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Charter for Advancement of Women now open to Victorian legal workplaces
The Victorian legal profession can now access a charter that promotes not only the attraction and retention of more female practitioners but also their advancement into leadership positions. At the same time, legal workplaces can use the charter as a guide for recognising and responding to sexual harassment and bullying.
Naomi Neilson
The Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) has adopted the NSW Law Society’s Charter for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession following its overwhelming support from more than 300 signatories. The charter will be available to all Victorian firms, employers, and institutions across the profession and within the justice sector.
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Commenting on the state’s important steps towards addressing gender inequality, LIV president Tania Wolff said the charter is a demonstration of the institute’s commitment to advancing women in the legal profession and providing more avenues for members to articulate and demonstrate their support.
“If we are to maintain the trust and confidence of the community and remain relevant, the legal profession must reflect the community it serves,” Ms Wolff said. “Key to that being achieved is for legal practices and workplaces to be fair, inclusive, and safe.”
The charter promotes and supports strategies to retain women from all backgrounds in the profession over the course of their careers and provides practical guidance on steps that firms can take. One of those barriers is sexual harassment, as identified in this years’ Review of Sexual Harassment in Victorian Courts.
The review, conducted by Dr Helen Szoke in March this year, found harassment is an “open secret” in the Victorian legal profession. It followed on the heels of the Respect@Work report led by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins which showed a third of Australians have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Given the prevalence of the issue, LIV is making available to all members a Sexual Harassment Framework Policy and Model Template to assist firms that do not already have a policy in place. This model calls for a zero-tolerance approach towards sexual harassment and seeks to support vulnerable employees.
“In the past 12 months, the spotlight has been shone on behaviours and attitudes that persist in our profession and must be stamped out. The charter and model policy take us on important and significant steps to ensuring that our workplaces attract, support, and retain lawyers from across our diverse community,” Ms Wolff said.
CEO Adam Awty added that the profession has continued to hear about sexual harassment, discrimination, and a lack of female leadership along with promises to change but it was time to put the commitment to doing so into action.
“It’s time for all, but particularly men, to accept that regardless of gender, race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation, a diverse profession is a richer profession. This issue is not for women to solve on their own. We must ensure women in the profession have a voice, and then listen,” Mr Awty said.
“It’s time to challenge our professional and organisational norms, to speak up and take action. I urge all members to consider adopting the LIV model policy if they don’t already have one. I also urge firms and employers to become signatories to the Charter for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession because without gender equality, we won’t have workplaces free of sexual harassment.”
