There’s nothing like strapping into a Dash 8 for a two-and-a-half-hour flight to bring home just how large this state is and the remoteness of NSW’s westernmost major town, Broken Hill. It’s so far west, the community of 17,000 people runs on South Australian time.

Along with Law Society CEO Kenneth Tickle and key staff, I travelled to Broken Hill a little over a week ago to join the local profession and senior representatives from Legal Aid NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service, for a practitioners’ roundtable to discuss the challenges facing justice in the Far West.

Broken Hill is served by 15 solicitors. Fewer than a handful of those are in private practice and only one of those regularly practises in crime. Their catchment population is around 30,000 people occupying roughly 160,000 square kilometres. As Law Society Journal Associate Editor Karl Hoerr observed in an article about the visit, that area “is a little under half the size of Germany”.

No imagination is needed to realise the potential consequences to the administration of justice. Some accused people can be left with no choice but to represent themselves.

The main issues for the profession in Broken Hill are attracting and retaining solicitors and inadequate court infrastructure, which can often result in solicitors conferencing clients in the open air outside court.

Recruitment is a challenge, but practice in a small community can expose solicitors to a much broader range of work than they might experience in the city. This can be particularly beneficial for early career lawyers. The Law Council of Australia’s proposal for a HELP/HECS relief scheme to attract solicitors to regional and remote locations is also worthy of serious consideration.

The Law Society has a long-established commitment to advocating for better court resourcing across the state. We have the benefit of being a trusted voice of the profession to government and heads of jurisdiction. I’m privileged to exercise that voice on behalf of all 42,000 solicitors in NSW, including those upholding the justice system in Broken Hill.

I thank President of the Far West Regional Law Society Steven Wright and members for their hospitality and look forward to advancing the ideas discussed at the Roundtable.

While at Broken Hill, I was honoured to be invited along with Mayor Tom Kennedy, to a session at the City Library to participate in a toddlers’ Rhyme Time session to draw attention to my President’s Charity for 2024, United Way Australia (UWA).

UWA delivers Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Australia; a program that provides a free, age-appropriate book a month to children in participating areas from birth to five years of age. At our President’s Charity launch in Tamworth last month, we highlighted research that shows the program achieving remarkable results for early childhood literacy.

I encourage members to support UWA and the important and effective work they do. See my President’s Charity video here. The full research paper is available here.

Brett McGrath, President, Law Society of NSW