Clayton Utz chief executive partner Bruce Cooper said that the rigour around how employers are assessed to achieve gold status showed the firm was making good progress on LGBTIQ inclusion.

“Being seen as a leader in this area is important to me and to our leadership team. Given what we are seeing in the world now, inclusion – in all its forms – matters more than ever. We will continue to make diversity and inclusion a priority as an employer and as a member of the business community,” he said.

David Wilkie, co-chair of the LGBTIQ program, told Lawyers Weekly that having an LGBTIQ inclusion program is important on so many fronts, particularly for the legal profession in its position of privilege and influence in society. 

“It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s about respect,” he said.

“We want everyone who works for us to feel included, appreciated for who they are, and confident in bringing their true selves to work. During COVID-19, it has a heightened importance. We are all different and work differently and we need to respect that in how we support people.”

Yet building a sustainable and effective D&I program in the legal profession is challenging.

Research has shown that Australian companies, government organisations and charities are wasting millions of dollars on diversity and inclusion programs, with human resources professionals conceding that nearly a third of initiatives designed to promote a more balanced workplace are either never or rarely effective.

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A survey by the Diversity Council also found that only 25 per cent of diversity programs are working effectively.

Clayton Utz told Lawyers Weekly it had taken years of work and effort to build a sustainable and leading program.

“Our program was created through lots of hard work and discretionary effort, and a ‘glass half full’ approach – always striving to be better in wanting our people to have a unique and rich cultural experience,” Mr Wilkie said.

This included consistent support from the firm’s leadership team, where a commitment to D&I has been critical. 

“We’ve also focused on engaging and educating our people in a curious and authentic way, including building a strong LGBTIQ Ally base (around 35 per cent of our people are active LGBTIQ Allies), and creating a sense of genuine pride in our program,” he said.

Mr Wilkie said that specifically in respect of LGBTIQ inclusion, they have used the Pride In Diversity AWEI benchmark tool as a roadmap for the firm’s program and initiatives.

Clayton Utz told Lawyers Weekly that they had achieved quantitative and qualitative D&I targets set for the year. 

“Becoming a Gold Employer for LGBTI inclusion again this year was most certainly a ‘target’ for us,” Mr Wilkie said.

“We knew the bar had been lifted higher by Pride in Diversity so we invested time across all parts of the business to improve how people felt and were engaged.”

Looking ahead for D&I in the legal profession 

As the legal profession looks to the future, diversity and inclusion remain a topic across the legal industry.

The NSW Law Society research suggested that law firms that maintain and value diversity and have a culture of inclusion are able to recruit and retain high-performing staff, improve productivity and performance and increase organisational competitiveness and growth.

They measured it would be the first comprehensive business case for diversity and inclusion for law firms and organisations that employ legal practitioners.

Catherine Macarounas lawyer at Clayton Utz said that diversity and inclusion are definitely a priority in the legal profession and law firms are really demonstrating their commitment to D&I rather than just using it as an HR tick-the-box exercise or as a marketing tool.

“While the profession has made significant progress in the areas of LGBTIQ+ and [women], there are some areas – such as cultural diversity and disability diversity for example – where we can improve,” Ms Macarounas said.

“It is very positive however to have seen a shift in attitudes and practices and I hope to see this momentum continue so that law firms in Australia can reflect the cultural richness of our community.”

Ms Macarounas said that in the future, a focus on recognising intersectionality in the D&I space could be seen as people don’t generally identify with, or fit into, only one area of diversity. 

Yet the legal professions’ next generation is already stepping up and taking the lead in expressing what they want and see as their vision for a truly diverse and inclusive workplace, according to Ms Macarounas.

“That augurs well for a much more diverse profession in years to come, especially in conjunction with strong leadership as David mentioned above,” she said.

“I also see more members of the profession in the future – as many do now – using their experience and skills to change people’s lives through advocating for changes to the law to support D&I in all aspects of Australian life.”