Access to justice
Living peacefully and feeling safe
Metric
Index of Australia’s performance in providing accessible and affordable civil courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
Why this matters
Fair and equal access to justice is critical for people's rights, freedoms, and their ability to pursue lives which enhance their wellbeing.
Progress
The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index® scores countries on adherence to the rule of law on a range of factors, including civil justice. Scores range from 0 to 1, with 1 indicating the strongest adherence to the rule of law.
In 2023:
- Australia scored 0.59 for Subfactor 7.1 of the index, indicating moderate performance in how well people can access and afford civil justice, compared with 0.50 in 2015.
- Australia scored 0.81 for Subfactor 7.7 of the index, indicating strong performance in the accessibility, impartiality, and effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, compared with 0.90 in 2015.