Last Updated on 03/03/2023 by National Justice Project
We are thrilled to announce that the Tech4Justice program has received a major boost in funding to get an innovative complaints platform off the ground.
The Tech4Justice complaints platform will be scaled up to help people take control of their legal problems, after the NSW Access to Justice Innovation Fund awarded a $250,000 grant to this one-stop shop for negotiating 61 state and federal complaints-handling processes.
Tech4Justice is a collaborative project delivered in partnership between the National Justice Project, the UNSW Kaldor Centre, the UNSW Allens Hub, Portable Australia, the Macquarie University, Microsoft, K&L Gates, and Josef.
What problem will Tech4Justice solve?
Every day, people with legitimate grievances against government bodies, businesses and other entities run up against barriers that prevent them from seeking redress through existing complaint channels.
The first-of-its-kind Tech4Justice complaints platform will change that by creating a tool that informs people of their legal rights, identifies appropriate complaints pathways, and supports users to make complete and effective complaints.
While Tech4Justice is open to everyone, it will be of particular benefit to individuals and communities who experience discrimination, prejudice, and disadvantage.
Where to next for Tech4Justice?
The Tech4Justice project team will develop a bespoke AI-triage and navigation tool that allows users to quickly and easily identify the right complaints pathways for their situation.
Then, for each pathway and complaint type available, the platform will offer up-to-date fact-sheets and flow charts explaining the processes and procedures. Integration with Microsoft’s translation technology will make these tools resources and available in over 70 languages.
Finally, the team will develop chatbots that generate complaints documents for a number of key complaint bodies.
What impact will the platform have?
We believe the Tech4Justice complaints platform has the potential to give ordinary people the power to secure accountability and self-advocate.
The UNSW Kaldor Centre’s Associate Professor and Special Counsel to the National Justice Project, Daniel Ghezelbash, explained that the technology could especially help people who normally face huge barriers to accountability:
“Making a complaint can be daunting at best and inaccessible at worst, especially for marginalised people. The web platform will help people who need it most to access justice by demystifying the complaints-making process and empowering people who otherwise wouldn’t self-advocate.”
The project will also provide an evidence base that may reveal and address systemic discrimination, as well as help to improve complaints mechanisms.
The project will also provide an evidence base that may reveal and address systemic discrimination, as well as help to improve complaints mechanisms.
Note to the reader: The National Justice Project does not receive government grants or funding, so we can remain fiercely independent and hold governments to account. The NSW Access to Justice Innovation Fund grant was awarded to a Tech4Justice partner organisation, the UNSW Kaldor Centre.