COVID-19 Membership Renewal Support Package Announced

Dear Member

The Law Society values your membership and appreciates the many financial challenges you may be experiencing as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. We have therefore been hard at work to provide a “one off” special COVID-19 support package for WA's legal profession.

Your COVID-19 Support Package

As Western Australia's peak association for legal professionals, the Law Society has put together the following support package to enable you to remain a member whilst aiming to ease the financial burden of your membership fee:

• Ordinary Membership fees have been reduced by 30%.
   
• All Ordinary members renewing or joining by 31 July will have access to free CPD for the 2020/21 CPD year via CPD Freedom* for no additional cost
   
• Individuals will have the choice to pay by monthly instalments under our new payment plan option.
   
• In addition to the above, the Law Mutual Administration Levy (of $100 per practitioner) will be reduced to Nil for practitioners who are members of the Law Society of Western Australia as at the 31 December 2020 and had been members for at least three months prior to that date. Payments of the levy made for qualifying practitioners (by 15 November) will be repaid by Law Mutual after the 31 December 2020.

More details on the support package are available on our website here.

How have we been able to fund the reduction to Ordinary Membership fees for the 2020/21 Membership year?

The provision of support to Ordinary members by way of the 30% reduction to members fees will be primarily funded through accessing a portion of the Society’s cash reserves and also rationalisation of staffing costs.

Members were informed by the President on 1 April 2020 that he, the CEO and staff collectively had volunteered to reduce their hours and pay by 40% where it was possible to do so. Based on existing staffing levels, this initiative reflects a saving of $1.2m over a twelve-month period. 

Accessing capital reserves to support members has been planned and measured to ensure that the maximum membership fee support could be provided to our Ordinary Members while still maintaining the reserves required to ensure that a stable membership organisation ready to advance and grow once these challenging times pass is maintained.

While our current operations are impacted by COVID-19, our team is working to assist in reducing the financial impact and to ensure that your peak professional body is here for you at this important time and into the future. Our team has worked to stagger their hours so that we collectively are able to continue to perform the important functions of the Society via online channels, while our traditional face-to-face engagement is not presently possible.

What do you need to do to access this support?

Right now, nothing. This package will be part of the Law Society's FY2020/21 renewals process, which will commence on Monday, 25 May 2020.

We are here to support you

Dealing with the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, it's more important than ever to stay connected and engage with your community. In the weeks and months ahead, your Law Society will continue to be there for you, to provide essential services and assist wherever possible to get you through this difficult period and be even more effective in the future.

As the COVID-19 situation unfolds each day, we have made it a priority to keep our members updated about the latest developments, including those relating to the government, courts, tribunals and other relevant organisations. This information is published on a dedicated COVID-19 hub on the Society’s website at lawsocietywa.asn.au/covid-19-information-and-resources and also on our CPD pages. We encourage you to visit this useful page, as it provides valuable information and resources for the legal profession.

Despite the new challenges, the important work of the Society’s Council continues, with meetings held remotely. The Society has also taken important measures to ensure the health and wellbeing of its members, staff and other stakeholders and to enable the Society to continue to deliver essential services.

All staff are currently working remotely from home. Please feel free to contact our staff if you have any queries or concerns by emailing membership@lawsocietywa.asn.au or calling (08) 9324 8692.

We look forward to supporting you in this next year and beyond and we thank you for your continued support of the Law Society.