Thought leadership 2011: Advancement of women in the legal profession

09 December 2011Despite the obvious success of women in all sectors of legal practice there is wide recognition that barriers or impediments to the advancement of women in the profession continue to exist.

The number of women solicitors practising in NSW has grown by 452% since 1988, and women now make up 46% of the profession. However, despite this rapid equalisation in the male to female ratio, change has been slower to reach the ranks of partners and principals.

In late 2010, the Law Society Council decided that identifying those barriers should become the focus of the Law Society's major thought leadership initiative for 2011.  This project was championed by the 2011 President, Stuart Westgarth.

The report and recommendations arising from this project were officially released at on Thursday 1 December 2011.

Other documents

This project gained momentum due to statistics available on women in the legal profession since 1988. 

Also available are key themes we explored as part of this project.

Other organisations are undertaking similar projects both in Australia and internationally.  In particular, we would like to draw attention to the Equitable Briefing Policy prepared by The Law Council of Australia.

Noticeboard

03 May 2012

Strengthen our voice - take part in the Australian Community Sector Survey

There's just under two weeks to go for Victoria's community sector organisations to help us provide an authentic snapshot of the state of demand for services in the state.

22 March 2012

The Attorney-General's Department has launched a new inquiry to explore the scope for reforming Australian contract law. There will be a three-month consultation period.

07 March 2012

In May 2011 the Federal Government announced that the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) would commence operations from 1 July 2012 and that it would initially be responsible for determining the legal status of groups seeking charitable, public benevolent institution, and other not-for-profit (NFP) benefits on behalf of all Commonwealth agencies.