The LIV will this week (9 November) hold the first event in its Disability Employment Series to encourage the legal profession to employ more lawyers with a disability and to urge legal employers to think about disability and create a disability-friendly culture.

The LIV's Disability Action Plan and Strategy to Increase Recruitment and Retention of Law Graduates and Lawyers Experiencing Disability will also be launched at the event.

LIV councillor Stuart Webb will host the event and panelists will include Sally Bailey, national disability coordination officer; Dr Kevin Murfitt, a lecturer at Deakin University; and Jill Sears, who works in a specialist diversity role within her organisation.

In 2009, an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey found that almost 20 per cent of the population reported having some sort of disability, ranging from mental health issues to physical limitations.