<!--The Official Report of Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia are covered by parliamentary privilege. Republication by others is not afforded the same protection and may result in exposure to legal liability if the material is defamatory. You may copy and make use of excerpts of proceedings where (1) you attribute the Parliament as the source, (2) you assume the risk of liability if the manner of your use is defamatory, (3) you do not use the material for the purpose of advertising, satire or ridicule, or to misrepresent members of Parliament, and (4) your use of the extracts is fair, accurate and not misleading. Copyright in the Official Report of Parliamentary Debates is held by the Attorney-General of South Australia.-->
<hansard id="" tocId="" xml:lang="EN-AU" schemaVersion="4.0" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="hansard_1_0.xsd" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
  <name>Legislative Council</name>
  <date date="2024-03-21T14:15:00+10:30" />
  <sessionName>Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)</sessionName>
  <parliamentNum>55</parliamentNum>
  <sessionNum>1</sessionNum>
  <parliamentName>Parliament of South Australia</parliamentName>
  <house>Legislative Council</house>
  <venue></venue>
  <reviewStage>published</reviewStage>
  <startPage num="5187" />
  <endPage num="5235" />
  <dateModified time="2024-03-22T15:25:04+10:30" />
  <proceeding continued="true">
    <name>Question Time</name>
    <subject>
      <name>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Legal Profession</name>
      <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000086">
        <heading>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Legal Profession</heading>
      </text>
      <talker role="member" id="5418" referenceid="e7b583be01404e74b438589370882e1d" kind="question">
        <name>The Hon. C. BONAROS</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <questions>
          <question date="2024-03-21T03:45:00+10:30">
            <name>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Legal Profession</name>
          </question>
        </questions>
        <startTime time="2024-03-21T14:36:00+10:30" />
        <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000087">
          <timeStamp time="2024-03-21T14:36:00+10:30" />
          <by role="member" id="5418" referenceid="e7b583be01404e74b438589370882e1d">The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:36):</by>  I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney-General a question about the Equal Opportunity Commission's report into the legal profession.</text>
        <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000088">Leave granted.</text>
      </talker>
      <talker role="member" id="5418" referenceid="e7b583be01404e74b438589370882e1d" kind="question" continued="true">
        <name>The Hon. C. BONAROS</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <page num="5192" />
        <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000089">
          <by role="member" id="5418" referenceid="e7b583be01404e74b438589370882e1d">The Hon. C. BONAROS:</by>  In 2021, the Equal Opportunity Commission released a damning report into an inquiry into the legal profession involving harassment and sexual harassment. As a result of that, some of the findings included things like misogynist and sexist harassing behaviours, particularly against women, being rampant within the legal sector from both judicial officers and counsel. That was just one of the findings amongst a number, and also a number of recommendations that were made. My question to the Attorney is: could he please provide the chamber with an update on the progress of the current follow-up review to that initial inquiry in 2021?</text>
      </talker>
      <talker role="member" id="4697" referenceid="c1607c57d2294390bdc2b07c15f35010" kind="answer">
        <name>The Hon. K.J. MAHER</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <portfolios>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Aboriginal Affairs</name>
          </portfolio>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Attorney-General</name>
          </portfolio>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector</name>
          </portfolio>
        </portfolios>
        <startTime time="2024-03-21T14:37:20+10:30" />
        <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000090">
          <timeStamp time="2024-03-21T14:37:20+10:30" />
          <by role="member" id="4697" referenceid="c1607c57d2294390bdc2b07c15f35010">The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:37):</by>  I thank the honourable member for her question. I thank her for her involvement in this area and her representations and activism, which I think in no small part played a role in the 2021 report of the review of harassment in the legal profession. The honourable member quoted me on her social media as thanking her, so I appreciate that as well.</text>
        <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000091">In terms of the review currently being undertaken by the equal opportunity commissioner's office, I am informed that eligible participants in the review include lawyers, support staff, students and other people involved in the legal profession over the last three years since the report was handed down. I am informed that to take part there is a short survey that can be accessed on South Australia's Equal Opportunity Commission's website, which closes at midnight on Sunday 31 March 2024.</text>
        <text id="20240321b771ac1903ce42aeb0000092">I encourage people to avail themselves of the opportunity of taking the survey, because each response is important to inform the review of the progress that has been made and what more needs to be done to ensure the legal profession is a safe and inclusive workplace.</text>
      </talker>
    </subject>
  </proceeding>
</hansard>