get help
Practice at the bar is unquestionably stressful. Barristers manage stress with varying degrees of success. BarCare is an independent professional counselling service designed to assist members of the New South Wales Bar to manage stress-related problems, such as marital breakdowns, drug or alcohol dependency and practice pressures.
Bar Cover
BarCover has provided sickness and accident insurance for barristers for over 45 years. It is managed by a trustee company whose directors are practising barristers. It is not administered by the Bar Association.
Benevolent Association
Every year there are barristers who encounter personal misfortune and require assistance. The Barristers' Benevolent Association responds to calls for assistance without formality and without delays.
get involved
Social events
The Bar Association fosters collegiality through the Bench & Bar Dinner, the Tutors & Readers Dinner, 15 Bobbers and other events.
Sporting and recreational events
The Bar Association encourages members to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle through education and by providing the opportunity to participate in organised sporting, social and recreational activities, such as: football, golf, tennis, chess and sailing.
The Wellbeing Committee
Our aim is to encourage members of the NSW Bar to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle through education and by providing the opportunity and encouragement to participate in organised sporting, social and recreational activities. The following list of activities is designed to be a work in progress. It includes pursuits in the name of the Bar, as well as those in which members of the Bar participate in teams and as individuals.
TJMF guidelines for chambers
The Bar Association is a signatory to the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation’s
Psychological Wellbeing: Best Practice Guidelines. We have adapted the TJMF Guidelines for use in barristers chambers. Learn more here .
vicarious trauma
Many barristers regularly deal in their professional lives with distressing subject-matter: murder, sexual assault, catastrophic injuries, mental illness, the abuse of children and more. Vicarious trauma is a phenomenon which is now well-recognised. The Bar Association hosted a CPD seminar on 7 March 2017. View the seminar here [login required].