Mental health and wellbeing

Allens is making the health and energy of our people a front-of-mind, shared priority. We know wellbeing is a combination of mental, physical, emotional and social health factors, and our approach to wellbeing reflects this.

Our wellbeing framework has four key areas:

• Mind: developing healthy minds, encompassing mental health and resilience

• Body: recognising the importance of physical health and fitness

• Culture: appreciating the role of leadership and the impact of our work environment on wellbeing

• Connection: acknowledging the necessity of purpose and relationships that sustain and support us.

We work to promote wellbeing through a range of initiatives, including hybrid and flexible working approaches, regular firm-wide wellbeing sessions with our in-house Consulting Psychologist, a focus on work allocation and capacity management, local wellness campaigns such as fitness challenges and offering access to a range of benefits such as gym memberships, flu vaccines, skin checks, healthy catering, financial and nutritional coaching, and childcare and eldercare resources. Our external Employee Assistance Program also supports our people to maintain their wellbeing, providing access to wellbeing coaching and confidential psychologist counselling for any work or personal reason. Our in-house Consulting Psychologist also helps us create the right conditions, conversations and actions for ongoing mental health and wellbeing. In addition, each lawyer is assigned a Performance Coach who supports their wellbeing and assists with workload management. Other employees are supported by their managers.

Our focus on mental health and wellbeing was recognised at the 2021 Australasian Law Awards with the Excellence in Employee Health & Wellbeing award.

Respect and Fairness at Allens

We want everyone who works at Allens to have a fulfilling experience, characterised by respect, fairness and equal opportunity.

Our Respect and Fairness policy sets out our commitments and expectations for how we work together, and with our clients and stakeholders. Providing a safe and supportive workplace is critical. We value the diversity of our workforce, respect the differences between individuals, and recognise that each person has individual talents and skills to bring to their role.

We've developed and rolled out workshops for our people on creating and maintaining a culture of respect, and will be developing an interactive e-learning module to reinforce and build on these concepts. All employees must also complete online training regarding anti-discrimination, bullying and harassment when they commence and undertake refreshers during their employment.

We are a firm that listens, learns and strives to improve. When we become aware of misconduct, it is investigated swiftly and we work to ensure any action taken is appropriate and takes into account the wellbeing and wishes of the aggrieved person. We encourage our people to speak up if they experience or witness this behaviour. We have multiple escalation channels for anyone to raise a workplace concern, including via our externally-hosted platform 'Elker', which our people can use to share what’s on their mind, and get support, advice or action in a simple, confidential way. Our Employee Assistance Program can also help with strategies and advice on how to raise an issue.

Inclusion and diversity

Allens sees enormous strength in the unique backgrounds and life experiences our people bring to the firm. Harnessing the many talents of our people helps us connect with clients, solve complex problems, innovate and attract more great people.

Allens' people may have many different stories, and we stand side-by-side in delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients and communities.

Allens' inclusion and diversity strategy focuses on driving inclusive behaviour, transforming practices and structures, and building 'hearts and minds' commitment across a range of pillars, including gender, parents and carers, LGBTIQA+, First Nations, cultural and social diversity. We're looking to build on inclusion as a strength, and actively support our talented people throughout their careers to ensure they are able to be their best selves and do their best work.

Our inclusion and diversity strategy is supported by the work of our employee network groups, which actively foster gender, LGBTIQA+, cultural and linguistic, and First Nations inclusion, as well as our executive and board.

We monitor progress through a number of ways, including:

• Our 40:40:20 gender representation target, ie 40% women, 40% men and 20% any gender (women, men or non-binary persons). We are on track to achieve at least 40% women in the partnership by 2025.

• Our First Nations Engagement Plan, building on the work of five previous Reconciliation Action Pans.

Our approach to inclusion and diversity has been recognised in a number of ways, including:

• We have held the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency for 19 consecutive years.

• We achieved Bronze employer status for LGBTQ inclusion through the Australian Workplace Equality Index by Pride in Diversity in 2023.

• We were shortlisted for the 2023 Australasian Law Awards for Diversity Initiative of the Year.

First Nations Engagement Plan

Allens has had a longstanding commitment to reconciliation, and this is something we continue to build upon. Following 10 years as a RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan) organisation, during which time we designed and delivered five RAPs, in early 2023 we launched our new Allens-specific First Nations Engagement Plan, which will guide our work in reconciliation over the four years to end of 2026.

Our plan is based on three key ‘pathways’: justice, economic engagement and understanding. The first two pathways were designed following consultation with a range of stakeholders, where it became clear these are the key areas where we as a law firm can make the most meaningful contribution to reconciliation. In order for us to succeed in delivering our commitments under those pathways, the final pathway of understanding was included, to ensure we continue to build the cultural capacity of our people and the cultural safety of our firm.

Under each pathway we focus on a number of actions, such as:

• Justice: pro bono legal work; building legal capacity in other organisations; being a strong advocate and leader on discussions around key issues in community, such as last year's referendum on a Voice to Parliament. The firm has been involved in the broader discussion around constitutional recognition for many years, including making submissions to various government committees, and supporting our pro bono clients to do the same;

• Economic engagement: a range of programs to support career pathways, such as our First Nations Legal and Corporate Services Internship programs, which provide a 3-8 week opportunity to learn about life in commercial law; and building our supplier diversity through including First Nations-owned businesses in our procurement decisions; and

• Understanding: building the cultural capacity of our staff and community – this is the key task of the Reconciliation committees in each office, who organise events and activities that allow staff to engage in reconciliation issues and build their cultural awareness. This includes encouraging our people to make an acknowledgement of Country at meetings and events they are hosting. There are Reconciliation Committees in each office, made up of partners and staff.

Other community engagement programs

Pro bono

Allens aims to have a focused, well balanced and meaningful pro bono practice, mainly focusing on access to justice, human rights, reconciliation and protecting the natural environment. Through the practice, we have a target of 50 hours of pro bono work per lawyer each year, on average.

In 2023, as part of our long term commitment to asylum seeker rights, we ran the landmark NZYQ case, which abolished indefinite detention in Australia. We also continued our First Nations justice work through collaborations with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and with PIAC. Details of some key matters we have worked on in recent years can be found on the Impact page on our website.

Sustainability and responsible sourcing

Allens strives for leadership on environmental sustainability in our sector. We take action to reduce the material impacts of our operations and to identify opportunities to drive positive environmental change.

Our responsible sourcing program is designed to promote procurement practices that are ethical, and environmentally and socially responsible. As a purchaser of products and services, we also look for opportunities within our supply chain to support positive social and environmental outcomes through our procurement spend.

Our commitments to environment and climate action include:

• We take action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in line with an ambitious and independently assessed science-based target, to reduce firm-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by FY2030 from a FY2019 base year.

• As we work towards our emissions reduction target, we aim to continue our certification for our Australian offices through the Australian Government's Climate Active Program. We first achieved certification in December 2014, and we seek recertification annually.

• We buy and surrender carbon offsets as an additional contribution to climate action. We seek to invest in accredited offset projects, including Indigenous carbon farming projects, that deliver emissions abatement and/or sequestration alongside other environmental and social benefits.

Adherence to LIV clerkship and traineeship guidelines

In 2024, we are once again signatories to the LIV guidelines for clerkship and traineeship (graduate) roles and will be strictly adhering to the guidelines. We are mindful of the candidate experience and pride ourselves on keeping our candidates informed at each step of the recruitment process, as well as providing transparency throughout the process and on offer day.

We recognise that recruitment processes can be particularly challenging for some groups including trans and gender diverse applicants, First Nations people, neurodiverse people and people living with disability. We encourage candidates to reach out to Kellie.Drew@allens.com.au if they have any questions or require adjustments during our process: their wellbeing and experience - particularly during this process - is vital.

Arnold Bloch Leibler is committed to protecting the health and well-being of our people.

Seasonal Clerkship and Law Graduate recruitment

We are a proud signatory to the LIV Clerkship & Traineeship guidelines and follow the guidelines throughout the seasonal clerkship and law graduate recruitment processes to ensure a fair and equitable process for students.

Our recruitment process is uncomplicated. We ask students to submit their CV, cover letter and their academic transcript via cvMail, with no additional questions, case studies, aptitude testing or psychometric assessments. Our interview process is also very straightforward, with a single interview. This is then followed by a coffee with a law graduate or junior lawyer for an informal discussion/opportunity to ask further questions about the firm. Prior to their interview, we email candidates with some additional tips and information to help them prepare.

Mental health & well-being

Arnold Bloch Leibler has a range of practices and procedures in place to prevent negative behaviour and we are committed to fostering a workplace that is inclusive, open and solutions-focused. For example, we offer a confidential EAP program, regular health & well-being initiatives focused on prevention, resilience and mental first aid training, mindfulness sessions, a mentoring program, participation in events like R U OK Day, and have a cultural focus on both flexibility and mental health awareness. A critical component of our mental health and wellbeing program involves our partners speaking openly about the topic. They share their approach to managing professional life and its challenges and the ways in which they focus on staying mentally and physically fit. We offer our people a significant amount of support from our skilled human resources professionals so that should an individual have a condition or if challenges arise for them, our high touch approach ensures close monitoring and full support. We also run dedicated leadership training focused on the emotional intelligence skills required to support open conversations and healthy work habits.

Avoiding sexual harassment Arnold Bloch Leibler is committed to maintaining an environment that is free from harassment and inappropriate conduct. The firm does not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind in the workplace and is committed to taking a victim-centric approach to complaints should they ever happen to arise.

Arnold Bloch Leibler is committed to:

• creating a working environment where all people are treated with dignity, courtesy and respect;

• ensuring people know their rights and responsibilities;

• providing an effective procedure for complaints;

• treating complaints in a sensitive, timely and confidential manner; and

• protecting against victimisation or reprisals.

Our primary focus is on prevention. We hold regular training sessions so that every member of the firm is aware of expected standards of behaviour and the avenues of support available to them should they ever encounter behaviour that is incongruent with our behavioural standards and expectations.

Diversity and inclusion Our approach and longstanding deep commitment to diversity and inclusion has been, and will always be, a clear and significant aspect of the firm’s culture and a key contributor to our enduring success. We never want to become complacent about this quality, which sets us apart from firms that promote diversity and inclusion as a passing trend.

Broadly, we have identified three key priority areas in relation to diversity and inclusion activity at ABL and have a range of initiatives within each area. We are in no way limited to these three areas of diversity, and aim to be a workplace where everyone has a sense of inclusion, where their differences are celebrated and where our shared values and a common sense of purpose unite us.

• Gender (initiatives include flexible work practices, a commitment to gender pay equality, generous parental leave, inclusive recruitment processes, career progression, mentoring, transition coaching for lawyers returning from parental leave, equitable briefing policy, public advocacy and more);

• Inclusion and unconscious bias (initiatives include policy information and education, cultural awareness training, ABL Pride (our LGBTQIA+ group), external initiatives to demonstrate public support and test case litigation); and

• Reconciliation and Indigenous empowerment (initiatives include being the first law firm to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), our internal ABL Indigenous Solidarity Network, creating opportunities for Indigenous Australians who have an interest in developing a career in the service professions, prominent leadership from Senior Partner Mark Leibler AC and Public Interest Law Partner Peter Seidel, regular internal events and activism).

At Ashurst, we see the health and wellbeing of our people as essential to achieving our goal of being an exceptional place to work.

Law is a people business and our aim is to foster a climate within the firm where people operate at their best. The work we do is demanding, our standards are high and there are many pressures on people’s time and energy.

Resilience is important for managing these pressures, and stress management is critical to resilience. If we learn to manage stress we can successfully keep it at levels where it energises performance rather than detracting from it.

Our wellbeing programs are directed at raising awareness and building skills in identifying, preventing and managing stress, and helping our people build confidence and resilience.

Some of the practical measures we take include:

• Access to LifeWorks the firm’s Employee Assistance Program for partners, staff and immediate family members

• Access to Wellbeing Officers across the firm

• Access to Mental Health First Aid Officer​s​

• Access to Healthy Living sessions

• Free subscription to Head Space

• Free annual flu vaccinations

• Subsidised gym membership

• Ongoing involvement in local sporting teams and sporting events

• Access to discounted nib health insurance

• Access to the Specsavers Corporate Club

• Salary continuance insurance at no cost to most partners and staff

Our partners are also invited to attend resilience and mental health training to help them better identify employees at risk.

Ashurst Australia is also taking all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment occurring in the firm.

The firm is ensuring that all partners and staff members clearly understand what sexual harassment is by introducing an ongoing education program.

All partners and managers must reinforce the message to their staff that sexual harassment is unlawful, not acceptable and that any victimisation of those who speak against it will not be tolerated.

Ashurst Australia has also set up procedures to ensure that sexual harassment matters are resolved.

The firm has nominated a number of Contact Officers. They assist and advise on options for resolving the situation, either informally or through more formal channels.

Ashurst is a signatory of the LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines again in 2022. We strongly believe that the guidelines provide a fair, transparent and wellbeing focused process that benefit both the firms and candidates working within them. We strongly encourage all candidates to contact us if they have any questions or concerns regarding our recruitment process.

Adherence to LIV Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines

Transparency is crucial for students as they move through the clerkship and graduate recruitment process.

Clayton Utz is a signatory to both the LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines 2024, because we want all students to have a fair and equitable chance to consider all available clerkship and graduate trainee opportunities. We believe this allows students to make informed decisions about how they would like to begin their careers, without unnecessary additional pressures and/or stress.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Clayton Utz is committed to supporting a mentally healthy workplace, a commitment shown by being the first Australian law firm to appoint a dedicated National Mental Health Manager. Our efforts have been recognised by our designation as an "Advanced Skilled Workplace Employer" under the Mental Health First Aid Australia Recognition Workplace Program.

Our approach has many facets: encouraging our people to have open conversations about mental health, education, training, discussion forums, and specific resources and support.

Those resources and support include:

• robust mental health programs including the Vicarious Trauma Support Program, an Early in Career Mental Health Network, and a Graduate Mental Health Program;

• a holistic health, safety and wellbeing program, which brings together all current and new initiatives into one accessible program, to help our people live a healthier life; and

• 230 people trained as Mental Health First Aiders and Mental Health Champions (equating to 16% of our workforce), to be mental health advocates and to be a point of contact for mental health concerns among their peers.

Our values and goals are supported by the firm's Psychological Wellbeing policy, Anti-Discrimination, Sexual Harassment & Bullying policy, Flexible Work policy, a Domestic and Family Violence policy, and Fatigue Management Guidelines.

Diversity in the Legal Profession

Clayton Utz is committed to diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the legal profession. You can learn more about our specific initiatives and the groups we work with here.

As well as our own D&I initiatives, we are focused on bringing about change across the legal industry through actions such as:

• gender equitable briefing;

• participating in the Law Firms Australia and Managing Partners' D&I initiatives;

• engagement with the Business Council of Australia and its focus (in particular) in recent years on accessibility, inclusion and Indigenous employment;

• mentoring law students; and

• community and pro bono D&I-related work involving the legal sector and disadvantaged communities.

Sexual harassment and sex-based harassment, discrimination and bullying in the legal profession

At Clayton Utz, everyone is encouraged to pursue excellence, be their authentic selves and always act with integrity. We want our employees to feel a strong sense of inclusion and belonging, and their time with us is positive and fulfilling.

To do that, we know we must be free from all forms of discrimination, bullying, and sexual harassment. For us, that means understanding not just our legal obligations, but our ethical ones too.

We look to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Respect@Work Report, legal industry discussion and developments such as the Law Council of Australia's National Model Framework for Addressing Sexual Harassment to inform our policies, education, training and reporting, which we update frequently.

Starting from the top, our leadership team sets clear expectations to all partners and employees through all staff communications and forums, and creates mechanisms for our people to feel safe and supported when they raise concerns.

Our specific policies, training and education are:

• An Anti-Discrimination, Harassment & Bullying policy (backed by mandatory online and face-to-face training); a Drug and Alcohol policy; a Gender Diverse and Gender Affirmation policy supporting our commitment to being a gender diverse and inclusive environment.

• A Workplace Code of Conduct which sets out what is acceptable conduct and what is not, what an individual should do if they become aware of unacceptable conduct, and how the firm will respond to and address any concerns raised.

• A Whistleblowing Policy and Whistleblower hotline (delivered by a third-party provider) for raising concerns about "Reportable Conduct" under the policy. The service is available 24 hours a day and offers the option to report concerns anonymously.

• Contact Officers in each of our six offices nationally (a role we introduced in 2019), who are peers with whom any one of our people can raise workplace issues or concerns.

• Bystander training – to help raise and improve awareness of the importance of bystander action. We know that bystander intervention is a potentially useful strategy in the prevention of unacceptable behaviour such as sexual or sex-based harassment. We've partnered with the MATE program team from Griffith University to provide a helpful framework.

• Employee feedback surveys through which people can raise concerns about their workplace experiences.

• Training and practical tools to assist people to become active bystanders in calling out unacceptable workplace behaviour.

Diversity, dignity and inclusiveness

We have put in place a number of policies that set clear expectations of what our stakeholders can expect from us in relation to diversity, dignity and inclusion; to human rights; and, to the environment. We work carefully to ensure that the principles at the heart of these policies are integrated into all aspects of how we manage our business.

We recognise that a firm operating in many jurisdictions needs to take into account local law and standards so please read this policy in conjunction with any specific office or jurisdictional guidance available. We believe that being an equal opportunities firm means going beyond mere compliance with anti-discrimination legislation.

We believe that promoting diversity means creating an inclusive work environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed without obstacles based on their gender, gender identity and expression, marital and civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, age or any other basis prohibited under applicable law. We recognise that people from varying backgrounds can bring a full range of worthwhile ideas and innovations to our working practices and business. Encouraging everyone at the Firm to respect the individuality of their colleagues and to feel comfortable in making their own contribution is a fundamental aspect of our values and critical to our business success. Our Equal Opportunities policy applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment, including pay, promotion, training, transfers, and our approach to every other aspect of employment. The Firm aims to ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and treated on the basis of their individual abilities and merits and the needs of the Firm.

We support our employees and the partners with a broad range of policies, practices and procedures which aim to recognise individual contribution and performance, develop each individual’s capability and give everyone an equal opportunity to use their talent and fulfil their potential. Equality of opportunity, fairness, trust, acceptance of differences and the rights of individuals, including the right to work in an atmosphere free from discrimination and prejudice, are important principles of the Firm; our ‘Community’ value, in particular, emphasises the importance the Firm places on inclusiveness and meritocracy and aims to provide an environment where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. We consider that everyone has a responsibility to see that our policy is applied across all levels of the Firm and in everything that we do. In line with this core value we devise and implement innovative strategies in three strands.

In our firm

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. We recognise that a true diversity of talent and experience is an essential ingredient in our success. To be the global law firm of choice in this area we need to be the leaders in this area.

With our clients

Clifford Chance has assembled a team of international experts on employment law, campaigning and strategic planning to develop a suite of services and strategic analysis which can be targeted and tailored to help our clients realise their inclusion goals. We also work with clients on developing collaborative initiatives that raise awareness, build capacity and empower our firms and our people to become effective agents of change.

In the world

We believe that for our values and commitment to inclusion to be real we must be prepared to use our skills to champion and deliver them. Across the world, from courtrooms to classrooms to communities, we are using our expertise to campaign for change and help realise a more inclusive society for all.

Wellbeing

At Clifford Chance we believe everyone is entitled to the same equality of opportunity and experience. Each of us can face a range of personal, work and societal pressures that can impact our mental health and wellbeing. We realise that working in a law firm can be a demanding environment. Our wellbeing agenda aims to ensure our people are able to recognise and appreciate the importance of maintaining good mental health and in building their resilience and ability to operate healthily and successfully. Promoting a healthy lifestyle is another focus. We support our people in making healthier choices and encourage them to view exercise as social activity.

Corrs respects and values the diversity of our workforce. We expect all partners and employees to contribute to making our workplace supportive, safe and fair. The firm’s success relies upon the attraction, retention and development opportunities provided to talented people with diverse ideas, backgrounds and experiences. We want everyone to feel connected, valued and supported, so that every individual can succeed and can contribute to our firm and client success.

We strongly believe that diversity in all its forms should be embraced and celebrated. This benefits our people, our clients, our firm and the industry at large. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is woven through all aspects of our firm – from our recruitment and people development strategies through to our wellbeing initiatives. Respect in our workplace is fundamental to our firm and we are committed to having a workplace which is safe, respectful and inclusive. We make clear the expected behaviour of all our people, and our policies and frameworks support the firm’s unwavering commitment to providing a healthy and safe working environment, free from discrimination. We provide regular training for all our people to ensure expectations relating to conduct at work are understood and met.

Corrs is a proud signatory to the Law Institute of Victoria’s Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines and recognises the benefits of these guidelines when recruiting our future lawyers. The wellbeing of our prospective clerks and graduates is very important and we take our obligations in that regard very seriously. By adhering to these guidelines, we aim to provide a fair and positive experience for all students involved in our recruitment process and clerkship and graduate programs.

In everything we do we live by the firm’s values: Be Supportive (we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully); Be Collaborative (we are proactive, passionate team players, investing in our relationships)); Be Bold (we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions); Be Exceptional (we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations).

Inclusion & Diversity

At DLA Piper, we believe diversity and inclusion is about the collective power of bringing together many and varied voices. It’s about harnessing our differences for the better.

Our Equality and Diversity Policy begins with a simple acknowledgement that we are all different. Our approach is about ensuring that our policies and practices treat people on an equitable basis, that provides opportunities for all our people.

To help facilitate a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion into everyday work, our D&I Committee has established initiatives related to gender, ethnicity & culture, disability and LGBT+. Our people networks are what really makes our D&I strategy come to life. Based on these areas our people networks aim to raise awareness, connect, educate, and provide support.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

DLA Piper is committed to taking meaningful action to support the wellbeing of all of our people. We acknowledge that in addition to the challenges of COVID-19 and remote working, the legal industry is challenging, with long hours and significant workloads at times. We aim to provide a sustainable approach to health and wellbeing.

We aim to provide easily accessible support to our people while ensuring they have access to meaningful programs to build their personal capability to get and stay well. We provide access to services, tools, and resources to effectively support mental health and promote wellbeing.

Bullying and Harassment in the legal profession

The firm has zero tolerance for the less favourable treatment or disrespect of any member of our team.

The firm has policies and processes in place to prevent and respond to any matters relating to bullying and harassment. Upon commencement every employee, partner and contractor must complete mandatory training as part of their onboarding schedule. All employees, partners and contractors are required to complete this training every two years.

The firm takes claims of harassment and bullying very seriously. Through our policy we ensure allegations and complaints are investigated thoroughly, and due process is afforded to all of those involved. In line with the policy, any act of bullying or harassment will be subject to formal disciplinary action.

Law Institute of Victoria Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines

DLA Piper is proud to be a signatory to the Law Institute of Victoria’s Seasonal Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines appreciating the consistency and fairness the guidelines provide for all law students during the recruitment process.

We are committed to employing a diverse workforce to draw on a range of skills and experiences. We encourage candidates to share any accessibility adjustments with us, that will assist in their participation in our recruitment process.

We want our clerks and graduates to reach their full potential as part of a diverse, global team that thrives on collaboration, seizing opportunities and commercial edge. We pride ourselves on giving new lawyers a truly unique experience. Whether you’re a student, clerk or graduate we aim to give you the tools and experience to forge a successful career in law. That means combining learning with experience, and giving you the opportunity to take on real responsibilities, working with people at all levels and across our business.

(1) Inclusion and diversity

Our people are at the centre of everything we do. Our Board, Partners and Management Team are committed to providing an environment that encourages and promotes inclusion and diversity, instilling pride in our firm and our values. We will all maintain and build upon an environment where our people are comfortable and confident to bring their authentic selves to work and celebrate their differences.

We are immensely proud of our gender equality statistics, with over 35% of our Partnership being female. Furthermore, we have a robust paid parental leave scheme, which has enabled 100% of our workforce to return to Gadens after parental leave.

Gadens Gender Profile, 2022:

• 35% female partners

• 54% female legal staff

• 74% female non-legal staff

Demonstrated examples of our commitment to ethical and socio-economic sustainability include:

• Member of Diversity Council Australia.

• Adoption of the Diversity and Equality Charter developed by the Law Council of Australia.

• Signatories to Pay Equity Ambassadors under the Australian Government Workplace Gender Equality Agency's (WGEA) Pay Equity Ambassador Program.

• Awarded WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality.

• Delivery of unconscious bias training to all employees.

• Law Council of Australia Equitable Briefing Policy signatories.

• Your work. Your way. approach, which empowers all of our people to co-design a work week that enables them to work the way they work best. This fosters an improved work-life balance and has a meaningful flow-on impact on their homes and communities.

We partner with JobSupport, a specialist service placing people with an intellectual disability into employment. JobSupport’s mission is to place, train and maintain people with an intellectual disability into quality jobs that meet both their employment needs and the needs of the employer. Each position is specially designed by an employer in consultation with JobSupport, to ensure that each placement works well for both the employer and new employee.

(2) Sexual harassment in the legal profession

Gadens is committed to providing and maintaining a workplace that is free from any form of inappropriate workplace behaviour, including unlawful discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), vilification, victimisation and bullying. This begins with our recruitment strategies and continues through to all levels of the firm.

Similar to the profession, Gadens has a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment. All staff undertake training on how to act in the workplace, including what is considered to be appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. Referral and reporting pathways are made clear to all staff should any of our staff become aware of an incident involving one of our staff within internally or externally to the firm. Our CEO is one of many CEOs who has signed DCA's #IStandForRespect public pledge to stamp out sexual harassment in the workplace.

(3) Mental health and wellbeing

At Gadens, the mental health and wellbeing of our people is of key importance. It is also a key priority area of Gadens' pro bono practice. We provide legal assistance to a number of individuals who suffer from mental health issues, as well as provide support to those organisations and community legal centres who work alongside these individuals on a daily basis.

Our People and Development team work alongside our Partners, Management, Sustainability and Social Impact team as well as our dedicated Wellbeing Committee, to deliver a holistic program to promote better fitness for both the body and mind. It covers various educational seminars on a range of topics including working with vulnerable clients, the importance of sleep, resilience and nutrition and activities such as corporate sporting events and team sports, .

(4) Workplace bullying

Gadens is committed to providing and maintaining a workplace that is safe and without risk to health, including bullying. The Firm will not tolerate any behaviour of this kind.

At Gilbert + Tobin, we know our people are our greatest asset and so we have comprehensive policies and practices in place to care for them. Fundamental to achieving our goal of attracting and retaining the best talent is a commitment to creating an environment that is free from discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying, where everyone is treated with dignity, courtesy and respect and where the mental health and wellbeing of our people is prioritised.

We have a firm wide Diversity Council made up of partners and employees. For 2022, our key areas of focus are cultural + social inclusion, gender, and accessibility. As part of our wellbeing strategy, we have several avenues of support, including:

• Accredited training in 2021 for a cross section of staff from all offices in Mental Health First Aid. In addition to our first aiders, a number of Partners and senior leaders attended mental health awareness training.

• A firm wide wellbeing program, ‘Grow + Thrive’, that includes sessions on mental health, wellbeing, resilience, financial health and positive leadership – including firm wide learning for RUOK? Day.

• Running national wellbeing events, including ‘wellbeing weeks’ in each office. Events include free massages, yoga, nutrition seminars, running shoe fit and postural alignment sessions. This year we had a dedicated ‘Recode and Reset’ training calendar to focus on mindset as well as other positive mental health strategies.

• Measures to monitor the workload and hours of our people and ensuring time in lieu is offered to provide an opportunity to rest and recharge.

• Access to ‘Whispli’, an external complaints platform which enables our people to submit an anonymous report or concern to the firm.

Managing high volumes of work and tight timelines is an ongoing challenge for our firm and the industry, however our lawyers have been supported with best practice technology to ensure they can work flexibly in meeting these demands. Becoming a leader in flexible work is an ongoing project for us and a fundamental part of our business strategy. Given the seamless transition to home working during 2020 and 2021, this has enabled continued hybrid working options both in and out of the office.

Annually we run compulsory workplace behaviour sessions for all staff to ensure understanding of our expected behaviours at G+T around harassment and bullying. In addition, we have several workplace policies + training in place to prevent sexual harassment, including an appropriate workplace behaviour policy that covers discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying.

We have a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and are committed to increasing the representation of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians at our firm. One of the keyways this is achieved is through our Indigenous Cadetship Program.

We also run cultural awareness training which we find helps to understand Indigenous applicants in particular, avoiding common cultural misunderstandings around body language. In our graduate recruitment processes, we involve a broad cross section of the firm in assessing candidates and our final decisions include Partners from marginalised groups who test the outcomes in regards to cultural and other biases. Our graduate programmes are more diverse in general year on year.

Across the firm we have a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion demonstrated by the fact that:

• We are a Major Partner of the Diversity Council of Australia.

• We have been a WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality since the citation began in 2014.

• We are a Silver Member of the Australia Network on Disability and through our partnership with them have employed legal interns.

• We were a founding signatory to the Law Council’s Gender Equitable Briefing Policy.

• We support our LGBTIQ+ employee action group called ‘OUT’ with firm events and networking.

In November 2018, we announced a new target for women in partnership of 40% by 2023, with a longer-term goal of gender parity. To support this goal, in 2021 we further enhanced our parental leave entitlements creating flexible paid leave within 24 months for both parents, and return-to-work support. We also increased our paid parental leave from 18 weeks to 26 weeks. We expanded our ‘Women’s Circle’ program nationally and have worked with clients to support the development of their senior women leaders. In support of all staff with parenting responsibilities (which research shows falls predominantly on women), we supported virtual care programmes during the lockdowns in 2020-21 and will continue to offer this as holiday care in the coming year. Our working parents’ forums in all offices enable the concerns of this group to be heard and discussed, contributing to improving work and life outcomes for this group at G+T.

In our internal recruitment processes at Gilbert + Tobin, we adhere to the LIV Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines when recruiting clerks and graduates. This ensures consistency and fairness for all law students applying for clerkships.

Mental health and wellbeing 

Hall & Wilcox is proud of its culture – one that is inclusive and progressive. Our commitment to creating an inclusive workplace culture extends beyond office locations. It’s about our firm’s identity and our dedication to fostering connections with our clients and our community, something we value deeply. It enables us to create a workplace environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, respected and valued every day and in every interaction. 

We offer a hybrid workplace where our people are encouraged and empowered to work flexibly, both remotely and in the office. It provides our people with the opportunity to experience the benefits of remote working balanced with the benefit of being in the office to connect, collaborate and learn. We’re committed to ensuring our people work reasonable hours and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Internal measures are in place so working hours can be monitored and maintained. 

The wellbeing of our people is a priority for the firm, and we understand the pivotal role employers play in providing support. A resilient workforce enhances our ability to serve clients and each other. We believe a sustained focus on mental health prevention and wellbeing is critical, and we aim to achieve this by promoting awareness and support of mental health initiatives and programs. 

The firm’s Mental Health Framework includes a series of information and competency-based seminars and skills-based training relating to workplace mental health. The seminars focus on prevention, early intervention and recovery. The goal of these prevention strategies is to enhance education and awareness in each of these areas, while also establishing frameworks and strategies for addressing mental health and wellbeing concerns as they arise. We continuously promote EAP services to combat the stigma surrounding mental health. This encourages people to seek and engage in open, supportive conversations about managing their mental health. We also fund health and fitness activities to reinforce our holistic approach to wellness. 

Our commitment to an inclusive workplace is reflected in several employer awards and recognitions, including our Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation (EOCGE).

Sexual harassment in the legal profession

All partners and employees are responsible for creating a safe and inclusive environment. Our Hallmarks emphasise respect for everyone. 

Under recent ‘Respect at Work’ changes to the law, we now have a positive duty to prevent sex discrimination, sexual and sex-based harassment, victimisation, and any other hostile conduct based on sex. We want Hall & Wilcox to be a safe place for us all, and as part of our proactive response to these changes, we partnered with a provider to deliver mandatory in-person training, so everyone understands their workplace responsibilities, including bystander intervention.  

Prior to commencement, new starters are provided with the firm’s anti-discrimination and sexual harassment, anti-bullying and complaint resolution policies. They must read these policies and provide a signed acknowledgement after completion. Our people are also required to complete refresher training every two years.

We’ve established internal procedures to promptly address any allegations of harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, or victimisation, ensuring they are handled professionally and appropriately.

Diversity within the legal profession

Australia is culturally and socially diverse, and this is reflected in both the demographics of legal practitioners and their clients.  

At Hall & Wilcox, we’re committed to creating and maintaining a diverse workforce that reflects our community and our clients. We understand workplace inclusion involves recognising and celebrating the characteristics that make each individual unique.   

Law firms are advancing efforts to progress workplace inclusion by targeting diversity initiatives in areas such as gender equality, cultural diversity, flexible and hybrid working, First Nation Australians, accessibility for people living with disability, LGBTQIA+ ally inclusion and intersectionality.  

Incorporating diverse perspectives and utilising the varied strengths of our team to deliver Smarter Law solutions to our clients is crucial. This approach helps us to be recognised externally as a firm exemplifying diversity in its everyday operations. Our success hinges on attracting, retaining and engaging the best talent, building stronger client relationships and improving decision-making, problem-solving and innovation through diverse teams and perspectives.

Adherence to the LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Graduate Program Guidelines

Hall & Wilcox is a signatory to the 2024 LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Graduate Program Guidelines.   The firm has followed these LIV guidelines for several years to maintain consistency and fairness in our recruitment process. All clerkship and graduate offers and communications are made in line with these guidelines. 

Managing Partner’s advocacy and engagement

Refer to these links involving our Managing Partner for further insights into our firm’s commitment to diversity and mental health advocacy. These include an International Women’s Day podcast titled ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ and a LinkedIn post supporting R U OK? day.

• Internal Women’s Day podcast

• R U OK? day LinkedIn post

At HFW, we are dedicated to fostering a harmonious and safe work environment, free from unacceptable behaviour. Our commitment extends to promoting equality of opportunity and striving for a workplace that is equal, fair and inclusive. We take pride in our supportive and positive work culture.

Diversity & Inclusion at HFW

As a global law firm our strength lies in the diverse perspectives, backgrounds and experience of our people.  We actively create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to reach their full potential. Our Diversity & Inclusion strategy focuses on four key aims:

1. Increasing Diversity: We aim to enhance the diversity of our workforce.

2. Promoting Inclusion: We foster an inclusive culture that embraces all employees.

3. Removing Barriers: We address barriers to inclusion throughout the firm.

4. Global D&I Networks: We ensure that our diverse employee experiences shape our D&I programs. 

In Australia, we specifically engage in the following initiatives:

• Our strong Proud Network has led HFW to become a member of Pride in Diversity, Australia's not-for-profit employer support program for LGBTQ workplace inclusion.

• We run programs to support women in leadership roles, addressing gender balance at the senior and partnership levels. Additionally, in 2020 we launched a gender equality strategy for the firm and we are working towards women accounting for at least 40% of all hires and internal promotions.

• Our people actively participate in Pro Bono work, assisting and supporting disadvantaged D&I communities.   

• We recognise and celebrate national and global events including R U OK? Day, NAIDOC Week, Pride month and more.

Additionally on a global level, our D&I networks include Race & Ethnicity, Social Mobility and Family. We encourage our people to join any networks they feel passionate about, as their contributions can make a positive impact not only within our firm but also beyond its boundaries.

Mental Health & Wellbeing at HFW

We consider our people our greatest asset, and their retention is paramount to our firm's success. We achieve this first and foremost by ensuring that the work environment is one where people look forward to coming to work. To achieve this, we prioritise mental health by: 

• Having regular employee engagement set up by set up giving colleagues a voice on all aspects of life at HFW and providing a mechanism for meaningful dialogue between employees and leaders about how to make HFW a better place to work. 

• We have made a commitment to give mental health priority by ensuring we have at least as many Mental Health First Aiders as Physical First Aiders. 

• Our people and their family household members have access to our Employee Assistance Programme, which provides a free anonymous counselling for a wide array of wellbeing topics. 

• Offering access to resources such as Headspace (a mediation and mindfulness app) and YuLife (rewards app to recognise healthy habits) to boost mental and physical wellbeing.  

• Our Resource Management team maintains regular communication with our teams on the ground, proactively helping to distribute workloads to support wellbeing and prevent burnout.

• Offer access to annual flu vaccinations, biennial health checks, and sporting events. 

• Our active employee-led Social Committees provide a thriving social aspect to life at HFW.

Respect at HFW

HFW maintains a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour. Such behaviour not only contradicts our goal of a harmonious and safe workplace but also negatively impacts individuals, morale and our firm's culture. 

Our Acceptable Workplace Behaviour policy outlines our commitments and expectations on working together at HFW, with our clients and other stakeholders. We take grievances related to unacceptable behaviour seriously and address them promptly and supportively, free from intimidation or victimisation. Our Employee Assistance Program provides strategies and advice for those who have witnessed such behaviour.

At HFW, we believe that fostering a respectful and fair environment benefits everyone. By working together, we can continue to build a workplace where every individual thrives and contributes to our collective success.

Diversity and Inclusion 

Hive’s diversity and inclusion initiatives celebrate the fact that Hive’s strength lies in its diversity, as it leverages different perspectives to drive innovation and growth. 

Remove and Flexible Working: Hive continues to promote true flexible working, allowing staff to choose when and where they work for better work-life integration. Hive’s successful remote and flexible working practices are built on collaboration and encompass various initiatives such as: 

• Weekly firmwide staff meetings 

• Weekly team meetings 

• Hive-a-versary celebrations marking 3, 5, and 10-year anniversaries for Hivesters 

• Diversity Events Calendar 

• End-of-Financial-Year social gathering 

• End-of-year social party 

• Firmwide and Team Strategy Days 

• Monthly birthday celebrations 

• Monthly in-person and online social events 

Open Door Policy: Hive operates with a virtual ‘open door’ policy. If anybody needs assistance or has any questions, they should not hesitate to pick up the phone – Hivesters are there to support each other. 

Equitable Briefing Policy: Hive is a signatory of the Equitable Briefing Policy, which aims to drive cultural change, support the progress of women barristers, and address the pay gap and underrepresentation of women in superior courts. 

Acknowledgement of Cultural Holidays: Hive has developed a Diversity Events Calendar to acknowledge and commemorate significant occasions for all its staff members, encompassing (among others) cultural, religious, and personal landmarks such as weddings, academic achievements, and the birth of children.

Celebration of Diversity Day: Each year, Hive organises a Diversity Day for all its staff members, where Hivesters gather in the office during lunchtime to commemorate and embrace each other's diverse cultures and backgrounds. Hive was privileged to have Rana Hussain conduct bystander training in April 2024 and Sheetal Deo conduct unconscious bias training in March 2023, which was followed by two activities carefully designed to let Hivesters gain a deeper understanding of each other.

Wear it purple day: On 25 August 2023, Hivesters were encouraged to wear purple to celebrate diversity and empower and support young people from the LGBTIQA+ community.

Support of the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Forum and Awards: On 23 November 2023, several Hivesters celebrated the remarkable women in the legal industry at the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law events. The day began with an inspiring forum and ended with the exciting Women in Law events.

Mental Health and Wellbeing 

Hive Legal’s wellbeing initiatives are vital to promoting our firmwide social, physical, and mental wellness. 

Thrive@Hive Program: 2023 saw the second instalment of the Thrive@Hive Program. The Program creates an environment which is aligned, empowering, supportive, and trusted. Enabling Hivesters to have choice in how they grow their career, encourages them to be happy, fulfilled, and the best they can be. 

Employee Assistance Program: Hivesters are regularly encouraged to use Hive’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP provides Hivesters and their immediate families with free, confidential, and immediate counselling and coaching services whenever they need help managing personal or work-related issues. 

Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2023 - Wellness Initiative of the Year Finalist: Hive was a finalist for Wellness Initiative of the Year as part of the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2023. This is a remarkable recognition of the Wellbeeing Committee’s and Hive’s commitment to maximising the health and wellness of Hivesters and encouraging them to build fulfilling careers. 

Wellbeing Tips: Hive offers weekly wellbeing tips as an agenda item at all of Hive’s staff meetings.

Hive Legal’s Bee There Program: This initiative was launched in November 2023. Once in action, the Program will include a range of focus groups, led by volunteer Hivesters who have their own story to share about life events or struggles. The focus groups include loss and grief, medical, and stress and burnout. The Program will work like a support line with one-on-one or group discussions as the need arises, based on Hivesters’ life experiences.

R U OK? DAY: On 14 September 2023, the Committee hosted an R U OK? Day event which sought to let Hivesters engage with R U OK? Day in a meaningful, non-tokenistic way. The theme was ‘I’m here to hear.’ Hivesters (in-person and online) shared their ‘wins’ and ‘challenges’ for the year and participated in games centred around listening and communication, while enjoying morning tea.

World Mental Health Day Morning Tea and Foodbank Raffle: In acknowledgement of World Mental Health Day, Hivesters gathered in the office on 17 October 2023 to enjoy a morning tea and participate in a raffle fundraiser. All proceeds of the raffle went to Foodbank, Australia’s largest food relief organisation.

Sexual Harassment and Bullying in the Legal Profession 

Hive strives to create an inclusive culture in which difference is recognised, valued and embraced. These differences can include gender, age, ethnicity, religious or cultural background, disability, marital or family status, sexual orientation, gender identity and other areas of potential difference. Hive has zero tolerance to any sexual harassment or bullying. By giving each person the opportunity to contribute their skills, experience, and perspectives, we believe that we can all live Hive’s values.

Training Programs: Hive is committed to the training and development of all employees and one of Hive’s initiatives is provide training to staff on topics such as Diversity and Inclusion, Preventing Sexual Harassment and Cultural Awareness. These training sessions are conducted by a third party on a yearly basis. 

VLSB+C Worklogic: Hive participated in the workplace review of the Victorian legal sector conducted by Worklogic on behalf of the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner (VLSB+C). This review assisted the VLSB+C to have a better understanding of current sexual harassment policies, procedures, and practices within the legal sector. Following the review, Hive strengthened its policies and procedures around providing a safe and respectful workplace.

B-Corp Certification 

In December 2023, Hive was granted B Corp Certification! Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Unlike other certifications for businesses, B Lab is unique in its ability to measure a company’s entire social and environmental impact. Being B Corp Certified means that Hive doesn’t just talk the talk, but also walks the walk, and genuinely cares and has formal practices in place to ensure it is committed to delivering great services when it comes to its staff, clients, environment, community, and governance practices.

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to providing a workplace where people are treated with respect and kindness, and have equal opportunity. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying.

Creating a culture that fosters inclusion and belonging through diverse thinking, collaboration and growth for our people, clients and communities, is important to us.

We know that an inclusive workplace drives innovation and delivers better business outcomes. But most importantly, it allows everyone we work with to feel valued, respected and able to be themselves. Our diversity & inclusion strategy is focused on building awareness, inclusion and action across

• Gender equality & advancement

• Cultural diversity & First Nations

• Flexible working

• LGBTQA+

• Disability and accessibility

• Inclusion in wellbeing

We adhere to the LIV Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines to ensure consistency and fairness throughout our recruitment process.

Mental Health & Wellbeing

A career in law is very rewarding, but it sometimes has its challenges. Building a strong culture of resilience and wellbeing is extremely important to us. We’ve worked hard to normalise discussions around mental health and wellbeing, creating a safe environment to raise concerns or ask for help. Our wellbeing services include:

• access to a confidential assistance and counselling service which benefits all members of the firm and their immediate family

• wellbeing champions across the firm to increase the number of people with the skills and knowledge to support better mental health and wellbeing

• access to “The Resilience Box” – a resource that helps strengthen resilience through online learning modules, counselling and coaching appointments, videos, podcasts and factsheets.

• targeted health and wellbeing products including flu vaccination and access to discounted health insurance

• specific workplace programs and procedures that address many common lifestyle, health, fitness and safety issues

Pro bono

We never lose sight of the responsibility of the legal profession in the broader community.

Our focus is on helping low income, disadvantaged or marginalised members of the Australian community and the organisations which support them. We work with many established and emerging charitable organisations taking over their legal issues so they are free to focus on helping the people and causes they support.

We are signed up to the National Pro Bono Target with the Australian Pro Bono Centre as a part of our ongoing commitment to the community,

Adherence to LIV Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines:

Jones Day is a signatory to the LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines for 2021. Jones Day commits to the LIV Guidelines as they ensure consistency and fairness throughout the legal recruitment process.

Mental Health and Wellbeing:

At Jones Day, we care about the mental health and wellbeing of all employees. We provide our staff with a number of programs, which include:

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) this provides emotional and psychological counselling to all employees free of charge,

• RUOK? Day events and handouts,

• Free Mindfulness Meditation/Yoga sessions,

• Subsidised gym memberships,

• Annual Flu Vaccinations and

• Social events, which include; morning tea and Friday night drinks

Sexual Harassment in the legal profession:

Jones Day is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that everyone should feel comfortable in the workplace and that differences should be respected. This means that everyone must be able to work in an environment free from harassment and bullying.

All harassment that is sexual or sex-based, racial or relates to a person’s ethnicity, religion, marital status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, actual or presumed, past, present or future disability, age, actual or presumed homosexuality, actual or presumed transgender status, or actual or presumed responsibilities as a carer is discriminatory and will not be tolerated in the workplace.

Jones Day considers unlawful harassment and bullying to be unacceptable and such conduct will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Diversity within the legal profession:

At Jones Day, you will see lawyers from diverse background leading client engagements, practice groups, and offices around the world. This reality reflects not only a long-standing Firm commitment to diversity but also a recognition that a broad, diverse group of lawyers is important to our firm culture and meets the needs of our clients in a diverse world. We share this commitment with our clients and undertake this responsibility with them.

We pursue hiring, retaining, mentoring and developing lawyers from historically underrepresented groups and background. By mentoring and promoting women, people of all races and backgrounds and members of the LGBTQI+ community, we tap the unique strengths and experiences of very talented lawyers and staff.

King & Wood Mallesons, as a signatory to the Law Institute of Victoria’s Seasonal Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines, supports and adheres to the agreed framework and recognises its value in providing consistency and fairness through the legal recruitment process.

Diversity and Inclusion

KWM is proud of our significant investment and advocacy related to diversity and inclusion. As a top tier law firm, we are committed to improving legal and justice systems to build more respectful and stronger workplaces and communities, where diversity is valued and celebrated.

Highlights:

• Over 50% representation of women across all non-partner levels

• A target of 40% women in partnership by 2025 (currently at 35%)

• 24% of our graduates and solicitors who are under 2 years experience identify as LGBTIQ+

• Our people identify with over 100 different countries/ethnic groups and speak 66 different languages

• Our Inclusion and diversity policies are market leading, especially our Parental Leave, Public Holiday Swap, and Family and Domestic Violence Leave policies

• We offer programs and services for across all life stages

We understand that the success of diversity and inclusion requires active and committed leadership. As Chief Executive Partner, Renae Lattey is our custodian of KWM culture and actively drives our diversity and inclusion work, supported by leaders across all levels of the firm. This is facilitated by our governance structure with the Inclusion Council leading the way, reinforced by working groups and employee networks that cover a span of diversity areas.

Everyone is welcome to join and participate in our employee networks which directly inform our firm strategy. We also provide a range of opportunities for external networking and professional development with memberships to leading organisations including Diversity Council of Australia, Asian Leadership Project, Asian Australian Lawyers Association, Pride in Diversity, Diverse Women in Law, and Australian Disability Network.

KWM is a leading employer of diverse people who provide exceptional service at all levels as we harness the benefits that diverse thinking offers in research and evaluation, problem solving, and innovation. Our people are supported and enabled to deliver high performance through our systems and programs including our innovation hub, learning and development programs, and professional networks.

KWM’s national leadership is recognised by our inclusion as only one of 25 members of the G20 Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women’s Economic Representation. The group is an action-driven alliance among businesses and governments to accelerate women’s leadership and empowerment across G20 countries.

While we appreciate that diversity and inclusion can offer a competitive advantage for employers, we are committed to sharing and working with others. Building strong client and peer relationships enables us to learn from one another and innovate for a better future. It is also at the heart of our being – providing access to justice through improving human rights.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

At KWM, we consider the mental health and wellbeing of our people, and those we work with across the legal profession, to be an issue of critical importance. Alongside our focus on diversity and inclusion, we also recognise our responsibility for providing a healthy and safe workplace for our people.

• At KWM we see wellbeing as a shared responsibility – at the individual, team, and firm level. At the individual level we ask people to know what they need to do to look after themselves and how to demonstrate and prioritise self-care and acknowledge there are times when client demands may impact these. At a team level we work hard to create a sense of belonging, connection, strong positive team cultures grounded in psychological safety. At a firm level we provide policies, processes, learning and development and some tech platforms to support wellbeing such as Sonder, Unmind and Headspace. We require all our graduates to record their hours worked to help us monitor and manage workloads and comply with our obligations under the Legal Services Award (LSA). We follow a mandatory graduate check-in process to ensure our compliance with the LSA and what is considered ordinary hours of work. We have created clear guidance in terms of role clarity called graduate expectations. This is designed to take away any unnecessary worry or anxiety about not knowing what is expected of them.

• The KWM Practical Legal Training includes an upfront intensive component. This means that our graduates complete a significant proportion of their PLT before commencing the KWM Graduate Program. This is to reduce their overall load during their first rotation. Graduates are paid during their upfront intensive PLT.

• We are a founding member of the Corporate Mental Health Alliance Australia, a business-led and expert-guided alliance which aims to create a culture of good mental health for workers, where everyone can talk about mental health without fear of stigma and share good practice. Two of our lawyers are members of the CMHAA Early in Careers Committee and Thriving from the Start network. The Thriving from the Start network is a community of support for those who are in their early career stages. With a mission to create a culture of positive mental health in businesses, the network focuses on projects that enable education and provide resources to the Early in Careers cohort.

• Our commitment to flexible and hybrid working arrangements actively supports a variety of formal and informal working options, accessible to all irrespective of personal circumstances. All of our people are expected to be in the office more than less and we believe our graduates benefit greatly from the informal on the job experience which is difficult to replicate from home.

• We’re enabling rest and recovery, including though our Time Back Policy, and continually monitoring and improving our systems to monitor workloads and wellbeing.

Positive Workplace Culture

We foster a workplace that is fair, safe, and based on respect and integrity. We are taking a very intentional approach to raise awareness around sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behaviours. Our Respect@KWM commitment is to foster a workplace that is fair, safe, and based on respect and integrity. Any inappropriate behaviours including harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying has no place at KWM.

• We have commenced a comprehensive Respect@KWM program of work, which focuses specifically on KWM’s response to eliminating sexual harassment and gender inequality, harassment and bullying in the workplace.

• Our mandatory Respect@KWM compliance module is delivered annually across all levels within the firm.

• Looking forward, further development opportunities will be made available to our partners, and across the whole firm to increase awareness and understanding of what a fair, safe, and respectful workplace looks like, and to support a “speak up” culture at KWM.

Adherence to LIV Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines

Lander & Rogers is a signatory to the LIV Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines, which means we have committed to providing a fair and consistent seasonal clerk and graduate recruitment process for our candidates. We see seasonal clerk and graduate talent as vital to our firm, as it allows all of us to benefit from our clerks' and graduates' diverse set of skills, backgrounds and perspectives.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Lander & Rogers has a long-term commitment to the wellbeing of its people and is focused on enabling them to bring their best selves to work, both personally and professionally. We see mental health as integral to a happy and productive workplace.

Our dedicated wellbeing program, Wellness@Landers, takes a holistic approach to supporting the physical and mental health of our people. Since 2018, our firm has focused on resilience — a crucial skill for coping with life's inevitable obstacles. We've partnered with The Resilience Project and its founder, Hugh van Cuylenburg, to build skills in embedding resilience principles into our daily lives; fostering gratitude, empathy and mindfulness; and the power of connection and living with purpose. We stay active and connected with firmwide and team-led activities including virtual and in-person exercise classes, such as yoga and pilates; team sports; online running clubs and distance challenges.

We were recently recognised as a Mental Health First Aid Australia (MHFA) Gold-level skilled workplace, and have a team of mental health first aid officers on-hand to listen to anyone with mental health concerns and connect them with the appropriate professional help or support.

Addressing Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession

Lander & Rogers set a new benchmark for the legal profession when, in November 2020, we overhauled our firm's policy relating to sexual harassment and defined guidelines around consensual relationships in the workplace:

1) In a simple but powerful change to our Sexual Harassment Policy, we introduced mandatory reporting for anyone who experiences, witnesses or becomes aware of sexual harassment within our firm. We shifted the language in our policy that relates to reporting incidents from "should report" to "must report" – to remove stigma and fear for those coming forward to report issues, and to empower not only victims, but also witnesses and bystanders and their managers. In this way we reinforced our firm's zero-tolerance stance on harassment and affirmed our commitment to an inclusive environment where people feel safe to voice their concerns.

2) We introduced a new Personal Relationships in the Workplace policy, applicable to consensual personal relationships and family relationships. The policy states that any staff members engaging in a personal relationship that raises conflict issues (whether actual, potential or perceived) must report the relationship to their manager or to the human resources team. This allows the relevant parties to consult and work together to minimise conflicts of interest – particularly where one party in the relationship is in a position of influence. Rather than stigmatising or banning personal relationships in the workplace, the policy allows us to proactively manage any power imbalance or conflict so that the relationship doesn't adversely impact the couple, or their colleagues, in the fulfilment of their roles and duties.

By fostering an inclusive work environment where people feel safe to initiate honest conversations around sensitive topics like sexual harassment, Lander & Rogers is taking action against one of the legal industry's most pervasive issues.

Promoting diversity within the legal profession.

Lander & Rogers is a committed advocate for diversity and inclusion. We are recognised as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Federal Government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), for our initiatives designed to promote gender equality through pay equity, flexible work practices and tools, gender neutral parental leave opportunities and the promotion of women to positions of leadership.

We're proud to have the highest percentage of female senior associates of any Australian law firm, and one of the highest female partner ratios at 45%. Our firm's Board is 50% female, and we have a female Chief Executive Partner and female Chair. Our partnership promotion pipeline is 50/50 male and female. Of the 31 lawyers promoted to senior positions in 2021, 68% were women - including 3 out of 5 partners.

We recognise that our firm’s success is a direct reflection of the calibre of our people and we are committed to building a workforce that represents the diversity of the clients and communities we serve. We believe an inclusive workplace, where everyone feels valued and can reach their full potential, is a critical part of our success. We are recognised as having an approach to diversity and inclusion that is authentic and genuine and is embedded in our down-to-earth and supportive workplace culture.

Health, Safety & Wellbeing

Our commitment to the wellbeing of our people is demonstrated through our Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management System (System), Psychosocial Action Plan and our visible health and wellbeing program. The System provides the overarching framework and direction for maintaining a healthy and safe workplace. It also includes our Health and Wellbeing Strategy and our health and wellbeing policies. Our strategy is supported by an evidence-based framework which has three objectives:

1. Help our people to be and stay well

2. Provide an environment where our people can thrive and reach their full potential

3. Provide support and a safe environment to people experiencing illness and injury

Our ongoing programs demonstrate our commitment to promoting a culture that prioritises health and wellbeing. Highlights include:

• Wellbeing Week offers a range of sessions on mental, physical and financial health. 

• Regular webinars delivered on range of wellbeing topics such as Men’s Health Week, Managing Mental Health in the Workplace and Healthy Habits. 

• Access to The Resilience Box®, a digital platform providing 24/7 access to health and wellbeing content including videos, podcasts, online learning modules and fact sheets. 

• Support for parents and carers including:

  • Access to the Birth Beat program – an online pre-natal course 

  • Access to the Circle In platform to support our people starting their parenthood journey, returning from leave or with caregiving responsibilities.  

• Annual flu vaccinations.

• Discounted health insurance.

• Salary continuance insurance.

We partner with the Centre for Corporate Health to deliver our Employee Assistance Program, which is designed to support our partners and staff by offering free, confidential counselling to support them and their immediate family when needed. 

Inclusive and Respectful Workplace

Inclusion is at the very core of who we are as a firm. We all contribute to building a culture of inclusion, respect and belonging and empower every individual to be themselves at work so that everyone has the opportunity to develop and progress.  Our strong commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace is driven by our values and championed through the leadership of our firm’s Board and partners. Our inclusion networks – Gender Equality, Pride, CALD and Disability – are open to all partners and employees.  These groups play a pivotal role in advancing our inclusion strategy through their advocacy for meaningful change, sharing their lived experience and allyship.

In 2023, we received endorsement for our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) following significant work by our RAP Working Group.  Since then we have held formal launches in each of our offices celebrating this important step in our reconciliation journey.  We partnered with a pro bono client, The Torch, to license a piece of Aboriginal artwork for the RAP publication. 

Flexible working practices have long been part of our culture.  We recognise that work is what people do, not a place where you go.  All partners and staff are entitled to work in a safe environment that is free from unlawful discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), bullying, occupational violence and victimisation.  All partners and staff are expected to behave in a professional manner in the workplace and treat each other with dignity and respect.

We are supported in our inclusion work by partnerships with the Diversity Council of Australia, Pride in Diversity and the Australian Disability Network.  We have been a WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality since 2004, are a signatory to the Law Council’s Gender Equitable Briefing Policy and were recently named as a Silver Employer in the Australian Workplace Equality Index for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion. 

ProBono at Maddocks

Pro Bono is an integral part of our work at Maddocks and allows us to give back to the communities in which we live and work. Central to the firm’s pro bono strategy is an energised team of lawyers spanning all practice areas to support the pro bono program and make a difference.  The focus of our pro bono work includes the areas of homelessness; mental health; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; refugees and people seeking asylum; and the not-for-profit sector generally.  The pro bono community we support includes organisations working for the public good with limited resources, as well as individuals who cannot access justice without legal assistance.  Our commitment to pro bono work is reflected in our signing up to the National Pro Bono Target. Maddocks budgets for every one of its lawyers to complete their pro bono hours each year.  It is fundamental to our approach that our pro bono clients are serviced to the same professional and ethical standards, and levels of service and care, as paying clients.

Maddocks in the Community

We pride ourselves on our community relationships, built on trust, support and shared visions of giving back and creating a better future.  We do this in a number of ways:

• The Maddocks Foundation funds important work by providing significant financial grants, while our Small Grants programs provides urgent funds to community organisations of which our people have a connection.

• We are always looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment.  We do this in partnership with our people, our clients and suppliers.  These initiatives range from reducing travel and a reduction in the use of paper to sourcing sustainable products from our suppliers.

• We are committed to working with our suppliers to promote ethical procurement and sourcing.  As part of this, we report annually on the work we do to eliminate modern slavery.

Law Institute of Victoria Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines

Maddocks is a signatory to the LIV Seasonal Clerkship and Traineeship guidelines, which ensures consistency and fairness throughout the legal recruitment process.   We recognise that recruitment processes can be particularly challenging for some groups including trans and gender diverse applicants, First Nations people, neurodiverse people and people living with disability. If you identify in one or more of these groups and would like a confidential discussion on our recruitment process please don't hesitate to contact Marita Pascoe, Senior Manager, Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing: Marita.Pascoe@maddocks.com.au.

MolinoCahill is an equal opportunity employer.  The success of our firm relies on attracting and retaining talented people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We believe that both our firm and our clients greatly benefit from the broad range of skills, knowledge and experience such diversity brings.  

MolinoCahill does not tolerate discrimination, bullying or sexual harassment and has numerous workplace policies in place for all staff to address and prevent any such behaviour. MolinoCahill also supports its employees through a range of programs designed to promote their wellbeing. The boutique nature of our firm allows us to get to know all staff and provide additional support as and when needed. 

We are committed to providing an inclusive culture where people feel respected, supported and are encouraged to speak up. This is embedded in all aspects of our firm, right from the initial recruitment stage through to all aspects of our day-to-day work environment.

MolinoCahill is committed to ensuring that all prospective clerks and graduates have a fair and positive experience with us, throughout the recruitment process and during our clerkship and graduate programs.  This allows students to make informed decisions about how and where they would like to begin and continue their careers.

At MinterEllison, our purpose is to create lasting impacts with our clients, our people and our communities. Our culture is built on the foundations of trust, integrity and fairness. We create lasting impacts when we consistently live and work in the MinterEllison Way:

• We build authentic and enduring relationships;

• We deliver excellence without attitude;

• We are curious and innovative;

• We make diversity, in all its forms, central to collaboration;

• We support sustainable ways of working.

Our Board's strategic Diversity & Inclusion priorities recognise that Diversity in all its forms is central to collaboration and that inclusive leadership capability is the key underpinning of our Firm's future success. MinterEllison’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy covers the full spectrum of diversity in its broadest sense - Gender Equality, LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Disability Inclusion, Cultural Diversity and Reconciliation. We recognise the importance of intersectionality and consciously work to ensure that those of our people who identify with more than one element of the Diversity & Inclusion agenda are engaged and supported by the programs.

MinterEllison does not tolerate sexual harassment, discrimination, or bullying and has several workplace policies in place as well as mandatory training for all staff in order to address and prevent this kind of behaviour. The Firm also has policies relating to Domestic & Family Violence, Gender Affirmation in the Workplace, Parental Leave, Emergency Childcare and Agile & Alternative Work Arrangements.

MinterEllison is committed to the health and wellbeing of our people and the community, recognising that overall wellness is the cornerstone of sustained high performance. Our health and wellbeing program takes a holistic approach to wellness, by employing a wide range of initiatives designed to equip our people with health, safety and wellbeing strategies. Our people benefit from free gym membership, financial wellbeing information sessions, access to Employee Assistance Programs (also available to their families), and more.

MinterEllison has a comprehensive Learning and Development program, with Firm-wide initiatives at each career milestone designed to build the capability required to support our people to develop to their full potential within an inclusive and collaborative workplace culture. Mental health and wellbeing content included in all our career milestone programs for Vacation Clerks, Graduates, Associates, Senior Associates, new Partners and Business Operations teams. We also provide mental health management training to our Talent team annually.

We appreciate that it is a challenging time for students as they navigate the recruitment process in pursuit of graduate roles, particularly amidst the unusual circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic this year. We fully support and remain ongoing signatories to the LIV Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines, which provide consistency and transparency in the graduate legal recruitment process and afford students the opportunity to make an informed decision when choosing between priority offers.

Russell Kennedy is committed to providing a positive and healthy working environment where our people are treated with respect and feel safe, included, and encouraged to reach their full potential. Our goal is a workplace which is free of discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying, and we will not tolerate such behaviour.

Russell Kennedy promotes a workplace culture that actively embraces and fosters diversity and inclusion. Our aim is to create an environment at Russell Kennedy that is characterised by equal access and respected participation of all groups and individuals. This is regardless of cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, age, religious differences, personal circumstances, abilities and disabilities, socioeconomics and sexual orientation.

We want our people to feel included and confident in bringing their whole selves to work, to an environment where their talents are nurtured, empowering them to contribute to the success of the firm. Russell Kennedy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and has a number of initiatives to ensure that we continue to actively encourage diversity in all its forms.

Our key initiatives include:

• Diversity and Inclusion Committee

• Access and Inclusion – Access RK Seasonal Clerk Pathway

• Russell Kennedy Women’s Network

• Male Advocates for Gender Equality

• Kaleidoscope Cultural Diversity Working Group – Refugee Background Pathway

• LGBTIQ – SPARKLE Network

• Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Committee – Indigenous Identified Pathway

At Russell Kennedy we aim to foster a culture of positive health and wellbeing across the firm through a number of initiatives and programs. We recognise that mental health plays a significant role in the legal industry and we are committed to supporting our employees and Principals. Our wellbeing and resilience framework is built on three key pillars of preventing, educating, empowering our people to ensure their health and wellbeing is a priority.

In order to maintain a healthy and safe workplace free from discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying Russell Kennedy has a number of policies in place to protect our employees and Principals. Every person who walks into our firm is required to undertake a comprehensive induction that clearly outlines the expected behaviours and are required to complete training on equal opportunity.

We recognise applying for clerkships and traineeships is a challenging process. We are a committed LIV signatory as we understand the platform provides fairness and consistency for all law students during the recruitment process.

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We are in it together 

A culture of inclusion benefits everyone. For our firm, it’s about creating a work environment where everyone feels able to contribute positively, where unique abilities and ideas are received and considered, offering different perspectives and ultimately, better results for our clients and communities.

Sparke Helmore’s 2026 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategy (DEI Strategy) is brought to life through the following areas of focus: Accessibility, LGBTQ+, Culture & Identity, Families, Socio-Economic, Gender Identity, and First Nations (RAP Working Group), which provide our people opportunities to share information and experiences, connect with each other on area common interest, and difference, and provide an opportunity to identify improvements to our workplace and culture.

Sparke Helmore is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We have been recognised by:

• Insurance Business Australia as a 5-Star Excellence Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in 2022 and 2023

• Diversity Council of Australia as an Inclusive Employer

• Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) as Employer of Choice for Gender Equality since 2018, and

•  Australasian Lawyer as an Employer of Choice in 2023. 

Through our Pro Bono practice, we focus on making an active contribution to the community by providing free legal assistance to eligible not-for-profits, charitable organisations, and social enterprises, allowing them to extend their capacity to make a difference. Nationally, we are proud to support organisations like the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, Batyr Australia Limited, and others.

One of the key goals of our Pro Bono practice is to partner with First Nations communities through the provision of culturally appropriate wills workshops (previously known as our ‘wills clinics’). We have been holding outreach wills workshops with First Nations people and organisations within regional and remote communities of NSW, WA, the ACT and NT since 2016. Since then, we have assisted more than 399 clients with the preparation of over 909 estate documents. 

Many of our people volunteer their time to assist or have been seconded to community legal centres and pro bono clearing houses. We also provide a range of pro bono legal services for disadvantaged individuals—through long-standing multi-jurisdictional partnerships with organisations like the Cancer Council Legal Referral Service. 

We invest and are invested in you

Our Ignite program is designed to support individuals at every stage in their career with specific development activities in place to incrementally build capabilities as experience grows.

Sparke Helmore’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program provides the opportunity for our lawyers to develop stronger legal knowledge and expertise through sessions on interesting legal topics, changes to legislation and case study discussions. 

Ignite Fundamentals is Sparke’s early career development program. It is focussed on building our early career practitioner’s foundational skills and knowledge to function as a lawyer. This program helps this cohort to understand their chosen practice area in more detail, build core professional skills; become skilled at core technical skills such as researching, drafting documents, and developing their commercial acumen. 

Our Graduate Development Program is designed for our graduate cohort. This program helps graduates understand the business of law, build effective relationships, develop professional resilience.

We run a best-in-class Associate Development program aimed at giving Associates the opportunity to reflect and develop skills focussing on business development and team impact to prepare for progression from Associate to Senior Associate. 

Our Senior Associate Development Program continues to explore and develop behavioural and business development skills. 

Our Manager Development Program aids the capability growth of our business services and secretarial people as they develop their people leadership skills to run effective and engaged teams.

Our National Masterclass Program is aimed at providing lawyers and support staff with ongoing support and development across core professional skills such as effective communication, time management, social and emotional intelligence and understanding style and impact.

We value your contribution 

Our Sparke Wellness program supports our people in being proactive in managing their wellbeing. Recognising that everyone’s wellbeing is unique, we focus on four pillars to help our people in different aspects of their lives, including through access to initiatives such as—workshops, self-paced education resources, and online self-assessments. Our four pillars are: 

Balance – achieving purpose through finding a balance between personal and professional aspirations

Connection – connecting meaningfully with their teams, communities, and networks to promote social engagement 

Health – taking an integrated approach to managing health and safety, including physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing

Wealth – accessing financial tools and offerings to meet individual goals and make personal wealth decisions. 

The program also includes access to TELUS Health, a holistic wellness platform and app, and Employee Assistance Program. We designed this as a digital, 24/7 solution that removes any access barriers. 

In addition, we have our:

• Vicarious Trauma and Self-Care Program—In support of legal teams, sessions provide our people with awareness and understanding of vicarious trauma including how to identify team members who may be struggling and how to support others when dealing with highly confronting, sensitive, or emotional information, and

• Respectful Workplace Behaviour program—Delivered using a blend of classroom and e-learning this program ensures our firm is a values-led, respectful, inclusive environment that brings out the best in everyone.

The firm also provides physical health and nutrition resources, including ergonomic workstation assessments, a range of exercises people can do at their desk, regular features on the firm’s intranet, remote working guides to set a home office up for success and subsidised flu vaccinations.

We look after each other

Our core values guide how we do things at Sparke Helmore. It’s what drives our business forward, building cohesive and agile teams, and strengthening relationships both inside and outside of the firm. These values are not only a reflection of our culture, but the very ingredients of our future growth and success. We’re in it together.

Client-first - putting our clients at the heart of everything we do:

Honest - always being authentic, ethical and behaving with integrity and respect:

Respect and inspire people - enabling people to be their best:

Agile - open to change, adapting to challenges and uncertainty:

One-firm - working collaboratively towards achieving our goals:

Walk the talk - leading by example and showing the way:

By behaving in these ways, staying focused, and working together as one team, we really do put our clients first and enable our people to thrive.

We have a number of initiatives to help our people balance work and life while, examples of what we offer to bring that balance include:

• Birthday leave—To help our people enjoy their special day, we provide a half day of birthday leave.

• Career break—In recognising the demands of a busy working life and balancing professional objectives against personal needs and goals, we provide the opportunity for everyone in the firm to take a career break up to 12 months as unpaid leave. 

• Community program—We focus on driving local action through our program, to create a positive impact on our local communities and build connections. 

• Emergency childcare—The firm pays the cost of emergency childcare if an individual is asked to attend work outside of their normal hours/days.

• Flexible work—This policy aims to assist in balancing work and personal obligations by enabling everyone to apply for a range of flexible work arrangements.

• Paid Parental Leave—We offer paid parental leave of up to 20 weeks entitlement, for the primary caregiver, and six weeks entitlement for the non-primary caregiver.

• Purchase Additional Leave—Each year, permanent employees may elect to purchase up to a maximum of four weeks’.

Your story is yours to define. We’d like to be part of it and for you to be part of ours. 

Read our Employee Value Proposition to get the full story.

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

At Steinepreis Paganin, we care about our people and are highly vigilant and proactive in supporting physical and mental wellbeing. Our goal is sustainable high performance in a safe and caring working environment that supports the goals of our people, both personal and professional, and makes work a great place to be.

Our Wellness Program initiatives are directed at raising awareness, building skills in identifying, preventing, and managing stress, building confidence and resilience. Some of the practical measures we take include:

• Access to Telus Health, the firm’s Employee Assistance Program

• EAP Program extends to family members

• Wellness Program & Events

• Fitness Challenges

• Free annual flu vaccinations

• Ongoing involvement in local sporting teams, sporting, and social events

• SP Charitable Foundation

The firm has a supportive and fun culture based on its one team approach which enhances collegiality and collaboration. Regular feedback, the firm’s Buddy System, and Mentor Program, all aim to provide a supportive and safe workplace, free from stress.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT & WORKPLACE BULLYING

Fundamental to our goal of attracting and retaining excellent people, is a commitment to creating an environment that is free from discrimination, sexual harassment, and bullying. Steinepreis Paganin is committed to building and maintaining a positive, safe, diverse, and inclusive culture and environment with equal opportunity for all to progress and have a meaningful career.

Comprehensive policy and training are in place to set clear behavioural expectations and drive positive and inclusive behaviours, in a culture that will not tolerate inappropriate, unacceptable, and unlawful behaviours including discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying.

Both the firm’s culture and policy aim to create a work environment that supports mutual trust and psychological safety, ensuring that everyone can be themselves, ask questions, raise concerns, and seek guidance without fear. Clear mechanisms are in place for raising concerns, accessing support, and dealing with issues.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Our culture is based on the principles of our excellence, collaboration, commitment, and respect.

Steinepreis Paganin is committed to providing a diverse and inclusive culture for all its employees, with equal opportunity to progress and have a meaningful career. We offer challenging and rewarding work in a supportive and inclusive environment, where everyone has the opportunity to achieve personal and professional growth.

LIV CLERKSHIP & TRAINEE GUIDELINES

Steinepreis Paganin is a signatory to the LIV Seasonal Clerkship & Traineeship Guidelines 2024 and consistently adhere to these guidelines.

We appreciate that the recruitment process can be a daunting one and aim to make our process as transparent and simple as possible. Students are welcome to contact us if they have any queries in relation to our recruitment process or their application and we look forward to supporting and connecting with students during the year ahead.

Thomson Geer is committed to building a safe and supportive working environment for our employees including graduates and clerks. We have internal policies and initiatives that set out the objectives of the firm to ensure the health and wellbeing of all our staff.

Thomson Geer are signatories to, and adhere to, the LIV Clerkship and Traineeship Guidelines.

We have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which is a free, confidential professional assistance service that Thomson Geer provides to all employees and their immediate family members. The EAP provides access to short term, practical advice and assistance to resolve any issues that are of concern. Some examples of issues that may be raised with the EAP include managing and coping with change, personal trauma and grief, relationship difficulties and breakdowns, and anxiety and depression.

We firmly believe in equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion, which is reflected in the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Statement. Diversity is inherent to the way we operate and is core to the success of any business operating in a competitive market.

Diversity refers to respecting and harnessing differences. It is born out of a recognition that individuals are unique and characterised by a number of differing dimensions including but not limited to age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical ability, religious or cultural belief, and gender identity.

Although historically a large focus of our diversity initiatives across the firm have related to the advancement of women, we have shifted our strategic approach from a narrow gender lens to a commitment to developing a more inclusive environment that:

• respects and values individual differences;

• proactively seeks out diverse perspectives when making decisions;

• challenges biases (conscious and unconscious) that inhibit diversity and reduce levels of attention to diverse ideas.

Our diversity initiatives include:

• We practice diversity within recruitment, selection and promotion activities, ensuring a diverse range of qualified candidates are considered across all roles and levels. We also develop programs to assist in succession and promotion planning, to ensure a more qualified, diverse and broadly skilled pool of experienced staff for promotion purposes.

• We have adopted the Law Council of Australia's Equitable Briefing Policy were we aim to brief women in at least 30 per cent of all matters and pay 30 per cent of the value of all brief fees.

• We monitor, evaluate and report on our gender, diversity and inclusion position within the firm and against internal benchmarks and to market. For example, continuing to report on and make recommendations to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and addressing any issues identified by our gender pay gap analysis.

• Our female Chair Loretta Reynolds and Chief Executive Partner Adrian Tembel have ensured at least 40% of internal promotions have been women in the last 6 years.

• Publications and newsletters are co-authored by one female and one male. We have at least equal female and male representation in the presenters for our CPD and annual training programs.

• The firm is a member of the Australian Network on Disability (AND) and one of our partners is a Board member. Every year we celebrate fundraising and awareness initiatives. As part of our membership of AND we participate in the AND Stepping Into program. Stepping Into is a national internship program that connects university students with disability to workplaces. We are one of only 111 organisations that have provided internships as a part of the program across all types of workplaces and industries. We had an intern placed in our Sydney office through the program in 2019. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that we did not host an intern in 2020, we were pleased to welcome a further intern in 2021.

• Our firm has recently adopted its first Reconciliation Action Plan. We have recently joined CareerTrackers, an organisation supporting pre-professional Indigenous university students and linking them with employers to participate in paid, multi-year internships. We are looking forward to welcoming our first intern in 2022.

• We have implemented a national group, moderated by Loretta Reynolds, of young partners who are juggling parental responsibilities with their work to discuss challenges, share experiences and lessons, and offer a support network.

• The firm is a member of Women in Banking and Finance (WiBF). WiBF is a not-for-profit membership association aimed at increasing the representation of female leaders in the banking and finance sector.

The firm has had a number of CPD sessions which have focused on diversity as a part of our commitment to building an inclusive and responsive firm culture, including:

• 'Diversity and its Legal Relevance' by partner Andrew Cardell-Ree

• 'Bringing our whole selves to work: Judaism as a case study of faith and ethnicity at work in Australia' by partner Jacquie Seemann

• 'Creating change through influence as we #BalanceforBetter' (for International Women's Day) by partner Sanushka Seomangal

• 'You said what? She wants to work how? He did that? – Anti-Discrimination 2020' by partner Jacquie Seemann

• Pandemic Pitfalls - Facts, Vax and Traps (Bullying harassment and discrimination in a COVID-19 world)

The firm also has social inclusion policies focusing on prioritising support for Indigenous Australians through our purchase of promotional products from an Indigenous owned organisation, pro bono work for organisations supporting Indigenous Australians, and a portion of our material sponsorship of the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Rules Football league being directed to programs in support of Indigenous communities.

Thomson Geer is committed to providing its employees with a safe work environment that is free from inappropriate behaviour and we take all reasonable steps to minimise any form of workplace discrimination, harassment or bullying. We have internal policies including our Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment Policy and our Diversity and Inclusion Statement which outline our obligations and requirements of staff. Discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment) and bullying are unlawful and workplace discrimination, harassment or bullying by or towards any employee, contractor, supplier, customer, client or visitor in any work related situation (including work related events) will not be tolerated by Thomson Geer under any circumstances.