Charter for the Advancement of Women

Working to remove the barriers that exist across our industry is a key driver of our Diversity and Inclusion commitment.

Sparke Helmore is proud to be a signatory of the New South Wales Law Society and Law Institute of Victoria’s Charters for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession, strengthening our firm’s commitment to gender equality.

The Charters unite NSW and VIC in a consistent way to support women and gender equality in the workplace.

The Charters aim to achieve this by assisting legal practices develop cultures that promote diversity and inclusion, and positively impact all practitioners in their workplaces, resulting in better business outcomes for legal practices, the legal profession and the community as a whole.

The signatories to the Charters commit to:

• demonstrating leadership by removing gender bias and discrimination in the legal workplace

• driving change in the solicitor profession by developing a culture that supports the retention and promotion of women from all backgrounds

• implementing recruitment and promotion strategies that include gender diversity and gender pay equity as important considerations

• promoting and supporting mentoring and sponsorship of women in the solicitor profession

• encouraging and supporting flexible work practices in the legal profession to assist men and women to better balance professional and other commitments

• ensuring that sexual harassment, or any form of bulling in the workplace, is not tolerated

• establishing procedurally fair, safe, accessible and transparent sexual discrimination and harassment complaints processes, and

• establishing training to protect complainants from victimisation, encouraging bystanders and others to report and ‘call out’ offensive and intimidating behaviour.

Phillip Salem, National Managing Partner says, “As a firm we continue to make great progress to achieving gender equality. As a #IStandForRespect Ambassador, I support the LIV and NSW Law Society Charter goals and encourage everyone across the firm and the profession, regardless of gender, to work together to help address gender inequality.”

Learn more about the Law Society of New South Wales Charter and the Law Institute of Victoria Charter for the Advancement of Women.