Governance

In mid-2018 Townsville Community Legal Service (TCLS) began discussions around moving all client services to electronic form in CLASS. There were a range of drivers behind this move, including attempting to eliminate paper management and physical storage, easier access to documents in and out of the office, reducing costs generally and increasing productivity. We began the process by first exploring and collating the capabilities of CLASS and surveying exactly what TCLS would require to eliminate paper services and move all document management to CLASS. Following this, an Electronic Document Management Guide was drafted as a tool to guide staff around using electronic document management in CLASS. After the Guide was created, Michael Murray conducted a trial period over a period of 6 or so months, moving all services to CLASS. During this time, the Guide underwent significant changes, responding to feedback to streamline the process. In the past few months, all staff at TCLS have moved to electronic document management. The Guide is continually updated and changed with staff feedback. All staff at TCLS follow the Guide for client services and community projects. Obviously, the Guide reads heavily in accordance with TCLS’ existing policy, procedures and employment structures. We seek regular feedback and undertake regular training with staff to refine the process. We provide practical CLASS training and demonstrations to all workers. While we were initially hesitant about CLASS, we think the sector generally may be surprised about its capabilities with respect to online document management.