On Monday, the Bar Council held a special purpose meeting to consider the Charter that governs the way we conduct ourselves as Bar Councillors, and the processes that we will follow when responding to requests for submissions from external stakeholders and government. It was a productive meeting and I particularly thank Jim Peters AM KC, a former President, who provided us with some very wise advice. I also thank all the members of the new Bar Council who are settling in and getting down to work. We are all looking forward to doing our best to work together on behalf of members.

Last Friday and Saturday, I attended the 90th Anniversary dinner of the Law Council, its Annual General Meeting, and its final board meeting for the year in Canberra. The Law Council is continuing to advocate on many critical issues affecting both the profession and the administration of justice. Of particular importance, it has been robustly engaging with the Government about its concerns with the rushed passage of the Government’s proposed Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Bill 2023, the proposed extension of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regime to lawyers, which presents risks to access to justice and the protection of client legal privilege, and the proposed reforms to costs in anti-discrimination matters. The Law Council is currently also running a campaign to boost legal assistance funding, as well as working to ensure that the proposed relaxation of the rules relating to foreign lawyers practicing in Australia are safe and appropriate.