Incoming president Dr Jacoba Brasch QC looks to continue building on the work of her predecessors
The Law Council of Australia has announced its new executive for 2021.
Pauline Wright will be succeeded as Law Council president by barrister Dr Jacoba Brasch QC effective 1 January. Brasch specialises in family law, mental health law, and customs and excise.
Joining Brasch on the new executive will be Tass Liveris (president-elect), Ross Drinnan (treasurer), Luke Murphy (executive member), Greg McIntyre SC (executive member) and Caroline Counsel (executive member).
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Brasch complimented outgoing president Wright as someone who “embodied the Law Council’s values.”
“Pauline has led the Law Council with a steely determination, purpose and decency, during a year that came with challenges no one envisaged,” Brasch said. “Her capacity to advocate the Law Council's case respectfully and persuasively has been a huge advantage to our profession.”
Wright spoke positively of her experience in leading the council through a challenging year.
“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 has faced in over a century. This year has certainly been eventful and the legal profession has had to manage countless issues with agility and determination,” she said. “I thank the executive, directors and secretariat for their support and counsel, and particularly the many volunteers from all over the country, who so generously provide their expertise, time, passion and commitment to ensuring that the objectives of the Law Council continue to be met.”
Wright praised the Law Council’s role in helping the industry adjust to COVID-19 restrictions to keep “the essential work of the legal system” going, “as well as getting on with the business of defending the rule of law, civil rights and freedoms, promoting access to justice and contributing to reform in important areas of the law.” Throughout 2020, the council has served the profession through a number of initiatives, including contributions to the COVIDSafe app, pushing for the establishment of a federal integrity commission and jumpstarting talks on the necessity of a federal human rights charter alongside a refresh of Law Council policy.
“I am also proud to have spearheaded the Law Council’s national action plan to address sexual harassment in the legal profession and to have worked with some brave and undaunted advocates in tackling the scourge of violence against women and children in our society,” Wright said.
In addition, she highlighted the organisation’s support for greater fairness and justice in relation to the country’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,” Wright said.
Brasch expressed her intent to carry on the work her predecessors had set in motion during her term as president.
“In the year ahead, the Law Council will continue to build upon the great work achieved by past presidents to promote the administration of justice, importance of the rule of law, and for the legal profession and the broader community in Australia and our region,” she said.