Diversity at Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Corrs is very supportive of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. We have diverse policies (such as a progressive dress code) and an active Pride committee that organises events and does internal advocacy to ensure that everyone can bring their whole selves to work!

Diversity is has become evident amongst junior levels and the firm has several initiatives to increase diversity and conversations at all levels. However, there remains under-representation of women and ethnic minorities, particularly at the senior levels.

There are lots of committees committed to diversity - including Pride, gender equality, cultural diversity. However in my view, the culture of hours and promotions is a real barrier to proper diversity. For instance, in my team there are 3 female partners compared to 12 male partners.

The firm is very committed to gender and LGBT diversity. There are strict promotion targets for female and diverse partners. Maternity leave is also close to 6 months, I believe. This is top of the range. We do need to improve our efforts in cultural/ethnic diversity. This has been a silent topic in the firm and in the legal industry as a whole. However, I have rated this highly because I am personally involved in the initiative in this space and I am aware of the improvements to be implemented that have not yet been announced. Initiatives include celebrating other ethnicities, cuisine, cultures. Potential lawyer exchange with other countries. Learning modules and training to reduce (if any) microaggressions and unconscious bias. Focus groups to gauge lawyer satisfaction and to ensure the firm is accountable for grievances.

Strong focus on diversity, with supportive policies and multiple working groups who are very active and engaged.

Offers maternity and paternity leave, groups for women in the organisation, LGBT people, and a Reconciliation Action Plan group. I believe it has targets for diversity and inclusion at all levels (but especially partnership).

- The firm has an amazing diversity and inclusion team and is fully committed to improving; - I think the firm did a poor job in the past so our percentage of female partners is very low. The firm has targets but perhaps these could be more aggressive; - the number of women hired each year, especially at the graduate level, tends to outnumber the number of men. At middle levels women are also about equal. At the top there are very few women still; - Not sure about childcare - great parental leave policy of 26 weeks full pay for either partner; - not transparent about gender pay disparity. - Very welcoming of LGBT staff and being an ally; - minimal ethnic diversity.

I am not sure what my company does to attract applicants from less privileged backgrounds.

The firm takes care to ensure that the interview and application process gives applicants opportunities to discuss their personal circumstances for context.

The firm is involved in programs that allow people from less advantaged backgrounds to gain work experience. There are no other specific initiatives in place to assist applicants from less privileged backgrounds during the recruitment process (so far as I am aware). However, my own experience is that the firm employs people from a diverse range of backgrounds - so I believe the current hiring policies are already quite effective in ensuring that university graduates are neither unduly favoured nor prejudiced on account of their background.

Our firm offers an indigenous recruitment process and commits to social and gender ratios in recruitment and promotional contexts.

I don't believe I am well placed to answer this question as I have not had first hand experience of Corrs' procedures and processes in regard to attracting applicants from less privileged backgrounds. I will say though, that the range of aforementioned groups (including CorrsNOW and Pride@Corrs) attracts a more diverse range of applicants from different backgrounds.

I am not aware of any initiatives to attract applicants from less privileged backgrounds.

I do not know enough about this to provide an informed comment.

There are scholarships / work experience opportunities offered to Indigenous students.