Lawyers, barristers put on notice over sexual harassment

afr.com:

Lawyers and barristers who fail to adequately prevent sexual harassment of their staff, or discrimination towards them, face disbarment or losing their right to practise, the profession’s watchdogs have warned.

The bodies that oversee the rights of solicitors and barristers to practise law say they will keep a close eye on how practitioners comply with new duties to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces when enforcement of the duty starts in December.

Anna Cody says the Sex Discrimination Commission will take a tough stance on law firms breaching new legal duties. Peter Rae

New Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody, who is a lawyer, has warned she will be tougher on the legal industry than other sectors when her power to enforce the duty kicks in on December 12.

The new legal obligation, which stemmed from the Respect@Work report, requires employers to take proactive and meaningful action to prevent sexual harassment or discrimination at or in connection to work. It took effect last December, but the commission’s powers to investigate and enforce compliance only come into force this year.

Ms Cody said the Human Rights Commission had “resourced up” so it could crack down on laggards as soon as its new powers allow, and that professions with especially poor records of sexual discrimination and harassment – such as lawyers – would be first in its sights.

Her expectations of legal chambers would be higher, given they “clearly have a very high level of knowledge” of discrimination and harassment laws professionally.

Victorian Legal Services Board chief executive and commissioner Fiona McLeay welcomed Ms Cody’s intention to focus on the legal profession, noting the body already had “a number of investigations and