PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Creating more disability inclusive workplaces

Last Thursday, to mark International Day for People with Disability, the Law Society held a fascinating panel discussion exploring leadership and participation in the law for people with disabilities. Our facilitator, Vaughan Roles along with our panellists – Ella Alexander, James Horsburgh and Kimberlee Brooker – provided valuable insight on their lived experiences as people with a disability who are working in the law.  

I encourage members to take the time to watch this webcast (which is now available on demand) and in doing so, gain a better understanding of how we can make our workplaces more disability inclusive. I also urge you to download and read the Law Society’s new guide, Creating A Disability Inclusive Workplace, which I launched at the event.  

The Guide provides practical steps that legal workplaces can take to improve recruitment process to make positions accessible to the best candidates, including people with disability. It also outlines ways to create a disability inclusive workplace and the benefits that this can yield. Employers who adopt diversity and inclusion best practice in their workplace are providing all of their staff with the opportunity to realise their potential. Or, as Vaughan Roles so succinctly noted at our panel discussion, “inclusive practice is good practice”. The guidance also provides a number of case studies of organisations who have successfully improved accessibility and inclusivity in their workplace for people with a disability.

My thanks to the members of numerous Law Society committees that were involved in the production of the new guide and to Vaughan, Ella, James and Kimberlee for their participation in the International Day of People with Disability webcast.  

Climate Change and the Law 

The Law Society of NSW has also produced a new briefing paper for the legal profession which sheds light on the key trends, cases and future directions of climate change litigation. The paper, Climate Change Litigation – Trends, Cases, and Future Directions, was launched at our recent Thought Leadership webcast on “Getting to Net Zero”. This paper serves as an introduction for solicitors interested in learning more about climate legal risk considerations and the implications of climate change litigation for them, and their clients.  

Annual Members Dinner 

The excitement is building with final preparations taking place for tonight’s Annual Members Dinner at the Fullerton Hotel, Sydney. It promises to be a great celebration for members and friends of the Law Society. I am excited about announcing the recipient of the 2021 President’s Medal at the Dinner. I will provide more details about the recipient of this prestigious award in next week’s message.  

Juliana Warner, President, Law Society of NSW