2023 National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference
23 June 2023
L-R: Ms Gabriela Christian-Hare, CEO of the Australian Pro Bono Centre, Professor Ed Santow, University of Technology Sydney, The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, MP, Commonwealth Attorney-General, and Mr Luke Murphy, President of Law Council of Australia.
The 2023 National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference was held last week in Brisbane. The Conference was co-hosted by the Law Council, Australian Pro Bono Centre and Queensland Law Society.
The Conference was an opportunity for the various members of the legal assistance and pro bono sectors to reunite for the first time since the pandemic. Across the two-day Conference, more than 300 people committed to supporting access to justice for society’s most vulnerable.
Feedback on the Conference received so far has been extremely positive. The Conference Program included a mix of plenary sessions and business sessions across four tracks: Legal assistance sector; Innovation and reform; Family law and access to justice; and Pro bono services. A particular strength of the Conference is that it can draw on the significant knowledge and experience of eminent people to guide and enlighten the attendees across a range of topics of relevance to these sectors. Highlights of the Conference program included presentations by, amongst others:
- The Hon Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia;
- The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, Commonwealth Attorney-General;
- Mr Luke Murphy, President of the Law Council of Australia;
- The Hon Justice Brian Preston SC, Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales;
- The Hon Margaret McMurdo AC, Former President of the Queensland Court of Appeal;
- Ms Micaela Cronin, Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner;
- Mr Bob Atkinson AO APM, Former Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service;
- Professor Ed Santow, Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner; and
- senior members of Commonwealth and State judiciaries.
The Conference host organisations have developed a Statement which identifies the key themes of the Conference, including a need for:
- significant increases in funding for all legal assistance providers;
- a priority focus on the issue of rural and remote legal assistance service delivery;
- collaboration with the legal assistance sector to help identify systemic issues and implement change where access to justice barriers exist; and
- appropriate recognition of the contribution pro bono support makes within the legal assistance sector and resourcing of mechanisms to help legal assistance organisations leverage pro bono support for the benefit of the community.
A copy of the full Statement is available on the Queensland Law Society’s website.
Last Updated on 23/10/2023
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