The Regulatory Systems (Occupational Regulation) Amendment Bill 2026 was passed last week
The Lawyers Complaints Service (LCS) has rolled out a process for the administrative triaging of complaints after the Regulatory Systems (Occupational Regulation) Amendment Bill 2026 was passed last week.
The LCS will concentrate on substantive concerns and on complaints necessitating a complete investigation. The body may determine whether no further action should be taken on a complaint based on the fulfilment of at least one of the relevant criteria outlined in the bill.
The criteria are listed as follows:
The LCS will not just consider the amount of time that has passed, but it will consider difficulties in investigating a complaint due to a significant time gap, the supposed conduct’s seriousness, the parties’ current circumstances and reasons for delay.
This refers to complaints involving minor matters or unrealistic claims. In determining the triviality of a complaint, the LCS may look into a complaint’s subjective importance to an applicant.
Frivolous complaints refer to those with no significant purpose or value, no great prospect of success and rest on trivial and unrealistic facts. Vexatious complaints refer to baseless claims, and complaints not made in good faith refer to those that are dishonest or those with a collateral purpose behind their progress.
An affected party may not necessarily be the complainant, but someone for whom the complaint was filed. The LCS may still opt to refer a matter to a standards committee, and the committee would have the option to determine whether an own motion inquiry should be launched if a matter is regarded as serious.
Complainants may not necessarily be a lawyer’s clients, but they must prove that their complaint seeks to do more than uphold the profession’s standards. Personal connections may be confirmed through consequences for the complainant of the conduct complained of, or the remedy sought, the Law Society said.
These remedies do not only cover remedies from the lawyer responding to the complaint or those obtained through the LCA’s complaints system – they may also include approaches to trustees or estates and Privacy Act 2020-related remedies.
In matters involving a lawyer’s conduct in tribunal or court proceedings, an alternative remedy may take the form of approaching the decision maker or of an appeal.
If none of the criteria apply to a complaint, then it must be brought to a lawyers standards committee that will oversee the matter moving forward.
The Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 changes were strongly supported by the Law Society after they were presented to the profession in 2022. The legal regulator is set to publish guidance on the new triage grounds and their application.
