Hear Me Out: Clearing the Path to Justice, One Conversation at a Time

People facing legal issues often don’t know where to begin. Legal support systems are fragmented, confusing, and emotionally overwhelming—especially for those without existing support networks. Community legal centres and ombudsman offices spend hours triaging cases that could be directed more efficiently. The challenge was to reduce this friction: to create a trusted, accessible entry point that could triage legal concerns, free up expert resources, and guide people towards the right help. Hear Me Out responds to this need with a human-centred, AI-powered platform designed to simplify access, ease pressure on services, and support a more equitable legal system.

Hear Me Out was co-designed with legal professionals, community sector workers and people with lived experience to ensure the platform met real-world needs. Portable began by mapping user journeys across legal triage systems, then tested conversational flows through workshops and prototypes. A major challenge was ensuring the AI could handle sensitive legal issues with accuracy and empathy—leading to the development of a unique hybrid model combining generative AI with carefully governed content modules. After launching in NSW and piloting in Victoria, the platform is already reducing triage burden and improving early-stage guidance, with plans for national and international expansion.

Hear Me Out is reshaping access to justice by offering a free, scalable, and trauma-informed entry point for legal support. Already reducing triage load for legal professionals in New South Wales and Victoria, it enables community legal centres to focus on complex cases while guiding the public with clarity and care. The platform improves equity by supporting people who are often excluded from formal legal advice. Its AI-driven approach offers a cost-effective, low-footprint alternative to traditional service models, with long-term potential to scale nationally and internationally—extending justice pathways to more communities while strengthening the sustainability of the legal sector.

Hear Me Out is a conversational AI platform purpose-built to triage legal issues with compassion and clarity. Its standout feature is its hybrid architecture: combining generative AI with curated, legally verified content modules to ensure safety, reliability, and consistency. This system enables natural, empathetic conversations while maintaining trust in high-stakes contexts. The design emphasises trauma-informed interaction flows, refined through co-design with people who have lived experience navigating legal issues. Language is plain, non-judgmental, and available across multiple formats, acknowledging the diversity of cognitive and emotional states people bring to legal challenges. The user interface is intentionally minimal, designed to reduce overwhelm and provide step-by-step clarity. Accessibility is a priority—from screen reader compatibility to simplified language settings—ensuring no one is left behind. Privacy and ethical governance are built in from the start. Sensitive user data isn't stored, and all design decisions were reviewed against legal and ethical standards developed with partners. Finally, the platform is scalable and adaptable. It can be rapidly reconfigured for new jurisdictions, issue areas, or partner organisations. This flexibility supports its use as a federated solution across Australia and opens the door to international deployment—bringing a new standard of guided access to justice worldwide.