Australians are getting into legal trouble, do they know the way out?

Specifically, the research found that 62 per cent of Australians who made an insurance claim, 61 per cent of renters or landlords, and 59 per cent of people who got married or entered a de facto relationship did not recognise their situation as a legal matter at the time.

For those Australians who have had a legal issue, it was found that 81 per cent were uncertain in how to navigate the situation due to confusion around aspects such as cost, severity, or whether an issue required help. Also, 22 per cent attempted to handle the issue themselves, navigating it completely alone.

David Vitek, the CEO of LawConnect, attributes Australians’ naivety around how to ask for legal help to the fact that the current system provides “no clear way in”.

“By the time they realise they need help, it’s often too late to protect themselves,” Vitek said.

The report depicted that 38 per cent of Australians have had a significant legal issue that remained unresolved or was not satisfactorily resolved.

The amount of stress when it comes to dealing with legal matters becomes more evident when comparing it to other errands. Among those with an unresolved legal issue, 94 per cent said it impacted at least one other area of their lives, with 72 per cent highlighting an impact on their mental health and wellbeing, and 67 per cent on their financial security.

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Seventy-seven per cent of people described dealing with legal situations as just as overwhelming as losing a job. Perhaps most alarming when put into the scheme of things is the fact that 83 per cent of Australians rated dealing with a serious medical diagnosis to be most stressful, which is only just above addressing legal matters.

The report also found that a large number of Australians struggle to find legal help or are apprehensive about reaching out for legal advice. In fact, 44 per cent of all Australians have tried to or have thought of handling a legal issue themselves, and for 1.6 million people, it made their situation worse.

The research uncovers that the problem for Australians when trying to address legal issues is more than just a matter of cost; it is fundamentally a navigation problem.

Sixty-three per cent of Australians said they were unsure what to do when they are faced with a legal issue for the first time. When seeking information, 48 per cent turned to a search engine, while 25 per cent utilised AI tools such as ChatGPT.

In saying this, 61 per cent of those who had a legal issue were unable to find details they could actually understand and apply, or information that was clear or relevant.

While Australians feel more confident in finding a lawyer than in some other specialist skills, 21 per cent still lack confidence in discovering the appropriate lawyer catered to their particular needs.

Vitek noted that Australians are doing several hours of work researching legal matters, just to get an initial idea of where they stand.

Vitek said: “Australians are sitting up reading through contracts and terms and conditions, spending time piecing together documents.”

“Legal problems today sit inside a maze of search results, generic AI tools, conflicting advice, and disconnected systems. These tools are giving people information, but they are not giving them navigation.”

While accessibility is an alarming issue, research showcases a great level of scepticism regarding the legal system itself, even though 88 per cent of people believe that legal help should be a fundamental human right.

Thirty-nine per cent of Australians rate legal assistance as trustworthy, while a concerning number of people (78 per cent) say that navigating it is intimidating, confusing, or overwhelming.

Forty-three per cent of Australians have found themselves in a situation where they required legal help but did not know how or where to access it, with 18 per cent citing that they didn’t know where to start, and 15 per cent of people feeling intimidated or overwhelmed.

Vitek highlighted that with the strenuous amount of work that almost 100,000 Australian lawyers do every day, the path for regular Australians to access their services for the right reasons is unfortunately unclear and inaccessible.

Hence, services such as LawConnect aim to amend this. Features such as plain-language guidance tools, specialist lawyer matching, and collaboration infrastructure that centralises documents, communication, and workflow in one place have the objective to improve outcomes for consumers and lawyers, creating a more accessible and transparent relationship between the two.