Sexual harassment in the workplace

At the last board meeting of the Law Council of Australia, Directors unanimously called on the Federal Government to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), to close gaps and ensure that victims of sexual harassment in the workplace can be protected with a comprehensive legislative framework that extends to judges, other statutory office holders and barristers. 

There was also unanimous endorsement of the Law Council’s long-standing call for the government to establish a Federal Judicial Commission. Read more.

Advocacy

Inquiries and consultations as of 2 July 2020. 

• Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill 2020, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
• Exemption of delegated legislation from parliamentary oversight, Parliamentary Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation.
• Rural Fires Amendment (NSW RFS and Brigades Donations Fund) Bill 2020, Parliament of New South Wales.
• Creating a world class migration advice industry, Department of Home Affairs.
• COVID-19, criminal activity and law enforcement, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law enforcement.
• Review of the current CPD requirements for lawyers in Victoria, Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner.
• 3rd UPR cycle: contributions and participation of "other stakeholders" in the UPR, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Australia.
• Inquiry into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communities, Parliamentary House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affair.
• Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability – Criminal Justice System Issues Paper, Royal Commission.
• Inquiry into the human rights of women and girls in the Pacific, Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.
• Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence, Parliamentary House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.
• Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia.
• Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Royal Commission.
• National Water Reform, Productivity Commission.
• Review of AFP Powers, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
• Review of ‘Declared Areas’ Provisions, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
• Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - First Nations People with Disability issues paper, Royal Commission.
• Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Royal Commission.
• Review into the Framework of Religious Exemptions in Anti-discrimination Legislation, Australian Law Reform Commission.
• Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Attorney-General's Department. 

• Draft Goods and Services Tax Determination GSTD 2020/D1, Goods and services tax: when is the supply of a transaction account GST-free under table item 3 or table item 4(a) of subsection 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999?, Australian Taxation Office.

• Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2019/8DC1, Draft Schedule 2 ATO compliance approach to GST apportionment of acquisitions that relate to certain financial supplies, Australian Taxation Office.

• Consumer data right (CDR), Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

• Inquiry into Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology – Questions on Notice, Parliamentary Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology.

• Inquiry into the Working Holiday Maker program, Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration.

• COVID-19, criminal activity and law enforcement, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law enforcement.

News and Media 

Media releases and statements:

• Law Council President, Pauline Wright statement on the rising costs of law degrees, 19 June 2020.
• Law Council President, Pauline Wright, statement regarding Hon Dyson Heydon, AC, QC, 22 June 2020. 
• Law Council President, Pauline Wright, statement regarding sexual harassment in the legal profession, 27 June 2020
• Law Council President, Pauline Wright, statement on China imposing security laws in Hong Kong, 30 June 2020.
• Law Council calls for electronic document processes to remain, 1 July 2020.
• Funding certainty for legal assistance services from today, 1 July 2020.

​Key coverage:

• Australia ‘gravely concerned' about Hong Kong's national security law, Lawyers Weekly, 2 July 2020. 
• Hayne says High Court failed harassment victims, Australian Financial Review, 1 July 2020. 
• Closed hearings for Collaery diminish faith in justice system, says LCA, Lawyers Weekly, 30 June 2020.
• Law Council seeks amendments to Sex Discrimination Act, Lawyers Weekly, 30 June 2020.
• Quality of legal education at risk with fees increase, Lawyers Weekly, 29 June 2020.
• Power of the law unto themselves The Australian, 27 June 2020.
• Law Council calls for an independent body to investigate harassment in the profession, Sky News, 27 June 2020.
• Push to jail fewer Indigenous children, Australian Financial Review, 26 June 2020.
• Law Council raises concerns about harassment in the workplace, ABC online, 23 June 2020.