Speech given by the Hon Justice Emilios Kyrou AO at the Launch of the 2025 Victorian Bar Diversity Internship Program in Melbourne, 2 October 2025

Introduction

I wish to congratulate all of the organisations which support the diversity internship program. It is a wonderful program which provides opportunities for law students from under-represented culturally and racially marginalised backgrounds to work within six institutions which are at the heart of the administration of justice in Victoria. 

I was involved with a similar program several years ago when I was a judge of the Supreme Court. That program was focused on indigenous law students. I remember that the students enjoyed the interaction they had with judges and court staff. Some said that they were pleasantly surprised to discover that judges were down to earth and accessible. 

That discovery may sound simple. However, it underscores one of the most important benefits of these types of programs. They demonstrate that courts and tribunals are not distant and isolated, but accessible, and that the people who work within them are personable and often have similar interests to them.

The reason why this is an important benefit is that there are relatively few lawyers from minority groups to act as role models and mentors for law students from those groups.  In the absence of role models, a law student from a marginalised community may feel overwhelmed by the process of becoming a lawyer and may start to doubt whether they can complete all of the steps required and then succeed in practising law. Such self-doubt can become so intense that it can result in withdrawal from legal studies. 

The ability to talk to someone from a similar cultural background who has successfully navigated the process, and to learn from them how they did so, can often serve as a very powerful motivation to persevere.

The ability of law students to identify with inspirational lawyers with a similar cultural heritage or migrant history as their own can fortify their self-confidence. Acceptance of the simple truth that, if he or she can do it, so can I, can provide a very powerful incentive to try your very best and strive for professional excellence.

But, back to my topic. I am here to make some brief remarks about the importance of diversity in the legal profession.

Meaning of diversity

Until the Second World War, most barristers and solicitors in Australia were male, had Anglo-Celtic backgrounds, were either Protestants or Catholics, and attended private schools. Back then, women, individuals with different or no religious beliefs, individuals who attended government schools and everybody else, could be described as belonging to a minority group within the legal profession. 

Since the Second World War, there has been a gradual growth in the number of women, individuals who had migrated to Australia from countries other than the United Kingdom and Ireland, individuals of diverse religious faiths, and individuals from government schools entering the legal profession.

But it was not easy for them. The senior members of the legal profession such as partners of major law firms and senior counsel at the Bar continued to be predominantly privately educated men with an Anglo-Celtic background. The opportunities for women and individuals who migrated from countries other than the United Kingdom and Ireland were more limited, both in terms of the law firms that were willing to employ them and the type of work that they were able to perform. 

The opportunities for women, individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds, and individuals from government schools looking to enter the legal profession have improved in the past three decades. In part, this has been due to the globalisation of legal practice and the emergence of large law firms with offices throughout Australia and other parts of the world. Those firms require lawyers with diverse backgrounds to meet their clients’ diverse needs. In this environment, it is in the interests of law firms to recruit lawyers based purely on merit rather than other considerations.

I will confine my remarks to cultural diversity in the legal profession. I will use the term ‘culture’ loosely to embrace ethnicity, religion and cultural identity.

Hellenic lawyers

It may be of interest for me to give you some insights into the experience of lawyers with a Greek or Hellenic background.

About 10 years ago, I conducted some research on the history of Greeks entering the Australian legal profession. My research showed that until the 1980s, only a small number of lawyers in Australia had Greek backgrounds. I also discovered that quite a number of them anglicised their names because they perceived that their foreign sounding names might be a professional disadvantage. 

Let me give you some examples. According to a book written by Hugh Gilchrist, the first  Hellenic Australian lawyer to be admitted in Australia was Constantine Servetopoulos. He was admitted in 1924 in New South Wales. He practised under the name of C. Don Service between 1945 and 1956. The original family surname of a prominent Melbourne silk, Dr Clifford Pannam, was either Panayiotopoulos or Panamopoulos.

You get the picture. I am pleased to say that, these days, Hellenic lawyers are generally more confident about their position in the legal profession and tend to practise under their own original name rather than feeling compelled to anglicise it. 

Why is diversity in the legal profession important?

The answer to this question is very simple. Australia is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. According to the 2021 Australian Census, 48.2% of people completing the census – that is nearly half – had at least one parent who was born overseas. There are obvious benefits to the individuals concerned and the community as a whole, if the composition of important institutions such as the 3 branches of Government, the professions and other service providers, reflects Australia’s demographic profile.

At a general level, those benefits include the following:

• People tend to respect and trust institutions more if they feel that the institutions understand them, and respond to them in a culturally inclusive manner that takes into account their diverse needs.
• Institutions and service providers with members who speak the language of the people they serve are more accessible than those who do not, and are able to provide a better service.
• People who have suffered discrimination, violence or other forms of trauma before coming to Australia may be reluctant to seek assistance from organisations unless they feel that assistance can be provided in a culturally safe environment.

More particularly, in relation to the legal profession, the benefits of cultural diversity include:

• Enhanced community confidence in the accessibility and responsiveness of the legal system, because minority groups can be represented by lawyers from their cultural group, who they feel can understand their needs.
• Lawyers from minority cultural groups are likely to better represent clients from those groups, particularly if they speak their language. Those lawyers are more likely to understand cultural and language nuances when taking instructions from their clients and are often better placed to provide advice that is not only legally correct but also culturally relevant and sensitive. This includes advice regarding the settlement of disputes in ways that may be seen to be culturally acceptable, such as by being framed in a manner that saves face for both parties.
• Lawyers from minority groups are able to provide an organised and articulate voice for their communities. As educated professionals, they can act as champions for their cultural groups, including by defending them from misinformation and attacks based on stereotypes.
• Lawyers from culturally diverse groups are well placed to raise law reform and practice and procedure issues with courts, governments and other institutions. That is because they are likely to have expertise on issues uniquely affecting their communities. For example, an indigenous lawyer is in an ideal position to identify issues of a legal nature that affect the indigenous community and to make representations to institutions that have power to address those issues.

Today, there are a large number of associations of lawyers which represent many minority groups within the profession. They include associations with membership criteria based upon:

• The members’ geographical origins, such as the Asian Australian Lawyers Association and the African Australian Legal Network.
• The members’ particular attributes, such as the Disabled Australian Lawyers Association.
• The members’ religion, such as the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, the Melbourne Catholic Lawyers’ Association and the Muslim Legal Network.
• The members’ cultural identity, such as the Tarwirri-Indigenous Law Students and Lawyers Association of Victoria, the Australian Italian Lawyers Association, the French Australian Lawyers Association and the Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association.

Culture based associations of lawyers offer their members the opportunity to mix with professional colleagues in a manner that acknowledges their heritage and supports them in their vocation. The support they provide is in the form of opportunities to mentor or be mentored by other lawyers with similar backgrounds, to make or receive referrals of work, to advocate on behalf of their community, to establish friendships and to engage in networking. Networking offers many benefits, including enhancement of one’s profile and employment opportunities.

Concluding comments for interns

Finally, let me make some observations directed at the interns who are present.

You should be proud of your cultural heritage and should not hesitate to express it. At all times, you should believe in yourself. If you work hard and are good at what you do, you should not hold yourself back by any feelings of inferiority based on your culture or other personal attributes. 

I hasten to add that self-belief does not mean that you should aim to achieve your professional goals alone and in isolation. If you adopt this approach, you are likely to hamper your professional advancement. You are better off seeking assistance from mentors, being inspired by people you regard as good role models and by taking advantage of networking opportunities.

Working in the legal profession is stressful and it is easy to become anxious about mistakes you have made or other difficulties that you encounter. Rather than suffering in silence, you should speak to someone you trust to help you resolve the issues that concern you. Often, the problems will not be as bad as you thought and the answers may be relatively simple.

You should never be afraid of taking on a challenge. Of course there are risks in taking on something new. But if you are too risk averse, you will never reach your full potential. When I was offered an appointment to the Supreme Court in 2008, it was very daunting because only one solicitor had ever been appointed directly to that Court since it was established in 1852. That solicitor was Bernard Teague, who served on the Court between 1987 and 2007. Whilst I did not underestimate the challenges ahead, I was not deterred by the fact that I would be the only judge on the Court who had not practised at the Bar and who was of Greek background.

I want to conclude with this simple message: Do not allow the fact that you are from a minority group hold you back in your pursuit of a career in the law. 

Thank you very much.