We are particularly skilled in organisational strategic planning and ‘trouble-shooting' including conflict resolution, governance and management support, service model evaluation and assisting with related strategy implementation, often in highly sensitive and complex situations. 

Our flexible team includes experienced facilitators who have expertise in a number of interactive and participatory workshop styles for working with organisations and groups.

Recent work in this area includes:

• Design and roll out of the "Legal Needs Strategic Planning Toolkit" for community legal centres in NSW. JSA was contracted by Community Legal Centres NSW to develop an evidence-based model of strategic planning which would enable services to better target legal need in their catchment. JSA has so far worked with five community legal centres to implement the model. The Legal Needs Assessment Framework developed to inform the process will soon be rolled out nationally by JSA in partnership with the National Association of Community Legal Centres. More information may be found on the CLCNSW website here .

• Assisting the board of Women's Legal Services NSW with governance review and restructure, including transitional management and support.

• Developing an accreditation model for Community Legal Centres based on national standards for the National Association of Community Legal Centres.

• Amalgamation and corporate group formation strategies between various NSW and Victorian community housing providers, including assisting with the development and negotiation of viable legal, governance and financial arrangements, developing and assisting with implementation of transitional arrangements including due diligence, communications and change management, new governance and operational structures, policies and procedures.

• Investigation for Arts NSW of the feasibility of introducing an art purchasing scheme in NSW to strengthen and promote the visual arts sector.

• Review of Redfern Legal Centre to determine how effectively its current organisational structure, service priorities and service delivery methods are meeting the mission and objectives of the Centre and the legal needs of its catchment area and target groups.

• Evaluation of the Arts Law Centre of Australia for the Australia Council for the Arts. This was a wide ranging review which included a review of the Australian context (that is, a profile of Australian artists and their current and future legal needs), the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation, and options for a new business model.

Influencing Policy

Our work in relation to social impact assessment and a range of other research for Government has contributed to legislative change in various areas including apprenticeship programs, urban renewal, housing, residential parks, SEPP(Seniors Living), and gaming impacts.

Notably, the harm minimisation approach suggested by JSA in the 2003 IPART Inquiry and original research conducted in 2007 were influential to the 2007-2008 review of the Gaming Machines Act 2001 by the NSW government. See the submission here.

Dr Stubbs was awarded the NSW Law Society's Human Rights Award in 1995 to publish A Human Right to Justice,  launched by Justice Mary Gaudron of the High Court of Australia. The extensive report was based on her study for the Australian Law Reform Commission on the experiences of women and domestic violence including a focus on Indigenous women. The original article, which was published as an appendix in The Law Reform Commission's publication Equality Before the Law: Women's Access to the Legal System is available here.