This presentation describes the methodology undertaken for a recent research project carried out by the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW (Foundation) for Community Legal Centres NSW (CLCNSW).

The project was undertaken to map the catchment areas of all generalist community legal centres (CLCs) in NSW, as well as to identify and map the gaps in catchment coverage. The methodology used for the process of mapping the catchment areas will be presented on. This process included extensive work matching suburbs to centres based on existing information held by CLCNSW. The data was then visually mapped using geo-spatial software to create maps indicating the catchment areas, including the gaps in catchment coverage. The Foundation also provided data to CLCNSW on the potential legal need of the catchment areas based on the LJF Need for Legal Assistance Services (NLAS) indicators.

The presentation will conclude with an outline of how this information has been used since the completion of the project, and the potential of this data for informing future service delivery in the sector.
This project provides a practical example of how the use of data can support informed decisions in resource allocations and service planning, showcases the mapping of data as a powerful visualisation tool and provides an explanation of the methods used to achieve this.