President's Message

03/04/2023

The Bar Association has just completed its Regional Conference Series in Newcastle, Sydney, Orange and Ballina. Contributions from members of the profession who presented at the conferences or participated in panels were extremely valuable, demonstrating the strong intellectual leadership of the bench and bar. We are indebted to all those who gave their time over the weekends and express our gratitude to contributors and the phenomenal staff who facilitated the events, in particular Ms Bali Kaur. Under the guidance of our CEO, Andreas Heger, the Bar Association’s extraordinary staff have navigated our emergence from lockdowns and the transition to a combination of hybrid and face-to face meetings, work, bar exams, readers’ course and services with exceptional dedication to the bar.

All practicing barristers will need to submit a list of their completed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) when renewing their practicing certificate this year, rather than simply ticking a box to certify that they have complied. This audit will ensure that all members are currently up to date with their CPD requirements.

Our ethical strands this year highlighted Rules 43 and 58 of the Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules 2015 NSW. These rules concern the responsibilities of barristers to prepare cases in order to confine the issues to those matters truly in dispute, to present cases quickly, clearly and succinctly and to occupy as short a time as is reasonably necessary to protect the client’s interests at stake. Thorough preparation is critical to making sure that matters are ready to run on time, and thus not waste key days and weeks in the diary of courts endeavoring to clear backlogs. Barristers must ensure that these rules are at the forefront of their preparation and presentation of cases, and I remind all of their responsibilities in this respect.

Bullying was the other ethical strand of our focus. The profession can be confident that the bar will continue with its pursuit of the elimination of such conduct from interactions both in and outside of the courtroom.

I also remind all chambers that Part 3-5A of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) commenced on 6 March 2023 and that both employees and barristers are ‘workers’ under the definitions in that Act. These new provisions significantly expand a worker’s rights with respect to sexual harassment and impose positive workplace obligations. Heads of Chambers should ensure that their chambers are familiar with these changes and that their updated best practice guidelines reflect the expanded legislation and avenues for recourse, including conciliation and arbitration at the Fair Work Commission.

We encourage all barristers to engage with the voluntary survey in this year’s practicing certificate renewals so that we have an understanding of the perceptions of the profession on key issues, including our continuing process of cultural change in pursuit of respectful engagement at all times.