ABC Australia
In short:
WA’s Legal Practice Board is tasked with admitting lawyers to practice law and handling complaints about them, but five separate law groups have described their “unprecedented loss of confidence” in it.
The Board has acknowledged “operational shortcomings” but says improvements have been made
What’s next?
A parliamentary inquiry is underway into the board and its role in regulating the profession.
West Australian lawyers say their own regulator is causing them psychological harm, and in some cases destroying their lives, in a scathing rebuke of the watchdog tasked with keeping the industry on track.
Five peak legal bodies in WA say they are not being properly regulated by the state’s Legal Practice Board, which decides who is allowed to practice law and handles complaints about lawyers’ conduct.
Their concerns led to a parliamentary inquiry into the board and its role in regulating the profession.
In a stunning joint submission to that inquiry published on Friday, the group called for “urgent action” to address what they describe as “an unprecedented loss of confidence” in the board.
“When regulation presents a barrier to efficient and effective practice, access to justice is impaired, and trust and confidence in the system breaks down,” they wrote.
Their submission, which stretches for hundreds of pages and includes dozens of case studies, describes “chronic delays” across much of the board’s work, “inappropriate and highly damaging investigation and prosecution processes” and a “failure to engage, communicate and respond to enquiries and applications”.
For its part, the board has acknowledged there had been “operational shortcomings” in the past but said “significant progress has been made” in recent years.
Read full report at
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-30/wa-legal-practice-board-slammed-by-lawyers/106079432
