Our co-developed roadmap for system-level change in lawyer wellbeing is designed to guide practical action and lasting improvements to wellbeing within the legal profession.
Download the Systems Theory of Change framework here.
Around one-third of lawyers report experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress. For early career lawyers, this increases to 45 per cent. To make real and sustainable change in lawyer wellbeing, the focus for action needs to move beyond individual resilience to the system-wide drivers that are having negative impacts.
The Lawyer Wellbeing Systems Theory of Change framework builds on our existing body of research into lawyer wellbeing, and draws on the expertise and experience of Victorian lawyers to identify the system-level factors driving poor wellbeing.
Furthermore, the framework provides practical guidance on where the Victorian legal profession can focus effort to mitigate these factors and effect the biggest change.
1. Read the framework and make a plan to change within your part of the system.
The framework is available for download here. It highlights goals for change at the individual, interpersonal, organisational and sectoral levels in the short, medium and long-term. Everyone in the legal sector can play a part in achieving these outcomes. If you’re a leader in the legal profession, you have even more power to effect change.
2. Download, print and display the workplace poster.
Share the framework within your organisation by displaying the poster with QR code to find out more.
3. Follow us on LinkedIn and bookmark our website to find out about:
4. Read the full report.
You can download the full report here. Prepared by Melbourne-based experts in social research and evaluation, First Person Consulting (FPC), the full report provides a deeper understanding of the drivers of poor wellbeing, as identified by the Victorian legal profession.
Co-designing the framework in partnership with the legal sector means it’s meaningful, actionable and reflects the experiences, insights and expertise from those involved in the legal system.
We appointed FPC to set up and lead a 3-stage co-design process to capture the Victorian legal sector’s thoughts and insights. This process included:
In 2019 we launched our Lawyer Wellbeing Project with the aim of deepening our understanding of lawyers’ experience of mental health and wellbeing across their careers. We interviewed 37 people working across the profession, including law students, early career lawyers, solicitors, barristers and retired and current judicial officers, as well as those working in organisations involved in the regulation and training of legal professionals.
Poor wellbeing is a barrier to lawyers being able to do their jobs and provide access to quality legal services to Victorian consumers. This is of concern to us as the regulator of the profession.
The report makes four major findings:
Overall, research has consistently found that rates of psychological distress are relatively high across the legal profession, with rates of depression appearing to be particularly high among law students, solicitors and barristers. Behind these figures is not only a story of often profound impacts on individuals and their families, but also one of significant financial costs for employers.
Some of the suggestions for improving wellbeing included embracing more comprehensive assistance programs like those in place overseas, increased collaboration with researchers, the increased promotion of counselling and debriefing programs, reforms to court practices, improved management training and the incorporation of a focus on wellbeing into CPD requirements.
Ultimately, our aim is to work with the legal profession over the coming years to shift the conversation about lawyer wellbeing away from an emphasis on personal resilience, to highlight the systemic drivers of poor wellbeing and identify what changes might be needed to improve wellbeing outcomes.
We encourage you to read the report, which includes information about the key wellbeing issues faced by lawyers, along with suggestions for how wellbeing in the legal profession could be improved.
You can download the report here.
*Acculturate: to assimilate to a different culture, typically the dominant one.
While our report is based on semi-structured interviews with a relatively small – though diverse – group of individuals, many other studies have highlighted poor wellbeing as an issue of concern in the profession.
The interviews were conducted by VLSB+C staff using eight open-ended questions. These questions addressed interviewees’ career paths to date, the challenges they have faced and mechanisms for coping with these, their stakeholders, how they and others will evaluate their success in the near future and any other reflections on the conversation. Notes were taken from the interviews and the analysis of these notes was informed by the Framework method, which is a widely used approach to qualitative data analysis for applied research.
The themes in these interviews were analysed by Dr Michelle Brady, Research Fellow, The University of Sydney Business School, and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Melbourne.
The Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner (VLSB+C) are independent statutory authorities responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in Victoria.
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