Dementia Capability for the Legal Profession

Project Member(s): Ries, N.

Funding or Partner Organisation: National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC ACCORD)
National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC ACCORD)

Start year: 2022

Summary: This project proposes to investigate what it means for legal practitioners to be ‘dementia-capable.’ The major research activity will be a Delphi process that involves legal practitioners and people with lived experience of dementia. Participants will share views to reach agreement on the attributes of a dementia-capable legal practitioner and strategies to support practitioners in attaining those attributes. The research will be significant in advancing professional and scholarly discourse in an under-examined area, and in producing recommendations for positive impacts on policy and practice. The project builds from a current pilot project, Evaluation of online ‘dementia-capable’ training for legal professionals (PRO21-13268). The project will culminate in a scholarly journal article, a publicly accessible summary report and a national webinar to share the outcomes.

Publications:

Ries, N 2025, 'Dementia Capability for Legal Professionals', Australian Journal of Dementia Care, vol. 14, no. 1.

Ries, N & Donner, K University of Technology Sydney 2024, Dementia Capability for the Legal Profession, Sydney.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

FOR Codes: Legal processes, Legal practice, lawyering and the legal profession

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.