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Chapter 1. Introduction

The Legal Needs of People with a Mental Illness Project (the Project) is part of a broader research program being undertaken by the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW (the Foundation) to study and report on the access to justice and legal needs of economically and socially disadvantaged people in NSW.¹

As explained in the background paper to the Access to Justice and Legal Needs Program,² ‘access to justice’ and ‘legal needs’ involve more than access to formal legal representation and the courts. However, the terms will not be interpreted in such a broad fashion as to consider contested political issues concerning broader notions of ‘rights’ and ‘justice’, where the law is clear. The Access to Justice and Legal Needs Program and this specific project therefore endeavour to investigate issues of access to justice according to current Australian law.