, 13.
50
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Emerging hotspots of legal need
The research has uncovered a number of localities that can be considered emerging hotspots of
legal need. It is important to ground these findings with an exploration of the context and
environment of these areas, and any other factors that might explain the growing number of clients
or calls for legal advice. Areas with satisfactory social and economic wellbeing are those with the
material resources (known as economic capital), skills and knowledge (human capital) and
relationships (social capital) to create a resilient community.53 While a number of such privileged
areas arose to reasonably high positions in the Legal Help data, it is significant that they failed to
reach similarly high rankings in the VLA client data, because the residents of these postcodes do not
have such severe legal issues or such dire disadvantage that they cannot obtain other legal
assistance, and accordingly VLA cannot act for them in this more formal manner. The areas with
elevated levels of disadvantage that routinely correlate with legal needs require greater attention
when coupled with high numbers of VLA clients because these indicators suggest that the need for
VLA assistance will only increase in the future. VLA can respond to emerging areas by expanding
outreach services, disseminating promotion for the Legal Help telephone service, and taking other
steps in furtherance of widespread access to justice and satisfaction of unmet legal needs.
Regional Areas
In regional Victoria, a number of areas saw multiple postcodes arising in the VLA total client lists
year after year and also making a significant contribution to the Legal Help numbers. There are
minimal regional areas that consistently placed highly in the VLA client and Legal Help data. This
may be attributable to the fact that regional LGAs are more widely dispersed and constitute fewer
postcodes per LGA than the metropolitan counterparts. If nothing else, this statistic does attest to
the widespread impact of VLA across regional Victoria, that there are a variety of postcodes
featuring highly on the client lists from so many different LGAs.
Both Ballarat and Greater Bendigo LGAs have four postcodes arising in the top fifty for total clients,
and these are dispersed throughout the list after the postcodes from each (3350 and 3550) that
consistently top the regional figures. These postcodes also saw a considerable number of Legal
Help calls. While Bendigo LGA has a slightly higher population, the central business district
postcode for Ballarat, which ranked highest for most matter types and overall clients, had a higher
population compared to Bendigo’s key postcode. The two areas are comparable in these
demographics, however as discussed previously, Ballarat has developed a reputation for high crime
rates and serious legal issues, which suggests that the high number of VLA clients is not merely
attributable to the size of the region. In terms of disadvantage, Ballarat is characterised by
unemployment, single parent families and social housing, as well as high rates of criminal offending
which arguably result from the clusters of disadvantage in the area.54 In the past, Ballarat has had
reports of high crime rates, which is as likely to be a reflection of the increase in population, as
much as a ‘crime wave’.55 As evidenced by the data, Ballarat’s central business district postcode
dominates the VLA client lists for all matter types over all time periods. It is likely to continue to do so
Jeanette Pope ‘Change and disadvantage in regional Victoria: an overview’ (Governmental Report, Department of
Planning and Community Development, 2011) 7.
54 Department of Health, Ballarat: 2012 Local Government Area Profiles (Modelling, GIS and Planning Products online,
State Government of Victoria, 2012) <http://www.health.vic.gov.au/modelling/planning/lga.htm>.
55 Jack Clarke ‘Police chief says Ballarat crime story ‘alarmist’’ The Age (online), 4 August 2013,
<http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/police-chief-says-ballarat-crime-story-alarmist-20130803-2r6fv.html>.
53
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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if population increase forecasts are correct and the disadvantage pools are not improved by
increasing employment rates and youth engagement.
Latrobe
In the top ten for unique clients alone, Latrobe LGA featured three postcodes, plus one additional
postcode from the area placed in the top fifty. The Morwell postcode (3840) also arrived in the top
fifty for Legal Help calls in all of Victoria. In proportion to size, the family law matter rates for 3840
are also notably high, placing the postcode in the top six for each period and producing the highest
number of Legal Help calls for one matter type in the region. This area has particularly high numbers
of lone parents compared to other areas in Victoria, a characteristic which has been seen to
correlate closely with legal need particularly for matters relating to money, welfare, housing and
family law.56 It could be expected that this area will continue experiencing increased legal need,
given the recent bushfires in the area, which might particularly raise claims in tort for the harm
caused by potentially toxic fumes released after the fire travelled through parts of the Hazelwood
Coal Mine.57 As an area that already receives extremely high numbers of VLA clients and telephone
advice sessions, Latrobe can be identified as an emerging hotspot. The small population of Morwell
is expected to grow, as is the wider Latrobe LGA, while disadvantage in the area is extreme in most
of the postcodes.58 These environmental factors combined are likely to continue leading toward
increased legal problems and see the Latrobe area evolve into a hotspot of legal need.
Geelong
Greater Geelong LGA produced nine postcodes in the top fifty for total unique clients, which makes
it the top LGA in Victoria in terms of the number of postcodes arising in the top VLA client lists. Two
further postcodes coming under the Greater Geelong LGA arrived just outside the top fifty. Similarly,
Geelong’s central business district postcode (3214) produced high numbers of calls to the Legal
Help service over each of the past three years. These statistics combined identify high legal need in
this thriving part of Victoria, which is only likely to exacerbate with growing population and the
infamous job cuts that have been occurring recently in the manufacturing industry. Industry closures
such as these can fast become a crisis of unemployment in regional towns where skill levels are
low.59 Such events also exacerbate the risk of more serious societal problems, such as legal issues.
In the early 1990s, Geelong experienced similar manufacturing job losses, with a number of large
manufacturers downsizing or closing their Geelong operations, leading to a significant decrease in
the population of the central business district.60 In 1986, 25% of the municipality of Geelong was
employed in manufacturing, a proportion that was reduced to 15% in 2006.61 Because of Geelong’s
reliance on this field of employment, job losses in the area have been detrimental in the past and it
is foreseeable that current and impending job losses will have a strong influence on the socioJudith Stubbs, Colleen Lux, and Lewis Wilson, ‘National Legal Needs & Strategic Planning Project: Victoria’ (Report for
the National Association of Community Legal Centres, 2012) 8-9.
57 David Hurley ‘Police believe Hazelwood open cut mine fire was started deliberately’ Herald Sun (online), 25 February
2014, <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/police-believe-hazelwood-open-cut-mine-fire-was-starteddeliberately/story-fni0fee2-1226837051659>.
58 Lynda McRae ‘Population boom prediction’ Latrobe Valley Express (online), 30 April 2012,
<http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/story/218525/population-boom-prediction/>.
59 Jeanette Pope ‘Change and disadvantage in regional Victoria: an overview’ (Governmental Report, Department of
Planning and Community Development, 2011) 9.
60 Department of Planning and Community Development, Geelong: Victoria’s Regional Centres – a Generation of Change,
(Publication, 2011, State Government of Victoria) 2-6.
61 Department of Planning and Community Development, Geelong: Victoria’s Regional Centres – a Generation of Change,
(Publication, 2011, State Government of Victoria) 8.
56
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economic composition of Geelong.62 It is known that unemployment correlates strongly with legal
problems.63 While Geelong is still a manufacturing and industry hub for Victoria, the changes in
production mean that the positions available require qualifications and skills that disadvantaged
groups may not be able to offer.64 More recently, the closure of the Ford Motor Company and Alcoa
aluminium smelter are causing further job losses in the region, while economic setbacks at Qantas
are also likely to have flow on effects in Geelong due to its proximity to Avalon Airport.65 There is
also talk that the Shell Petroleum Refinery will close, further exacerbating employment issues in the
area.66 History suggests that the increase in unemployment may result in a decline in population, as
those who can afford to relocate will move to areas where the economic climate is better. However,
the Geelong region is predicted to have 500,000 extra residents in the next forty years, although
whether they are greeted with a positive or negative economic climate remains to be seen.67 If
unemployment in Geelong cannot be remedied, it is likely that legal problems will also grow, as
evidence shows that unemployed people have a high prevalence of legal problems, substantial legal
problems and are more likely to suffer from multiple legal problems at a time.68 Without action to
rectify the industry closures and job losses, those who cannot afford to relocate for work may
struggle in low paying jobs and fester in low socio-economic clusters where legal needs are also
likely to grow.
Mildura and Wodonga
Contrary to what might be expected in an area with high levels of disadvantage and general legal
need, neither Mildura nor Wodonga LGAs featured high on the Legal Help list. Wodonga and
Mildura have been known to suffer from a lack of legal services in the area over time, which has
been attributed to the difficulty of dealing with interstate laws and jurisdiction that arises because
these areas are close to the Victorian/New South Wales border.69 Their physical isolation from other
major towns has also been a detrimental factor. In terms of the Legal Help data, Mildura’s first
postcode to feature was 3500, which had 1287 calls in total over the three plus year, around 350 –
400 legal help calls each financial year and up to over 200 calls this financial year. Mildura is one of
Victoria’s only LGAs to feature in the top 20-40% of Australia’s most disadvantaged, in terms of
SEIFA measurements.70 Wodonga’s highest postcode was 3689, which had a total 1190 calls and
between 200-350 calls each year. It might be that further advertising in Wodonga and Mildura areas
is needed so that people with legal enquiries are aware of the service. While the Legal Help data
was not as high as might have been expected due to the physical isolation of these areas, the
Department of Planning and Community Development, Geelong: Victoria’s Regional Centres – a Generation of Change,
(Publication, 2011, State Government of Victoria) 8.
63 Christine Coumarelos, Deborah Macourt, Julie People, Hugh M. McDonald, Zhigang Wei, Reiny Iriana and Stephanie
Ramsey ‘Legal Australia-Wide Survey: Legal Need in Victoria’ (2012) 14 Access to Justice and Legal Needs 171.
64
Department of Planning and Community Development, Geelong: Victoria’s Regional Centres – a Generation of Change,
(Publication, 2011, State Government of Victoria) 9.
65 Richard Willingham, James Massola and Josh Gordon ‘Alcoa job losses fuel political tension’ The Sydney Morning
Herald (online), 19 February 2014, <http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/alcoa-job-losses-fuelpolitical-tension-20140218-32ykk.html>.
66 Josh Gordon ‘Vic jobless rate highest in a decade’ The Age (online), 16 January 2014,
<http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/vic-jobless-rate-highest-in-a-decade-20140116-30xb0.html>.
67 Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure ‘New jobs and housing for Geelong’s north’ (online, DPCD)
<http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/planning/news-and-events/news/new-jobs-and-housing-for-geelongs-north>.
68 Christine Coumarelos, Deborah Macourt, Julie People, Hugh M. McDonald, Zhigang Wei, Reiny Iriana and Stephanie
Ramsey ‘Legal Australia-Wide Survey: Legal Need in Victoria’ (2012) 14 Access to Justice and Legal Needs 229.
69 Richard Coverdale, Postcode Justice: Rural and Regional Disadvantage in the Administration of the Law in Victoria
(Report, Deakin University, 2011) 93.
70 Judith Stubbs, Colleen Lux and Lewis Wilson, ‘National Legal Needs & Strategic Planning Project: Victoria’ (Report for
the National Association of Community Legal Centres, 2012) 48.
62
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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regular client data still shows a serious legal need in the area. The main postcode for both these
areas (Mildura 3500 and Wodonga 3689) reached an extraordinary ranking on the regional client list
particularly in consideration of the fact that there is no VLA office in the vicinity of these areas. Thus
these two areas should still be considered hotspots of legal need, because they are attracting the
need for outreach and in-office clients if not the telephone based clients. The lack of telephone
sessions from these areas may be attributable to lack of advertising, rather than a lack of legal need,
and accordingly the areas should still be kept in mind as emerging hotspots of legal need.
Top Metropolitan areas
In the top fifty or so postcodes for overall VLA clients, there were some LGAs producing more
entries than others. Most prominently, Casey LGA produced six postcodes in the top fifty for total
clients as well as two postcodes in the top twenty for Legal Help calls over time. Casey is a complex
area, with the LGA attaining relatively low levels of disadvantage according to SEIFA. Casey is the
most populous of any other LGA In Victoria, and is characterised by a youthful population with 73%
under the age of 45.71 Further noteworthy statistics are that the number of Casey residents with a
car is less than half the Victorian average proportion of people with cars, and that the LGA ranks fifth
highest for residents reporting poor health.72 Although the SEIFA figures show that Casey is not as
relatively disadvantaged as other LGAs, there are a number of characteristics, which might be linked
to the increased need for legal assistance in this area. The already large population is set to
increase from its current 270,000 people to around 450,000 people in the next fifteen years, as the
region is the eighth fastest growing in Australia.73 The increase in population and tendency to rank
highly for VLA clients means that the area of Casey is one to watch as an emerging hotspot of legal
need.
The notable metropolitan LGAs are consistent with areas that the 2011 census identified as growth
areas, in fact Casey, Melton, Whittlesea and Wyndham (together with Cardinia and Hume) alone
counted for 50% of the total metropolitan population growth in 2011.74 The LGAs ranking highly in
the metropolitan areas too happen to be the interface councils of Melbourne – sub-regions of the city
that geographically connect urban and suburban Melbourne (including Casey, Hume, Whittlesea,
Wyndham, Cardinia, Melton among others).75 These “interface councils” (of which there are ten in
total) reportedly accumulated 318,480 of Melbourne’s new residents between 2001-2010 whereas
the other 22 councils had 264,640 new residents between them.76 Projections have these councils
accommodating 65% of total metropolitan population growth in the coming 15 years.77 In the
interface councils, wages are approximately 13% lower than for other metropolitan figures, and only
14% of residents older than 15 years of age have a higher qualification compared to 28%.78 It is
foreseeable that with population growth, the legal needs of these areas will grow.
71
Department of Health, Casey: 2012 Local Government Area Profiles (Modelling, GIS and Planning Products online,
Department of Health Victoria, 2012), <http://www.health.vic.gov.au/modelling/planning/lga.htm>.
72 Department of Health, Casey: 2012 Local Government Area Profiles (Modelling, GIS and Planning Products online,
Department of Health Victoria, 2012), <http://www.health.vic.gov.au/modelling/planning/lga.htm>.
73 City of Casey ‘Demographics’ City of Casey (online) <http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/council/our-city/demographics >.
74 Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, ‘Quick Facts’ (Website, State Government of Victoria)
<http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/publications-and-research/urban-and-regional-research/census-2011/quick-facts>.
75 Essential Economics, One Melbourne or Two? (Report, Interface Councils, 2013) 2.
76 Essential Economics, One Melbourne or Two? (Report, Interface Councils, 2013) 5.
77 Essential Economics, One Melbourne or Two? (Report, Interface Councils, 2013) 12.
78 Essential Economics, One Melbourne or Two? (Report, Interface Councils, 2013) 35.
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Whittlesea
Whittlesea LGA had four postcodes in the top fifty for total unique clients, all of these below the top
ten in each period, plus three additional just outside the top fifty. It is important to note that
Whittlesea also had a postcode in the top fifty for regional areas – further suggesting that this LGA in
fact has had a large and increasing number of persons involved in VLA over time. While postcode
3075 in Whittlesea LGA (containing the suburb of Lalor) has stood out in the VLA data to date as a
hotspot, this LGA requires particular attention because it includes other postcodes emerging as
clusters of legal need. Postcode 3754, which contains the suburbs of Mernda and Doreen, has
been identified as one of the fastest growing postcodes in Australia with the population expected to
rise by almost 50% in the coming twenty years.79 This postcode attracts particular interest due to its
high burglary rates of 1 in 26 homes being burgled in 2013.80 The LGA itself has experienced
noticeable increases in family violence (28%) and crimes against the person (14.4%).81 The family
violence rates in Whittlesea are around 200 more per 100,000 people than the state average while
drug offences and crimes against property are also higher than for most of Victoria.82 Aside from
crime rates, Whittlesea is also experiencing clusters of socio-economic disadvantage
Brimbank
Brimbank LGA also had four postcodes in the top fifty for unique clients, but three of Brimbank’s
postcodes were close to the top ten in each time period. In Legal Help calls, Brimbank saw marked
increases over the past three and a half years, which cannot be ignored. As noted earlier in this
report, however, Brimbank is seeing the commencement of a downward trend in VLA regular clients
(attending offices) that hopefully culminates in a widespread reduction in the area’s legal needs. In
reality, it is more likely that the downward trends result from gentrification that is forcing out the poor
and disadvantaged who once accounted for the VLA clients from this area, and they are now moving
to cheaper areas where we may see emerging hotspots of legal need.
John Masanauskas ‘Violence linked to urban growth as Whittlesea and Wyndham seek transport funding’ Herald Sun
(online) 16 March 2014 <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/violence-linked-to-urban-growth-as-whittleseaand-wyndham-seek-transport-funding/story-fni0fit3-1226856333068>.
80 Royal Auto ‘RACV burglary statistics show suburbs most at risk’ Royal Auto (online), October 2013
<http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/racv/internet/auxiliary/news+_+events/royalauto/news/articles/racv+burglar
y+statistics+show+suburbs+most+at+risk>.
81 City of Whittlesea ‘Police station needed in Mernda/Doreen’ City of Whittlesea Government Website, 19 September
2013 <http://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/community-services-and-health/health-and-safety/police-station-needed-inmerndadoreen>.
82 City of Whittlesea ‘Police station needed in Mernda/Doreen’ City of Whittlesea Government Website, 19 September
2013 <http://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/community-services-and-health/health-and-safety/police-station-needed-inmerndadoreen>.
79
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Conclusion
The research discussed has identified a number of areas in Victoria emerging as hotspots of legal
need, because of the sheer number of VLA clients and telephone advice sessions that these areas
are generating. Access to justice has been the primary focus of this research, which identifies two
geographic barriers to accessing justice, those being physical isolation from services and clusters of
disadvantage and legal need. This research has focused on geography in a local context in order to
ensure that substantive realisation of universal rights is pursued.83 Arguably, legal needs are
voracious and complete success in achieving widespread access to justice would be impossible to
determine, because new rights and responsibilities are constantly emerging.84 However, this should
not detract from the need to strive toward improving access to justice for all people. Every single
person who receives assistance or advice from VLA is an important achievement and VLA is
constantly helping more people fulfil their rights and respond to their responsibilities under the law.
The difficulty of measuring legal need and the tendency for need to only be expressed when
services are available should not limit the capacity for betterment of the system. Expansion and
improvement of services on a broad geographical scale is simply one way of improving VLA
services. At present, VLA delivers “equal justice in a neutral space”85 through its Legal Help
telephone service, allowing everyone and anyone to attain access to justice (to a limited extent) via
a telephone call. The legal assistance outreach program has aptly responded to clusters of legal
need in particular locations over time, suggesting that the scheme for monitoring and detection of
hotspots is already exceptional. By continually self-evaluating the location of their services, VLA will
be better placed in future to ensure that adequate legal help is available for people who most need it
in Victoria.
Jean Connelly Carmalt, ‘Rights and Place: Using Geography in Human Rights Work’ (2007) 29 Human Rights Quarterly,
1, 68.
84 Ronald Sackville AO ‘Access to justice: towards an integrated approach’ (2011) 10 The Judicial Review 234.
85 Russell Hogg ‘Governing crime at a distance: Spatiality, Law and Distance’ (2011) 22 Current Issues in Criminal Justice
3, 362.
83
Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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Victoria Legal Aid – Hotspots of Legal Need
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