Background: Being ‘dementia capable’ means professionals have the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary to work effectively with people living with dementia and those who support them. Dementia capability has mainly been explored in health and aged care workforces. A research project undertaken in 2023 aimed to explicate the attributes of a dementia capable legal professional.

Method: A two-round Delphi process involved lawyers and people with lived experience of dementia. In-depth interviews explored a preliminary set of dementia capable attributes, developed from literature and prior related research. A survey was then used to achieve consensus on an updated and expanded set of attribute statements.

Results: Participants were: 22 lawyers from across Australia, mainly specialists in elder law/wills and estates; and 17 people who live with dementia or support someone with a diagnosis. Participants endorsed attributes of a dementia capable lawyer across five categories: knowledge; legal rights and risks; capacity; communication; and advocacy. The presentation will discuss key attributes in each category, noting areas of agreement revealed through the Delphi process, as well as areas of contention. Notably, supported decision-making for a client with cognitive disability emerged as a thorny issue for practitioners. Participants with lived experience emphasised the need for strengths-based approaches for any professional working with clients with dementia.

Implications: The implications of the study will be discussed in the context of Australia's National Dementia Action Plan. Building dementia capable workforces is a priority objective in the Plan, intended as a ten-year roadmap to a more dementia-inclusive Australian society.