One of the challenges of my role as President is trying to attend many of the outstanding events organised by the Law Society for the benefit of the legal profession. Unfortunately, a conflicting commitment at the Law Council of Australia in Canberra last Thursday meant that I was unable to attend the Law Society’s panel discussion on making the legal profession more inclusive and accessible for people living with disability.

On behalf of the Law Society I would like to thank our expert panellists, Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services, the Hon Gareth Ward MP, Emeritus Professor Ron McCallum AO and Rosemary Kayess for helping us provide a platform to explore the issues, challenges and opportunities for people with a disability in the workplace and the broader community. My sincere thanks to Juliana Warner, Chair of the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, for hosting the event, to solicitor and committee member Nic Parsons for expertly facilitating the panel discussion, and to all those who attended and joined this important conversation. 

As we get ready to mark the International Day for People with Disability on 3 December, the discussion is a timely reminder of the practical steps we can all take to improve accessibility and inclusion for people with a disability in the legal profession – for both clients requiring access to legal services and those currently working within the legal field.

On the policy front, a number of key announcements flowed from the Council of Attorneys General (CAG) meeting in Adelaide last Friday. In particular, the NSW-led process to modernise national defamation laws reached a new milestone with CAG agreeing to release draft reforms for public consultation. We also note that CAG has agreed to further the review into raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility by undertaking public consultation as soon as practicable.

Finally, thank you to all those members of the profession who attended the Law Society’s Just Music fundraiser for Our Watch last week including CEO Michael Tidball and LCA President-elect Pauline Wright who led us through an entertaining songbook of rock, pop, blues, ballads and classical music. It was a truly uplifting event and I look forward to attending next year. 

Elizabeth Espinosa, Law Society President

< Go back