In 2019 we launched our Lawyer Wellbeing Project with the aim of deepening our understanding of lawyers’ experience of mental health and wellbeing across their careers. We interviewed 37 people working across the profession, including law students, early career lawyers, solicitors, barristers and retired and current judicial officers, as well as those working in organisations involved in the regulation and training of legal professionals.

Poor wellbeing is a barrier to lawyers being able to do their jobs and provide access to quality legal services to Victorian consumers.  This is of concern to us as the regulator of the profession. 

The report makes four major findings:

• participants described being acculturated early in their career into a professional culture that frequently made it very difficult for the average individual to achieve wellbeing
• respondents identified a range of cultural and institutional factors that made it hard to improve the wellbeing of legal professionals
• respondents were positive about the direction of change in recent years and most, though not all, respondents conveyed optimism about a changing conversation regarding the wellbeing of legal professionals
• there are many ideas and suggestions for changes that could improve wellbeing within the profession.

You can download the report below.