Around one million Australian adults experience depression and more than two million will experience anxiety in any one year. Almost one in two Australians will have a mental health condition at some point in their lifetime. Given these statistics, we know the legal profession is not immune. A significant proportion of solicitors practising in NSW will at some time during their working life live with a mental health condition.

The Law Society has for a long time worked to support the legal profession by providing information about mental health and wellbeing, as well as information to encourage solicitors to access appropriate psychological support when they are in difficulty. It is vitally important for the Law Society to remain informed the best practice in the field of mental health, as well as the best understanding of what support and services are available to the profession, particularly those in regional NSW.

To this end, I am pleased to announce that the Law Society has appointed former NSW Mental Health Commissioner John Feneley to conduct a review of its current strategy in providing leadership and support to the profession in dealing with mental wellbeing in legal practice. Mr Feneley has had a distinguished career as a solicitor, including as Assistant Director General of the NSW Attorney General’s Department and Deputy President of the Mental Health Review Tribunal, before most recently serving as the inaugural Commissioner of the Mental Health Commission of NSW from 2012 to 2017.  

The review outcomes will support the Law Society to lead the profession in promoting open conversations and knowledge about mental health in the profession, as well as guide the Law Society in how best to support the profession to maintain mentally healthy workplaces. We look forward to advancing our efforts in this space as the review concludes and implementation commences before the end of the year.

I would encourage practitioners who are experiencing a mental health condition to seek support and treatment. Taking the first step is courageous, and it’s important to recognise that treatment can have lifelong benefits. There are a variety of options available if you are experiencing difficulties, from seeing your GP to online sources of therapy and support for those in areas where face-to-face appointments might be difficult.

The practice of law involves significant intellectual and emotional demands. These can become impossible to manage if we don’t address our own mental health needs. By accessing support, we can continue to stay well and serve our clients well.

In other areas, the Solicitors’ Mutual Indemnity Fund (the SMIF), which provided professional indemnity cover for the NSW legal profession between 1987 and 1998 and also took responsibility for any outstanding claims previously covered by HIH following its collapse in 2001, has now fulfilled its statutory purpose. The final claim on the SMIF was closed in 2014.

The Law Society has been liaising with the NSW Attorney General regarding an appropriate use for the residual funds held within the SMIF. I am pleased to report that it has now been agreed that half of SMIF’s assets will be used to supplement the reserves of Lawcover Insurance, with the remaining half to be directed to the NSW Public Purpose Fund to be used exclusively for funding community legal centres. We believe this represents an excellent result for both the solicitors of NSW and the wider community. Not only will this allow Lawcover Insurance to provide professional indemnity cover at premium levels beneficial to the profession, it will also play a role in improving the funding and availability of access to justice.

Doug Humphreys
Law Society President 2018

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