Improving barristers' wellness

More needs to be done, both by those at the Bar and the legal profession more broadly, to manage the idiosyncratic wellbeing issues faced by barristers – including, but not limited to, moving beyond performative, awareness-raising conversations about barristers' experiences.

In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Melbourne-based barrister Dr Michelle Sharpe about her two decades at the Bar and what she's learnt, her perceptions about barristers' wellness across the board, whether the Bar is lagging behind private practice, and moving beyond box-ticking exercises.

Sharpe also reflects on her concerns about wellness conversations not being conducted in the most productive ways possible, pushback experienced when trying to advance specific wellness conversations, the flow-on consequences for barristers' wellness not being at optimal levels, how the whole profession can better cater to barristers' wellness needs, and why she is cautiously optimistic that the Bar can move forward constructively.