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Law Council of Australia announces 2021 executive council
Outgoing president Pauline Wright has reflected on the past year and the work that the Law Council of Australia has done to cope with unprecedented changes as she welcomes in the new executive council for 2021.
Naomi Neilson
Ms Wright will be replaced by Dr Jacoba Brasch QC, a barrister who has developed a practice in family law, mental health law, customs and excise. The rest of the 2021 council will be made up of president-elect Tass Liveris, treasurer Ross Drinnan and executives Luke Murphy, Greg McIntyre SC and Caroline Counsel.
“As Australia emerged into 2020, scorched and grieving from a deadly summer, no one imagined that we would be thrust into the grips of the worst pandemic the world had faced in over a century,” Ms Wright said. “This year has certainly been eventful, and the legal profession has had to manage countless issues with agility and determination.”
Ms Wright said the work included ensuring that the COVIDSafe app had the protections Australians had the right to expect, igniting a conversation on the need for a federal Human Rights Charter and calls for a federal integrity commission.
She said she is also proud of the way LCA spearheaded the National Action Plan to address sexual harassment and to have worked with some of the “brave and undaunted advocates in tackling the scourge of violence against women and children”.
“I am particularly gratified by the work that the Law Council has undertaken in advocating for a fairer and more just society for Australia’s First Nations communities. This important work continues in consultation with our Indigenous Legal Issues committee, with the aim of narrowing the shameful justice gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” she said.
Ms Wright thanked the executives, directors and secretariat for their support and counsel and the volunteers across the country who provided “expertise, time, passion and commitment” to ensuring that the LCA’s objectives were met.
Dr Brasch commented: “Pauline has led the Law Council with a steely determination, purpose and decency, during a year that came with challenges no one envisaged. Her capacity to advocate the LCA’s case respectfully and persuasively has been a huge advantage to our profession.”
In the year ahead, Dr Brasch said the LCA will continue to build upon Ms Wright’s work to promote the administration of justice and importance of the rule of law for the profession and the broader Australian community.
Dr Brasch begins her term as LCA president on 1 January 2021.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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