Public sector justice innovation: engaging the client for greater impact with Jon Cina

Reimagining Justice

In episode 39 I speak with Jon Cina, Associate Director, Access and Equity at Victoria Legal Aid (“VLA”). In this role since 2016, Jon oversees the legal help contact centre, funding to Victorian community legal centres, support and innovation in the sector all the while maintaining a focus on a whole of client approach to legal service delivery. VLA deals with a huge volume of inquiries each year and during this interview we discuss the approaches VLA is implementing to best respond to those needs.

Jon studied law in Scotland and had various roles in UN War Crimes Tribunals in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and East Timor. Once he moved to Australia, he managed an inquiry at the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee and in his roles as Assistant and Acting Director of Court support services at the Department of Justice and Regulation helped to make the court system more effective. Immediately prior to joining VLA Jon led the team that established the Victorian Mental Health Complaints Commissioner.

Jon and I talked about VLA’s legal help online, formerly known as Orbit, and initially developed in conjunction with code for Australia using human centred design principles. We covered the challenges of the referral roundabout, managing user expectations, how there is no single solution that will apply to every user, collaboration across the sector and change management within the organisation; and the benefits that flow to the user and the organisation if you get things right.

Jon shared how relying on data about how people use VLA’s website while keeping a very strong focus on impact actually determines the solutions, as well as learning from the past as VLA did in a very public way with the below the belt app.

You should listen to this episode if you are interested in overcoming challenges that accompany any process design or redesign project, especially large ones in a public sector context.

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Links:

• Victoria Legal Aid
• Below the Belt app case study
• Legal Design Lab
• Law, Technology and Access to Justice (Roger Smith)
• IndigenousX
• Neota Logic

Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp – andreaperrypetersen.com.au

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group