International Be Kind to Lawyers Day

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:01): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about the recently celebrated international lawyers day?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:02): I thank the honourable for his important question. Of course, the Hon. Justin Hanson is legally qualified himself and represented very diligently for many years workers through the Australian Workers' Union using those legal skills that he has gained. I am pleased to share that international lawyers day was celebrated recently, marked on the second Tuesday in April each year.

More affectionately known as International Be Kind To Lawyers Day—a very important day—it was first started to combat unwarranted negative perceptions of some in the legal profession.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: There is much laughter in here, but it might just be that politicians might just be that profession which has an unwarranted, less positive perception even than lawyers. The day provides a chance for people to formally show their appreciation for the often challenging and important work that lawyers do.

Many historians account the very basis of the western legal profession, as we know it today, as starting in ancient Greece and Rome, where the world's first lawyers were essentially those who were orators and became advocates for people. The first known legal decision was thought to be recorded in about 1850 BC. However, many civilisations all over the world have had millennia of making legal decisions. First Nations cultures, including the longest surviving First Nations culture in the world, our own in Australia, has a very long history of making decisions about how people interact and the punishments for transgressions of those.

The South Australian western legal profession, as we know it today, kicked off in 1837 when Justice Jeffcott admitted three Englishmen to practise as barristers, solicitors and attorneys, and following that in 1879 the Law Society was formed and only eight people turned up to consider a ballot of members. The profession has grown very substantially since then.

In 1911, the Female Practitioners Act passed parliament, which allowed for women to practise in South Australian law courts and, happily, South Australia's first female lawyer, Mary Kitson, was admitted to practise at the South Australian bar in 1917. Since then, the profession has come a long way and grown significantly, with Australia's legal profession, importantly, now made up of more than 50 per cent women.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the South Australians who work in our legal profession, as well as those who have formerly worked in our profession, and also encourage those who aspire to practise one day to do so. In particular, I wish to thank all the diligent and hardworking lawyers within the public sector, particularly those within my department working in areas such as the Crown Solicitor's Office and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions who do a fantastic job day in and day out, representing the state in a whole range of challenging and significant matters.

I also want to acknowledge organisations such as the Law Society and the Bar Association, the Women's Lawyers Association and the many other organisations within South Australia that provide a supportive community and an advocacy space for those who practise. Happy international lawyers day to all. May we have to deal with them irregularly in our everyday lives, but we always appreciate them, and I encourage all to be kind to lawyers.