The NSW Bar Association is committed to promoting excellence in advocacy among its members. In pursuit of this goal, the NSW Bar Association is delighted to be the first independent state bar to offer its members practical training in the sensitivities involved in questioning vulnerable witnesses.

The Vulnerable Witness Advocacy Training Program, offered in conjunction with the Australian Advocacy Institute, combines traditional teaching methods with a more practical and skills-based approach to advocacy training. The full-day program includes advocacy training from senior instructors in areas the Australian Royal Commission's recommended in the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The program has been designed and developed to improve the quality of evidence available in court, minimise harm for vulnerable people, and ensure procedural fairness for all parties involved in the trial process. The workshop encourages advocates towards a greater understanding of the fundamental principles behind the approach to, and questioning of, vulnerable people. Continual professional development in this area is strongly recommended. 

To demonstrate the NSW Bar Associations commitment to and recognition of the importance of this training, the workshop will be provided at a subsidised rate to all NSW Practising Certificate holders.