The Access to Justice Committee has broad representation from members of the legal profession and key stakeholders in the provision of legal aid and legal assistance on a pro bono basis. Stakeholder representation includes Law Access Limited, a wholly owned not for profit subsidy of the Society that co-ordinates pro-bono assistance in Western Australia and the Director of Civil Law at Legal Aid. The Law Society is also represented on the Law Access Limited Stakeholder Advisory Committee by a member of the Committee.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Accreditation Committee advises the Law Society’s Council on the rules and regulations that govern the granting of accreditation by the Law Society. In a secondary capacity the Committee acts as the advisory board for family law accreditation.

Accredited family law specialists practising in Western Australia must be members of the Law Society.

The Law Society also actively participates in the Family Law Specialist Accreditation National Steering Committee. This ensures that all States and Territories share information to facilitate a consistent approach to assessment and credentialing. In an assessment year, the National Steering Committee works to promote consistency and uniformity of approach. That has included the Committee working with representatives of the other law societies and institutes to review and settle the assessment tasks and marking guides for assessment.

For more information about this committee please email accreditation@lawsocietywa.asn.au.

The Committee continues to seek to promote alternative dispute resolution and the involvement of lawyers in alternative dispute resolution.

The Law Society is a Recognised Mediator Accreditation Body (RMAB) under the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS). The Committee makes recommendations to the Council about accreditation of mediators.

The Committee also makes recommendations to the Council about inclusion of mediators and arbitrators on the panels of mediators and arbitrators maintained by the Society.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

Brief is the official journal of the Law Society and has been published since 1974. Brief keeps members informed about the Law Society’s activities and the latest developments in the Western Australian legal profession.

The Committee thanks all those who submitted articles or items for consideration, and encourages anyone who is interested in doing so to submit material.

For more information about this committee please email brief@lawsocietywa.asn.au.

The Commercial Law Committee’s role is to report and make recommendations to the Law Society Council on commercial issues of significance to the Law Society and its members.

The Committee has representatives on the following liaison and working groups:

• Consumer Protection Liaison Group;
• ASIC Regional Liaison Group;
• Law Council of Australia, Business Law Section, Corporations Law Committee; and
• Law Society Working Group for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Law Society’s Construction and Infrastructure Committee was established in August 2015. The Committee’s meetings are held in conjunction with meetings of the Law Council of Australia’s Construction and Infrastructure WA Group. This Group is part of the Law Council’s Business Law Section’s longstanding Construction and Infrastructure Committee. The Committee meets bi-monthly.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Costs Committee’s primary function is to make recommendations to the Law Society Council in relation to reviews conducted by the statutory Legal Costs Committee (LCC).

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Committee’s strategic focus continues to be developed with a view to ensuring that it is representing, engaging, supporting and advocating for all members of the profession in rural, regional and remote areas.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Courts Committee continues to play an important role as a conduit for two-way feedback and the dissemination of information to practitioners between the Law Society, the Federal Court, Supreme Court, Family Court, State Administrative Tribunal, District Court and Magistrates Court.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Committee is well balanced with prosecutors, defence lawyers, barristers, sole practitioners and lawyers from community legal services, Aboriginal Legal Services and Legal Aid.

The Committee continues to monitor the mandatory sentencing provisions under the burglary offences of the Criminal Code for unjust outcomes for offenders. The Law Society remains committed to its opposition to all forms of mandatory sentencing.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Law Society’s Education Committee oversees the Law Society’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, curated and developed by the Law Society’s Professional Development Team, and delivered by subject matter experts.

The Committee’s membership is strongly supported by the Western Australian legal profession, ensuring the Law Society delivers engaging and informed education, as well as offering a variety of topics and formats to suit a range of learning styles and preferences.

For more information about this committee please email cpd@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Elder Law and Succession Committee’s particular areas of interest are power of attorney reform (including interstate mutual recognition), legislative progress in succession law, probate practice and the Family Provision Act 1972 (WA).

The Committee liaises with the Law Council of Australia National Elder Law and Succession Committee of which the Convenor is a member, and with the Supreme Court of Western Australia Probate Committee on which a Committee member (currently the Convenor) represents the Law Society.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Employee Relations Committee is represented by practitioners who practice in the fields of employment, industrial relations and diversity (including discrimination and harassment).

The fields of law dealt with by the Committee may be subject to substantive legislative change depending on the Government of the day.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Committee oversees the activities of the Francis Burt Law Education Programme (the Programme), including the Mock Trial Competition (the Competition), and the Old Court House Law Museum (the Museum); and the Law Society’s Education and Community Services.

These valuable services allow the Western Australian community, interstate and international visitors to reflect on the rule of law in Western Australia; its significance, its impact, the freedoms and opportunities that it affords as well as injustices that have taken place, looming threats and concerns.

For more information about this committee please email schools@lawsocietywa.asn.au

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The In-house/Government Lawyers Committee aims to promote and support the specific needs of in-house and government lawyers within the Law Society. It particularly seeks to promote increased understanding in the wider profession of the in-house sector which constitutes over 30% of the national legal profession.

The Committee continues to support the Law Society’s CPD programme with suggestions for seminars and participation in seminars which not only engage the in-house sector but also inform and educate the private profession on the particular challenges facing in-house practitioners.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Committee continues to support the First Nations Action Plan (FNAP) of the Law Society, with two representatives from the Committee sitting on the Law Society’s FNAP Working Group. The Working Group has responsibility for progressing the initiatives of Law Society’s FNAP. The initiatives of the FNAP include implementing cultural awareness training for all staff and providing information to members on incorporating cultural awareness training as a component of continuing professional development.

The Committee is also responsible for monitoring the Law Society’s Mentoring Programme for Indigenous law students and a priority is to ensure the processes designed to facilitate the mentoring of Indigenous law students operate effectively.

The Committee continues to work closely with the Francis Burt Legal Education Programme to provide input and advice in relation to programmes and initiatives being developed by the Programme.

The Committee maintains liaison with other relevant committees with representation on the UWA Indigenisation of the Juris Doctor Project Reference Group and the Law Council of Australia Indigenous Legal Issues Committee.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Insolvency and Reconstruction Law Committee is a Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

The Committee continues to liaise with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Financial Security Authority and the Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association, and the Committee is ably assisted by Adrian Saggers of ASIC and Paul Devellerez of AFSA who continue regularly attending its meetings and provide invaluable insights.

The Committee also works with other members of the Law Council’s subcommittee in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Intellectual Property and Technology Committee provides a forum for promoting and reviewing the practice and development of intellectual property, technology and data protection law. The Committee also provides an advisory resource to the Law Society Council on matters relating to intellectual property, information and communications technology as well as data, privacy and security.

Members of the Intellectual Property and Technology Committee are also involved in external bodies such as the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ) and IP Australia, the statutory body that administers intellectual property laws in Australia.

The Committee welcomes opportunities to assist the Law Society in informing practitioners and the public on matters relating to intellectual property and technology law, particularly given the rapidly developing digital economy in which we operate.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Joint Law Society/Women Lawyers Committee is a committee with representation from the Law Society and the Women Lawyers of Western Australia (Inc).

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee was formed in 2011 having been an ad hoc committee on Psychological Distress and Depression in the Legal Profession and Bullying.

The Committee focuses on the need for education in the profession on health and wellbeing topics.

The Committee is proactive in advocating the use and access of the Law Society’s LawCare WA programme and monitors the use of the Member Assistance Programme (counselling service).

The Committee also advocates the need to self-disclose mental illness when running a practice in the event that the practitioner is struggling to cope.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

For more information about this committee please email info@lawmutualwa.com.au

The Law Society’s Professional Standards Scheme commenced on 1 July 2014. The Scheme caps occupational liability of participating members at $1.5 million, $5 million or $10 million depending on the insurance policies and total annual fee income of the law practice.

The Professional Standards Scheme Committee was established to:

• consider issues relating to the Scheme, the Professional Standards Councils (PSCs) and the Professional Standards Act 1997 (WA);
• act under specific delegation of the Law Society’s Council, where granted, to make decisions in accordance with the Scheme and the Professional Standards Act 1997 (WA);
• develop policy to assist in administering the Scheme;
• make recommendations from time to time to Law Society’s Council regarding the administration of the Scheme; and
• review the Scheme from time to time.

Key features of the new Scheme include an insurance standard developed in the interests of members and consumers of legal services to ensure the quality, consistency and level of insurance of participants in the Scheme; the incorporation of Tasmania through mutual recognition provisions; and the inclusion of a provision addressing the capping of liability those who are subject both to the Scheme and to another scheme under professional standards legislation.

For more information about this committee please email pss@lawsocietywa.asn.au

Members of the Property Law Committee represent the Law Society on a number of external stakeholder groups and committees including the Law Council of Australia Legal Practice Section Australian Property Law Group, and the Law Council of Australia e-conveyancing Working Group. The Committee representatives (as well as Committee members generally) review public consultation papers released by the e-conveyancing industry.

As part of its terms of reference, the Committee continues to monitor issues of potential impact on practitioners in the property area generally, including specific legislative changes, significant cases and Government policy reforms.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au

2018/19 Annual Report

The QPS committee administers the Quality Practice Standard scheme for the Society.

For more information about this committee please email qps@lawsocietywa.asn.au

The Taxation Committee meets as a joint Committee of the Law Society of Western Australia and the Law Council of Australia. The Committee meets bi-monthly, but if needed monthly meetings take place.

Members of the Committee have been active presenting Continuing Professional Development seminars for the Law Society and the Committee continues to work with the Brief Committee in preparing regular columns on current taxation issues to further the education of readers and members of the Law Society. This initiative has been very successful. In addition, some refinements have been implemented to ensure a regular stream of articles for forthcoming issues of Brief.

The Committee members have been involved in serving on various Committees of the Law Society, the Law Council of Australia and various advisory Taxation Committees involving the Australian Taxation Office and other representative organisations. Future seminars are proposed on both State and Federal Revenue developments.

The Committee acknowledges the contribution of:

• Grahame Young for keeping the Committee apprised of all State and Interstate Revenue Issues and developments at the State Revenue Office; and
• Humphry Faas for keeping the Committee informed of recent developments in taxation being considered by the Taxation Committee of the Law Council of Australia (LCA).

Members of the Committee attended the LCA Taxation Committee’s Annual Workshop, where Committee Members Humphry Faas and Rob Sceales were panel members for the Small Business Tax Issues discussion.

For more information about this committee please email General Manager, Advocacy – Mary Woodford, advocacy@lawsocietywa.asn.au