Launch of Hearsay

Martin Daubney SC, President introduced Hearsay at the recent Bar Conference.

The move to a website was intended to provide much greater scope for live interaction between all members than either a hard copy journal or the now superceded PDF bulletin could ever have hoped to achieve and the large screen displays certainly made that point!

The President, Martin Daubney SC, was on hand to extoll the many innovations of the online version of the publication and emphasised its interactive features.

The first edition was well received at the Launch and, since then, it has proven to be a great success.

The website has attracted thousands of ‘hits’ in its first month of publication, both from the ranks of our members as well as from members of the legal profession throughout Australia. Its permanent presence on the Web has also seen it being accessed by hundreds of ‘browsers’ from other countries, with the United Kingdom and the USA being the most prominent of these. 

The Hon Paul de Jersey AC, Chief Justice, the Hon Kerry Shine MP, Attorney-General, and  Martin Daubney SC, President of the Bar Association.

The Forum hosted its first debate of substance – concerning the ethical rule regarding the disclosure of previous convictions – and, since the Launch, the Forum has had almost 2000 ‘page views’.

A post-publication innovation – a Breaking News section – was used to alert members to the Forum debate, and it is a feature that will be used increasingly in the future.

A Straw Poll was conducted with respect to the first edition. It asked, ‘What do you think of our new online journal?’. Over 70 members took the time to respond; 63 regarded it as ‘excellent’, 7 thought it was ‘good’ and one poor soul was ‘underwhelmed’. Overall, a very encouraging response.

  The Hon Kerry Shine MP, Attorney-General

Otherwise, feedback left on the Forum was also encouraging:

“I think the new Hearsay website is a fantastic innovation and I congratulate all concerned with its production. This tool enables all of us to be as up to date as possible with any important changes/developments and the forum facility allows for interaction of barristers throughout the State which can only enhance the collegiate objective of the Bar.”

“I also think the new website is great.  It has a lot of interesting material, and is very well set out.  It looks like it has taken a lot of time and effort, but it has been worthwhile.”

“The conversion to a website is a great step. This important publication is now even easier to navigate. Hearsay makes a great contribution to the Bar on practical legal issues and it keeps us up to date with current developments in the law and the profession. Keep up the good work.”