ABSTRACT
Recent public inquiries in Australia into child abuse, corruption and professional misconduct have altered the public conscience and conversation. Not only have they given prominence to the voice of victims but have also demonstrated some limitations of adversarial approaches in court proceedings. Research studies are often on a small scale and not consistent across Australia, tending to focus on different services and programs because of the limited funding for nationwide research. Research is often only conducted when small amounts of money are available or with pro bono support. By comparison, the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe, New Zealand and Canada have funded research and surveys routinely conducted and on a large scale. The Australian Government's Productivity Commission in 2014 noted that: The inadequacies of present data collection efforts are widely acknowledged across all types of stakeholders. The studies provide compelling indicators of a need for new approaches to the law, lawyering, legal education and professional development of lawyers.
