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Factors related to satisfaction with assistance

A mixed-effects logistic regression was conducted to determine the significant, independent predictors of reporting satisfaction with the assistance received for legal events. This regression was based on events where participants provided information on their satisfaction with the assistance from the sole or most useful adviser.³ In the regression, satisfaction with the assistance received was a binary variable such that events where the individual was satisfied were contrasted with all other events.⁴ Potential predictor variables examined in the regression were the sociodemographic variables, the type of legal event, the recency of the legal event and whether the event had been resolved.⁵

A summary of the regression results is provided in Table 6.2, while the full results are presented in Appendix Table C30. Only two of the variables examined, namely the type of legal event and the resolution status of the event, were significant predictors of satisfaction with the assistance received from the sole or most useful adviser. The results of the regression are described more fully below, with reference to the relevant descriptive statistics.

Table 6.2: Summary of mixed-effects binary logistic regression for satisfaction with assistance

SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES
Variable	Comparison	Odds ratioa
Legal event groupb	Civil
	Accident/injury versus average	2
	Business versus average	ns
	Consumer versus average	ns
	Credit/debt versus average	ns
	Education versus average	ns
	Employment versus average	ns
	Government versus average	ns
	Health versus average	ns
	Housing versus average	ns
	Human rights versus average	ns
	Wills/estates versus average	5.4
	Criminal
	Domestic violence versus average	ns
	General crime versus average	ns
	Traffic offences versus average	0.1
	Family
	Family versus average	ns
Resolution status	Being resolved versus resolved	ns
	Unresolved versus resolved	0.2
NON-SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES:	Gender, age, Indigenous status, country of birth, disability status, personal income, education level, recency of event

a An odds ratio greater than 1.0 indicates the first category in the comparison had higher odds than the second.
An odds ratio less than 1.0 indicates the first category in the comparison hadlower odds than the second.
b Each legal event group was compared to the average effect for all legal eventgroups (rather than to any specific legal event group).

Notes: N=1033 events and 698 participants. Data on one or more potential predictor variables were missing for 274 events where information was provided on satisfaction with assistance.
‘ns’ indicates the odds ratio was not statistically significant, that is, the odds for the first category in the comparison were not statistically different from the odds for the second (even though the overall variable was significant).

Sociodemographic factors

Table 6.3 presents the percentage of participants who were satisfied with the assistance they received from the sole or most useful adviser broken down by each sociodemographic characteristic. According to the regression, satisfaction with the assistance received was not significantly related to any of the sociodemographic characteristics of participants that were examined (see Table 6.2).

Table 6.3: Satisfaction with assistance from sole or most useful adviser by each sociodemographic factor, all six LGAs, 2003

Sociodemographic factor		Satisfied % of events	Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied % of events	Dissatisfied % of events	No. of events
Gender	Female	77.7	9	13.3	656
	Male	79.7	6.8	13.5	651
	Total	78.7	7.9	13.4	1307
Age (years)	15–24	83.3	6.7	10	209
	25–34	79	9.5	11.4	315
	35–44	76.1	8.1	15.9	309
	45–54	74.5	7.6	17.9	263
	55–64	84	6.7	9.2	119
	65+	82.4	6.6	11	91
	Total	78.8	7.9	13.3	1306
Indigenous status	Indigenous	58.1	16.1	25.8	31
	Non-Indigenous	79.8	7.6	12.6	1142
	Total	79.2	7.8	13	1173
Country of birth	English speaking	78.2	8.3	13.5	1148
	Non-English speaking	82.6	5.2	12.3	155
	Total	78.7	7.9	13.4	1303
Disability status	Disability	74.3	8.4	17.3	335
	No disability	80.4	7.6	12	969
	Total	78.8	7.8	13.3	1304
Personal income	0–199	74.6	9.9	15.5	213
($/week)	200–499	79.8	7.2	13	401
	500–999	77.9	8.7	13.4	448
	1000+	83.6	5	11.3	159
	Total	78.7	7.9	13.3	1221
Education level	Didn’t finish/at school	78.2	6.9	14.9	101
	Year 10/equivalent	76	7.3	16.7	288
	Year 12/equivalent	80.5	8.1	11.4	272
	Certificate/diploma	77.4	7.9	14.7	279
	University degree	80.7	8.5	10.7	363
	Total	78.7	7.9	13.4	1303

Note: Where the total for a given sociodemographic factor is less than 1307, data were missing on that factor.

Type of legal event

According to the regression, satisfaction with the assistance received for an event was related to the type of legal event. In particular, the odds of satisfaction with assistance were higher than average for accident/injury and wills/estates events, but lower than average for events related to traffic offences (see Table 6.2). Figure 6.2 shows that participants were satisfied with the assistance received from the sole or most useful adviser for 94.2 per cent of wills/estates events and 88.5 per cent of accident/injury events, but only half of the events related to traffic offences.⁶

Figure 6.2: Satisfaction with assistance from sole or most useful adviser by legal event group, all six LGAs, 2003

Notes: N=1304 events. Three unclassified events were excluded.

Recency of legal event

Table 6.4 presents the percentage of participants who were satisfied with the assistance received for their legal events from the sole or most useful adviser cross-tabulated by the recency of events. This relationship was not significant in the regression (see Table 6.2).

Table 6.4: Satisfaction with assistance from sole or most useful adviser by recency of legal events, all six LGAs, 2003

Recency of event: no. of months prior to survey	Satisfaction with assistance			No. of events
	Satisfied % of events	Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied % of events	Dissatisfied % of events
0–3	78.8	9	12.2	491
4–6	82.6	6.8	10.6	310
7–9	76	6.8	17.2	279
10–12	76	7	17	171
Total	78.7	7.7	13.6	1251

Note: 56 of the 1307 events with information on satisfaction with assistance had missing information on recency.

Resolution of legal event

Participants were asked if the legal events they had experienced over the previous 12 months had been resolved.⁷ The odds of satisfaction with the assistance received for a legal event were significantly lower for unresolved events than for resolved events (see Table 6.2). Figure 6.3 shows that participants were satisfied with the assistance received for 86.3 per cent of resolved events, 80.2 per cent of events that were in the process of being resolved, but only 61.6 per cent of unresolved events.

Figure 6.3: Satisfaction with assistance from sole or most useful adviser by resolution status of legal events, all six LGAs, 2003

Notes: N=1291 events. Information on resolution status was missing for 16 of the 1307 legal events where participants provided information on satisfaction with assistance.