The potential changes would:

1. Introduce Regulation 10A, a new ‘purpose provision’ that would specify the purpose of the Register.
2. Enable the Law Society to restrict public access to ‘specified information’ about a lawyer, in order to protect the lawyer’s privacy or personal safety. ‘Specified information’ would be defined in regulation 10C(4) as information that is specified in regulation 10B(1)(b) and (c): the lawyer’s work address, and their phone number at the work address. Regulation 10C(3) would provide that access to specified information could be restricted if the lawyer asks the Law Society to restrict access, if permitting access would be likely to result in physical or mental harm to the lawyer or someone with whom they reside.
3. Introduce Regulation 10D, which would specify the purposes for which the Register may be searched. Searches in breach of Regulation 10D would be treated, for the purposes of Parts 52 and 63 of the Privacy Act 2020, as having breached an information privacy principle under section 69(2)(a)(i) of that Act.

Consultation closed on 9 October 2022.