Editing Barrister (section)

===Australia===
[[File:M Battye.jpg|[[Margaret Battye]], 1930s Australian court dress|thumb]]
In the Australian states of [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and [[Queensland]], there is a split profession. Nevertheless, subject to conditions, barristers can accept direct access work from clients. Each state Bar Association regulates the profession and essentially has the functions of the English Inns of Court. In the states of [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], as well as the [[Australian Capital Territory]], the professions of barrister and solicitor are fused, but an independent bar nonetheless exists, regulated by the Legal Practice Board of the state or territory. In [[Tasmania]] and the [[Northern Territory]], the profession is fused, although a very small number of practitioners operate as an independent bar.

Generally, counsel dress in the traditional English manner (wig, gown, bar jacket and [[jabot (neckwear)|jabot]]) before superior courts, although this is not usually done for interlocutory applications. Wigs and robes are still worn in the Supreme Court and the District Court in civil matters and are dependent on the judicial officer's attire. Robes and wigs are worn in all criminal cases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nswbar.asn.au/docs/professional/attire_state.php |title=NSWbar.asn.au |publisher=NSWbar.asn.au |access-date=2012-03-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316140122/http://www.nswbar.asn.au/docs/professional/attire_state.php |archive-date=2012-03-16 }}</ref> In Western Australia, wigs are no longer worn in any court.

Each year, the Bar Association appoints certain barristers of seniority and eminence to the rank of "Senior Counsel" (in most States and Territories) or "King's Counsel" (in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia). Such barristers carry the title "SC" or "KC" after their name. The appointments are made after a process of consultation with members of the profession and the judiciary. Senior Counsel appear in particularly complex or difficult cases. They make up about 14 per cent of the bar in New South Wales.