This report is one in a series of Australian reports published on the various types of barriers faced by Indigenous people facing legal problems. A nationwide survey showed that Indigenous people with legal problems had an increased likelihood of experiencing multiple legal problems at once. Moreover, researchers found that Indigenous people are more vulnerable to particular types of legal problems, multiple legal problems, and "multiple substantial legal problems".
Indigenous background was also found to heighten vulnerability to multiple legal problems independent of age, gender and level of disadvantage. As noted in the report, "multiple disadvantage was found to have a ‘compounding’ effect on vulnerability to multiple legal problems and multiple substantial legal problems that appears to be stronger for Indigenous people than for others." The researchers concluded that there is a need to "further consider how legal services can be better tailored to the legal needs of Indigenous people, and particularly those Indigenous
subpopulations with heightened vulnerability to multiple legal problems."
See also a 2015 report on how Indigenous people respond to legal problems, and a 2018 report on specific barriers faced by Indigenous people in solving legal problems.