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CPD point for sex harassment training needed
Mandated training for workplace misconduct — such as sexual harassment and bullying — as well as practising certificate declarations are necessary to help reduce the rates of such misconduct, argues Australian Women Lawyers.
Jerome Doraisamy
In a position paper issued last week to various legal advocacy groups and member associations — including the Law Council of Australia, Australian Bar Association and the state and territory law societies — Australian Women Lawyers submitted that compulsory continuing professional development points, or compulsory training, should be implemented to proactively combat sexual harassment and bullying.
“We consider that the training must be also part of the Practical Legal Training courses, and any specialist training, or mandatory training course completed by practitioners, including barristers and judicial officers,” AWL said.
“Broadly speaking, the education program should be designed to provide participants with information regarding best practice in achieving an equitable workplace free of discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation.”
For such training to be effective, AWL continued, it must: be mandatory or free, be in place for at least five years with a review to follow, include training on actions that can and should be taken by bystanders, and be broader “than simply restating the law, understanding in particular the context of gender discriminations and biases at play”.
In addition, AWL recommended that individual lawyers have an annual written undertaking acknowledging that they understand their obligations.
“We suggest practitioners tick a box on their practising certificate renewal stating: ‘I am aware of my obligations under the [insert list of applicable sexual harassment, discrimination and anti-bullying policies and rules for the state/territory] policies and have sought to comply with them throughout the year’,” it suggested.
This particular submission pertains primarily to organisations that ensure the renewal of practising certificates, AWL noted; “however, [it] could be adopted by individual firms in performance reviews or at other times”.
“This would keep the issue front of mind and reinforce the weightiness of the obligations for lawyers to comply with their professional obligations in this area. Similarly, to the suggested mandatory CPD point, the need for this could be reviewed after five or 10 years.”
The position paper was penned in the wake of the Us Too? report from the International Bar Association, which found that levels of sexual harassment and bullying in Australia’s legal profession “were among the highest across the globe”.
This is “appalling”, AWL surmised.
“As officers of the court and as professionals, we are obliged to act ethically and legally in all of our dealings, including with each other. It is time for actions tailored to the needs of our profession; to this end, we are proposing a series of strategies for the broader profession to facilitate this long-overdue cultural change.”
Lawyers Weekly covered the Us Too? report, including that bullying and sexual harassment is “rife” in the Australian legal profession; that respondents at workplaces with training in place are more likely to have reported incidents of bullying and are more likely to have used internal workplace channels to do so, giving rise to a perception paradox; and that legal organisations in Australia think more must be done to combat and prevent such misconduct.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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