Justice Connect announced as Google challenge finalist

The Google Impact Challenge top ten finalists have been announced. The Google Impact Challenge launched in June this year, inviting Australian non-profit organisations to submit their ideas on how they could use technology to solve a problem and make an impact.

The top ten finalists include:

• The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation with community driven literacy apps designed to preserve indigenous languages.
• Australian Marine Environment Protection Association (AUSMEPA) with an information repository to drive emissions transparency within the shipping industry.
• Great Barrier Reef Foundation with a low-cost, autonomous robot designed to monitor, map, manage and preserve coral reef ecosystems.
• Hello Sunday Morning with a personalised support app to help people with alcohol problems.
• Justice Connect with a web portal that connects individuals and communities to pro bono legal services.
• The Nature Conservancy Australia with mobile technology to protect global fish stocks and the livelihoods of coastal communities.
• World Vision Australia with a network of innovative heat-sensing fire detectors designed to save lives in Bangladesh.
• The Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre with a smartphone app to help parents identify childhood autism.
• Center for Eye Research Australia Limited with an eyesight self-assessment system for Australians in remote areas.
• The George Institute for Global Health with a SMS-based support service to help people with chronic diseases lead healthier lives.

On October 26, a judging panel including David Gonski, Lucy Turnbull, Layne Beachley, Melissa Doyle, Dr Larry Marshall, Jacquelline Fuller and Alan Noble from Google, will select three awardees. The fourth will be chosen based on an online voting system where anyone can vote.

Justice Connect was one of the ten NFPs selected as a finalist in the Google Impact Challenge, for its proposal to create an online Legal Help Gateway. The service will draw on the web-based matching models pioneered by dating and real estate services like eHarmony, RSVP and realestate.com.au to match people and community groups with leading lawyers who want to help for free.

“Legal problems are life problems. When people miss out on legal help, we know that a cascade of problems often follow – financial, health, housing. These problems are not only terrible for the people who experience them, they also cost the Australian economy significantly,” said Fiona McLeay, CEO of Justice Connect.

“The justice gap is the number of people who need legal assistance but can’t access it. And the gap is growing. Funding for community legal centres and Legal Aid is being reduced as need grows, and many people who aren’t eligible for Legal Aid still can’t afford a lawyer.

“This ‘justice gap’ doesn’t only apply to individuals. Many of Australia’s 600,000 charities and not-for-profits also struggle to afford the legal help they need, spending scarce funds on legal fees, rather than providing critical services to the community.”

Alan Noble, Director of Engineering, Google Australia said, “We know good ideas combined with technology can help to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Ten Australian not-for-profits have been selected as finalists in the latest round of the Google Impact Challenge for their outstanding ideas to use technology to make an impact on important causes.”

“This new Gateway can break down the financial and time barriers that stand between people and the pro bono lawyers who are ready to help. The thousands of pro bono lawyers from Justice Connect’s network are very willing to do more to alleviate people’s legal troubles and help close the justice gap. This project will allow us to match more people with more pro bono lawyers more quickly than ever before,” said McLeay.

“With over 20 years’ experience linking people with pro bono lawyers, Justice Connect understands the complexities and capacity of pro bono in Australia better than anyone else, and we are uniquely placed to build this tool.

“Universal access to justice is a fundamental right, just like universal health care. By collaborating with people and groups from Legal Aid and Community Legal Centres to law firms and even companies who are already making matches online, this Gateway has the potential to become the tool in the effort to make justice accessible for all.”