Media Release – The Victorian Bar launches an online health and wellbeing portal to support Victorian barristers

The Victorian Bar is delighted to announce the launch of its online health and wellbeing portal for Victorian barristers. The portal’s website is wellbeing.vicbar.com.au.

The online health and wellbeing portal was developed to support barristers who often face many challenges and difficulties in their professional and personal lives.

The online health and wellbeing portal is the brainchild of the Bar’s Health and Wellbeing Committee in recognition of difficulties barristers face that often affect their peace of mind, security, health, and welfare, and their work performance.

Last night, the Victorian Bar launched the portal at an event where speakers Victorian Legal Services Board CEO and Commissioner, Fiona McLeay; Barrister Sally Flynn QC, Chair of the Victorian Bar Health and Wellbeing Committee; and Barrister and Deputy Chair of Mental Health Victoria Chris McDermott spoke about how the portal supports barristers by providing practical resources, information, and clear avenues to timely professional guidance.

Victorian Legal Services Board CEO and Commissioner, Fiona McLeay, said, “We recognise that legal practice can place significant stresses and pressures on practitioners and that a significant number will experience mental health issues at some point in their career. The Bar’s portal empowers barristers to manage their mental and physical health actively, and healthier lawyers are better lawyers.”

Chair of the Bar’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, Sally Flynn QC, said, “The Victorian Bar’s online health and wellbeing portal will provide ongoing, holistic support to its members. The portal is a bespoke resource for barristers who are likely to face many unique challenges throughout their careers. I believe that the portal will be of particular benefit to barristers as it contains useful information on a variety of issues that they may face, such as relationship issues, fluctuations in finances and workflow, depression, anxiety, as well as practical strategies for handling life-changing experiences such as illness, addiction, relationship breakdowns and changes in family circumstances. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner in developing the portal.”

The portal uses an intuitive interface where barristers and their families may use dropdown menus to access information and coping strategies for different types of challenges relating to their mental wellbeing, help through different stages of their careers, support specifically for addressing sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation, and resources to improve their physical health. It was developed with the assistance of leading practising psychologist, Sandy Rea.