2024 Law Council of Australia Gala Dinner
6 December 2024
Caption: (L-R): Greg McIntyre SC, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC,
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and His Excellency Mr Simeon Beckett SC.
Last Friday evening the Law Council hosted its end-of-year event, the LCA Gala Dinner, which was a resounding success, bringing together esteemed members of the legal community to celebrate the year's achievements and to foster camaraderie among peers.
Held at the Marion in Canberra, the evening was marked by a series of engaging speeches, including the annual presidential address by Law Council President, Greg McIntyre SC; and keynote speeches from the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC; the Attorney-General of Australia, the Honourable Mark Dreyfus KC MP; and closing remarks by President-elect, Juliana Warner.
In his speech, President Greg McIntyre SC provided his reflection on his presidency and highlighted key advocacy issues the Law Council has been tackling over the last 12 months, including access to justice issues and funding for Australia’s legal assistance sector.
“My term as its President has been a fulfilment of what I have aspired to be as a member of a legal profession.
In 2024 we have tackled some major issues that impact all Australians. I focus particularly on our Access to Justice Campaign.
Australia’s legal assistance sector provides invaluable assistance to disadvantaged Australians. These frontline legal services are for many, the only opportunity to obtain legal advice and representation. The sector has been jointly funded by the Commonwealth and States and Territories through the National Legal Assistance Partnership or NLAP as it is more commonly referred to.
For a number of years, we have expressed concern that the resources provided through NLAP had been allowed to erode and the result was a legal assistance sector that struggled to meet an ever-increasing demand.
While our concern has been long held, it ramped up this year because the NLAP is due to expire in June 2025 and legal assistance services need certainty that their funding will continue and that, in a best-case scenario, it would be substantially increased.
So, we launched our Access to Justice Campaign. Through this campaign, the Law Council and Law Societies and Institutes and Bar Associations across the country picked up the gauntlet and worked together to try to ensure this need was recognised and addressed by our policy makers.
Caption: Greg McIntyre SC, Law Council of Australia President.
This advocacy included meetings with Ministers across jurisdictions, members of parliament from all parties, as well as government departments. That advocacy was assisted by participation from Mark Woods, Co-Chair, with Dr David Neal SC of the Access to Justice Committee, Mark Fenlon, Chair of the Rural, Regional and Remote Lawyers Committee and Di Simpson, Chair of the Family Law Section.
We wrote an open letter to our governments and raised the issue through the media to help give this issue the urgent attention it deserved. We were guided in our advocacy by the knowledge that we were supporting a cause which was dear to the heart of Attorney-General Dreyfus.
Last week, the Standing Council of Attorneys-General announced they had agreed to the terms of a new National Access to Justice Partnership, including an additional $800 million in funding over five years. We expect the new Partnership Agreement to be published tomorrow. It will come into effect on 1 July 2025.
We welcome this commitment to an injection of funding and an arrangement which guarantees on-going funding, so that the legal assistance sector does not approach a funding cliff every three to five years.
However, we remain concerned that the announced funding falls well short of that recommended by Dr Warren Mundy in his review of the NLAP, which we have used as our guide in our advocacy, and well short of what our legal assistance services need to do their vital work and address unmet need.”
President McIntyre also touched on the topic of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing.
“The Law Council of Australia notes the passing of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024. It would have preferred more time to ensure the new regime addresses risk without detrimental impact on access to justice. It will now turn its focus to implementation and support for the profession.
We support efforts to disrupt money laundering and the atrocious crimes connected with it Therefore, we were never opposed to the objectives of this Bill.
Our concerns, which have been well ventilated, centre on aspects of the Bill that will damage the trusted relationship lawyers must be able to have with their clients and the substantial regulatory costs these changes will cause.
The Law Council will now work with the Government to ensure the changes wrought by this Bill are implemented as effectively as possible and the cost burden for legal practitioners and clients is minimised. We will continue to seek to limit the extent to which the new regime interferes with a lawyer’s obligation to the court and their client. And we will support the profession to prepare for and familiarise themselves with the new requirements and update their compliance processes.”
In addition to the President’s speech, the Law Council had the honour to have both Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and the Honourable Mark Dreyfus KC MP, Attorney-General of Australia, provide the keynote address for the event.
Caption: Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.
In her speech, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC reflects on the Law Council as an organisation and acknowledges the Law Council's evolution over nine decades into a representative body that provides consensus-based advice to government and legal entities.
“Tonight, it is important also to reflect on the fact that the first Australian-born and legally trained governor-general, Sir Isaac Isaacs, was in office in 1933, when the Law Council of Australia was formed.
As its members and friends, you know that the Council has moved at a remarkable pace since its landmark foundation, and has encompassed a vast landscape of national and global interests.
For nine decades, the Council has been a repository of knowledge and experience, collegiality and professionalism:
- a representative body, where the weight of consensus shapes the Council’s advice to government, agencies, and the courts.
But, as the breadth of your membership has evolved with the complex mosaic of our national diversity, it has increasingly become a forum for a multiplicity of views, opinions and positions.
It is living proof of the strength we find in difference, and the unity that emerges out of diversity.
And I congratulate the Council for positioning support for diversity and inclusion as key to your strategic pillar to advance the integrity and excellence of the Australian legal profession.”
The Gala Dinner also served as an opportunity to recognise outstanding contributions within the legal profession, with the presentation of the Law Council’s President’s Award presented to an individual for their exemplary service to law.
Caption: Greg McIntyre SC and Peter O'Brien.
This year’s winner is NSW solicitor, Mr Peter O’Brien. President McIntyre said, “The resume of NSW Solicitor, Mr Peter O’Brien shows a commitment to serving the community and ensuring those in need, but with the least facility to access justice, have somewhere to turn.”
“Mr O’Brien’s commitment to justice is unwavering and through his efforts has achieved just outcomes for many vulnerable clients.”
Another important highlight of the event was the announcement of the John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship, a national scholarship dedicated to helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law students achieve their ambition of becoming a lawyer. This year, the honour went to Ms Christine Conn, a Queensland University of Technology law student with a passion for criminal law.
Caption: Callan Lloyd, Greg McIntyre SC, Christine Conn, Lochlan Alexander.
President McIntyre said, “Christine is a highly deserving recipient, and I look forward to the valuable contribution that I am confident she will go on to make to the legal profession.”
In response to being named the 2025 recipient of the John Koowarta Scholarship, Ms Conn said, “To be awarded the 2025 John Koowarta Scholarship is an immense honour, not only for me but my family and community. This scholarship, and its namesake in John Koowarta, is a reflection of perseverance, overcoming adversity, and the pursuit of Blak Excellence. I am incredibly honoured to be associated with these values.
This scholarship will be fundamental to my continuing ability to live so far from home to get the best education I can. I am so honoured to be considered for this scholarship and cannot thank the Law Council enough.”
Overall, the Gala Dinner was a fitting conclusion to the year, offering a platform for reflection, inspiration, and renewed commitment to advancing the principles of justice and equity in the coming year.
2024 Law Council Gala Dinner Gallery
Last Updated on 09/12/2024