Beyond Us Too? Regulatory Responses to Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession and A Global Directory of Anti-Discrimination Rules Within the Legal Profession: Main Findings build on the IBA’s landmark 2019 report, Us Too? highlight the prevalence of unacceptable workplace behaviour within the profession.

In a statement launching the report, IBA president and chairman and senior partner at law firm Scanlen and Holderness Sternford Moyo said it was part of an ongoing commitment for the legal profession.

“Achieving and maintaining a safe, supportive and healthy professional environment, free from inappropriate behaviour, is an ongoing undertaking. Collaboration is key to achieving positive, genuine change in this regard,” he said.

“These reports underscore the IBA’s enduring commitment to addressing bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination, which have no place in our noble profession.”

Following the release of these landmark reports, Lawyers Weekly spoke to a number of legal organisations and societies about the implications of the report for the legal profession.

President of the Law Society of South Australia Justin Stewart-Rattray said that he’s been aware “for some time” about the prevalence of harassment, discrimination and bullying in the profession.

In fact, surveys conducted by the Law Society and Law Council of Australia, reinforced by last year’s Equal Opportunity Commission Review in South Australia, highlighted these issues, and Mr Stewart-Rattray said the South Australian Law Society has developed comprehensive resources and strategies to tackle these issues.

VIEW ALL

“The Law Society’s initiatives to stamp out unacceptable work behaviour have been focused on driving cultural change, as this is the only way the root of the problem can be addressed and all workplaces can become truly inclusive. 

“Some of the Law Society’s initiatives include the establishment of a Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Working Group, which provided impetus for the development of resources, the delivery of numerous and ongoing workshops and educations sessions relating to harassment and discrimination to practitioners,” he said.

“The Law Society is also pleased that its advocacy led to SA being the first state to make it mandatory for legal practitioners to attend a CPD on bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace.  The Law Society adopted a new definition of anti-discrimination and harassment within the South Australian Legal Practitioners’ Conduct Rules which broadens the application of the conduct rule to any situation connected with legal practice.”

South Australia’s legal profession conduct commissioner now also has a dedicated, experienced employee who can be contacted by members of the profession on a confidential basis for information relating to instances of sexual harassment, which may include information about how to lay a complaint. 

“Elimination of workplace mistreatment will require an ongoing program of education and training designed to build a culture of respect and inclusivity in the profession, and to reinforce that there is absolutely no place denigrating behaviour of any kind in the profession or any workplace,” Mr Stewart-Rattray added.

“We are seeing positive cultural change within the profession and in the wider community, but will continue to be proactive in order to accelerate the changes needed.”

Similarly, Queensland Law Society (QLS) chief executive Rolf Moses said the QLS has committed to “playing a leading role in addressing appropriate workplace behaviours and workplace culture”.

“We have developed leading resources for the profession and have supported all jurisdictions in Australia implement training on Sexual Harassment and Workplace Culture. We also offer training to the profession on unconscious bias, mental health and well-being, First Nations cultural competence and resilience and are developing additional resources on trauma informed practice and domestic and family violence,” he said.

“The IBA report makes an important contribution to awareness and understanding of issues as we all work within the profession to ensure the highest standards of conduct.”

Of the respondents in the report, 70 per cent have the authority to address sexual harassment – yet only 58 per cent had taken disciplinary action in relation to sexual harassment, while 47 per cent had taken disciplinary action for bullying.

Additionally, a majority viewed sexual harassment as a top priority, with the median priority ranking for sexual harassment at seven, on a scale of one to 10. However, 80 per cent of respondents had received fewer than 20 reports of sexual harassment within the 12 months prior to the survey.

John McKenzie, NSW legal services commissioner, said he was “very glad the IBA has followed up its ground-breaking report of 2019 with this latest report.

“The issues of sexual harassment and bullying remain of the utmost importance to the legal profession and this report is a timely reminder that we must not let complacency lessen our resolve to address what is essentially a systemic cultural problem. Every member of the profession has a role to play. As a regulator, I am aware that [myself and my staff have] particularly important roles to play.

“We are pleased to have achieved the commencement of our online reporting platform a couple of months ago, in conjunction with the Law Society of NSW and the NSW Bar Association. Both professional bodies have on their websites a live link to our platform so that anyone can make an informal report anonymously, if that is their desire. I noted that the paucity of complaints received by regulators was a particular concern of the IBA in their latest report,” he added.

“The online platform provides a 24/7 confidential platform for anyone to provide us with whatever information they wish with full security encryption to guarantee confidentiality. The data posted on the platform is only accessible by my staff who have training in supportive handling of such matters. It is the start of data-mapping where unlawful behaviour is prevalent so that some preventative measures may be taken later, such as compliance audits.”

President of the Law Society of NSW Joanne van der Plaat confirmed this – and said that the society has implemented a number of other practices to support law firms’ efforts to create safe workplaces.

The Law Society of NSW has established a central portal for all resources regarding sexual harassment and commenced a roll-out of training to eliminate sexual harassment from the profession, in addition to their joint efforts with the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner and NSW Bar Association.

As the International Bar Association’s report concludes, “there is no place for bullying or sexual harassment in the legal profession … Every member of the legal profession has a responsibility, an obligation, to contribute to this positive change’,” Ms van der Plaat said.

“We welcome this report, led by an active member of our diversity and inclusion committee Mr Kieran Pender. We look forward to continuing to assist firms to provide safe workplaces.”