Apps for social justice
Late last year, in a moment of debilitating naivete, I took on the role of academic lead for the UTS Law Tech Challenge. I didn’t know much, but I did know that the Law Tech Challenge teams UTS students with a software company and a law firm. And I knew that they all then collaborate to build apps for not-for-profit (NFP) organisations in the pursuit of social justice.
Once committed, I realised that the whole enterprise was far too idealistic and ambitious. Oh well. I decided to humour everyone and play along. Students were recruited. Workshops were held. Not-for-profits were courted. To my delight, four impressive NFPs signed up: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Sydney Story Factory; the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC); and Marrickville Legal Centre.
Over the course of this year, the four student teams worked with mentors from the law firm Allens and coders from the software company Neota Logic to build their apps.
On Wednesday night, I learned that idealism and ambition aren’t all bad. In the UTS Startups space, the MLConnect app won the Grand Final of the 2023 Allens Neota Law Tech Challenge for Social Justice. The MLConnect app works to streamline the intake processes for Marrickville Legal Centre, directing people with a legal issue to the MLC’s relevant service. It’s a powerful app built on simplicity and logic. In various languages, it crystallises a person’s legal issue(s), potentially facilitating access to justice for thousands of people in Sydney’s inner west.
The apps for the Story Factory, ICRC and PIAC were impressive too. In fact, it was tough to pick a winner. There was ‘a pixel between the winner and the non-winners’, said UTS Law Dean Anita Stuhmcke, who judged the event alongside Peter Campbell from Allens and Dominique Simsion from Neota Logic.
Vasili Maroulis, the CEO of Marrickville Legal Centre, was delighted to win, and also impressed with all the students. ‘They’re forming partnerships,’ he said. ‘They’re doing actual work, with actual clients, solving actual problems. That really makes a difference.’
Sacha Molitorisz - Senior Lecturer, UTS Law
This was featured in our fortnightly newsletter published on 25 August 2023.
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