The Bradley Review into Higher Education provides a new imperative to include so-called equity students in tertiary study. At James Cook University, a holistic LLB curriculum seeks to address a variety of challenges faced by this increasingly diverse student cohort. The authors identify the means by which our program supports students and then highlight the gap between policies of engagement and retention, and the reality of providing front line care for students. It concludes that the role of pastoral care, while imperative to achieve the bureaucratic aims of government and institution, is gendered, undervalued and misunderstood within the law school context.