This report sets out the results of a study on Australian innovations in legal aid services. The study was conducted in 2003–2005, and was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant. The financial support of the ARC is gratefully acknowledged. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of recent Australian innovations in legal aid service delivery and to examine the impact that new legal aid services have on their consumers, Specifically, the research was concerned to examine the ways in which these new legal aid services: • determine the needs of legal aid clients; • correspond with the views clients hold of their needs; • are an effective way of meeting clients’ perceived needs; and • are an efficient way of stretching the legal aid dollar. Over the past decade, Australian Legal Aid Commissions, and the Commonwealth itself, have introduced a range of new legal aid services, designed variously to address unmet needs, divert clients from litigation, and minimise the cost of legal aid. These services depart from the traditional models of legal aid services in the form of legal advice, minor assistance, or full legal representation. They include services offered on a group basis, one-off representation by duty lawyers, and services designed to assist people to manage their own legal transactions or to represent themselves in court. Most of these new services are premised on the client either resolving their own dispute out of court, or undertaking a large part of the work associated with court proceedings themselves. Since they are not means or merit tested, they have provided greater access to legal advice and information to a wider range of consumers, although the number of people receiving (means and merit tested) grants of aid for full legal representation has simultaneously decreased.1