‘Inflexible and family unfriendly environments should not be the practice norm’, says newly elected president of the N.S.W. Bar Association.

The new president of the NSW Bar Association, Jane Needham (SC), has promised to place issues relating to gender equality, diversity and the changing nature of barristers’ practice at the top of the agenda for 2014.

Needham is also chair of a working party that is looking at the findings of the Law Council of Australia’s National Attrition and Re-engagement Study, which she says has’ far-reaching implications for the bar’.

Furthermore,  a 2013 report into BarCare, a confidential counselling service for barristers in Victoria,  found that a growing number of practitioners are seeking help for stress reactions, including anxiety or depression. The psychological well-being of members of the bar will also be a focus of Needham’s presidency.

Read more: NSW Bar Head puts Gender on the Agenda.