LARA: Legal Aid Referral Assistance

We are LARA, providing Legal Aid Referral Assistance. Today, there is no easy way to identify which Legal Aid provider to go to: as a help seeker, a person seeking legal aid assistance, this means being bounced around various legal aid providers; for referral advisors, referring help seekers is difficult due to a lack of information. This roundabout turns away nearly 33,000 help seekers each year across Victoria’s 50+ legal aid providers. With a 25% tech uptake across the sector, LARA will provide help seekers and referrals advisors with access to our online tool. By using decision trees, both users will be able to triage and be provided with custom recommendations of suitable providers, taking into consideration eligibility requirements, legal specialisations, and conflict checks. Referral advisors will have access to more detailed triage tools, and will be able to access online requests received from help seekers through the online tool. Digital records will be created to allow for smoother referrals or future use. This creates a single source of truth: a digital referral and record system. Information can be shared across legal aid providers creating a more seamless experience for help seekers already experiencing elevated levels of stress. Referral advisors can spend more time assisting people by eliminating the roundabout. FInally, LARA will help to provide a single source of data to better assist governing bodies with funding and resourcing decisions. We hope to grow across three key phases, ultimately being able to expand nationally and into other ‘referral’ areas and sources like the Courts, Police and other organisations through the use of various technologies and tools. We are LARA and we are here to make sure help seekers are referred to the right legal aid provider the first time. Recently won the 2019 Legal Tech Studio at Monash University and the 2020 ALTACON pitch competitions. Check out a video about LARA: https://bit.ly/2V8cCbS