National Legal Aid and the Bugmy Bar Book are pleased to announce a formal partnership that will commence on 1 April 2026. This will include National Legal Aid providing financial support for the Bugmy Bar Book up to June 2030.
National Legal Aid are proud to support the work of the Bugmy Bar Book with the common aim of supporting trauma informed and culturally safe services, decisions and outcomes in the legal sector. National Legal Aid will work to further embed the Bugmy Bar Book across Australia.
Our partnership comes together after sector wide consultation and support.
This is a momentous step for the Bugmy Bar Book as we embark upon the next chapter with the support of a sustainable national organisation that is grounded in fairness and equality in the legal sector and focuses on supporting people experiencing disadvantage, including First Nations communities.
The Bugmy Bar Book is founded upon the principles in the seminal High Court case of Bugmy v The Queen and named after consultation and with permission of William Bugmy and his nominated family.
The Bugmy Bar Book provides free, up-to-date, practical and accessible resources to support decision-makers, lawyers, mental health professionals and service providers understand the impacts of adverse early life experiences and the impact of trauma, inequality and systemic barriers. The resources are created with leading legal experts, psychologists, academics and researchers and are used by report writers, lawyers, and members of the judiciary and other decision makers. The use of the resources informs better decisions and outcomes, improving justice for all people coming before the courts.
The Bugmy Bar Book acknowledges with gratitude the significant contribution of funding from the Paul Ramsay Foundation over the past three years, and the organisations who have provided auspicing of the project during that time, including the Justice and Equity Centre and the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT.
The Bugmy Bar Book also acknowledges the extraordinary contribution of the committee members who founded the project and are comprised of representatives of key justice agencies and courts across Australia, senior legal academics and members of the private legal profession and impact organisations.
Rebecca McMahon
Richard Wilson
Co-Chairs
Bugmy Bar Book Committee
Kimberley Hamer
Chair, National Legal Aid
First Nations Advisory Group
Annmarie Lumsden
Chair, National Legal Aid
