She, along with eight other new appointees, join existing Respect@Work Council members, including representatives from the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia.

In a statement, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC said: “The new appointments deliver on the government’s commitment to strengthen the Respect@Work Council with permanent membership for business and unions, alongside representatives from government and civil society.

“These new appointments implement the outcome of the Jobs and Skills Summit to ‘strengthen the Respect@Work Council by giving business and unions a permanent seat at the table, along with government and civil society to support women’s safety and respect at work’.

“I would also like to thank [the] chair of the council, sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins, for her tireless efforts to address workplace sexual harassment.”

Ms Marrone is currently a barrister at Flinders Chambers, an employment and discrimination-focused chambers in Adelaide, South Australia. She is also the president of Australian Women Lawyers (AWL).

AWL congratulated Ms Marrone on her appointment, saying it is a “well-earned position reflective of Leah and AWL’s strong advocacy and policy work in this area over many years”.

“Leah Marrone excelled in her industrial relations and labour law studies during her degrees at the University of Adelaide; she was also actively involved in the establishment of the Young Worker’s Legal Service in South Australia, recognising a gap in representative services for vulnerable young people enabling their rights in challenging unfair and unlawful dismissals, underpayments, and discrimination at work. Leah has then spent a large amount of time in the last 15 years working in employment, industrial and discrimination law and being an advocate, in particular, for women’s rights at work,” AWL outlined.

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“Over the last decade, Leah has been involved with Australian Women Lawyers Ltd and the Women Lawyers Association of SA and has served as president of both organisations as well as in a number of other roles; throughout that time, Leah has been one of the strongest advocates across the country for cultural and systematic changes with respect to sexual harassment in the workplace.”