Uniform Law Dinner 2022

01 July 2022

The Legal Services Council (LSC, Council) recently hosted a Uniform Law dinner in Perth, to mark the historic occasion of Western Australia joining the Uniform Law scheme on 1 July 2022. The Attorney General of Western Australia, the Hon John Quigley LLB JP MLA, was our guest speaker. 

In his opening remarks, the LSC’s Chair, Alan Cameron AO thanked the Western Australian Attorney General for his endorsement of the dinner and other related Uniform Law events held by the LSC in Perth at the time, and for accepting our invitation to be our guest speaker. Mr Cameron acknowledged the inaugural LSC Chair Michael Black AC QC FAAL and the first CEO/Commissioner, Dale Boucher, together with the former Council members for their invaluable work in establishing the Council, in terms of its structure, operations and sound reputation. 

In introducing the guest speaker, Mr Cameron highlighted the visionary leadership and active involvement of the Attorney General of Western Australia in achieving this milestone and the support of the Attorneys General of NSW and Victoria. He also acknowledged the Council’s former and current observers from Western Australia, the current Chief Justice, the Hon Peter Quinlan, when he was the Solicitor General, and the current Solicitor General of Western Australia, Joshua Thomson SC for their significant contributions. The valuable work of the current Western Australian observer on the Admissions Committee, the Hon Rene Le Miere QC, was also highlighted. The Legal Practice Board of Western Australia and the Legal Profession Complaints Committee were also congratulated for their work behind the scenes and for their collaboration with the Uniform Law regulators in NSW and Victoria, whose contributions were also recognised.

The Attorney General gave a highly engaging and informative speech that provided insights into his positive views about the Uniform Law scheme, its benefits for the legal profession in Western Australia and the future expansion of the scheme into other jurisdictions. He also noted that Western Australia’s entry into the scheme ensured that 75% of the Australian legal profession would now be covered by the Uniform Law and that this represented a significant step towards the goal of Australia having a national legal profession, operating under a national regulatory framework. 

The Council was delighted that over 60 people including members of the judiciary and the legal profession, departmental officers, representatives of Uniform Law bodies, legal professional associations, and stakeholders from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth were able to attend the dinner.

This dinner was an excellent opportunity to bring all the key stakeholders in the Uniform Law scheme together, to celebrate this tremendous milestone. The Council, its CEO/Commissioner, its Admissions Committee and secretariat were very pleased to meet our key stakeholders in person at the dinner and to discuss Uniform Law matters with them. In particular, the dinner enabled the Council’s guests from Western Australia to be introduced to others in the Uniform Law scheme and to become more familiar with the Uniform Law framework. 

From all accounts, the dinner was a great success, paving the way for Western Australia’s entry into the Uniform Law scheme on 1 July 2022. Some photos of the evening are here.