We are proud to announce the following nominees for the upcoming ACT Women Lawyers Awards. All nominees are of an incredibly high calibre and we know the judging panel will have some very difficult decisions ahead of them.
Winner of the inaugural Woman Lawyer of the Year (Government) Award, Helen Curtis, shares what winning meant to her. We encourage ACT lawyers to nominate themselves, their colleagues, employers and friends before the 31 August deadline. More information on how to nominate is available online.
Women Lawyers Association ACT and ANU Women In Law Organisation invite you to join us for a 'Women in Law Career Panel' on Monday 20 August, from 6:30-7:30pm at ANU.
Our panellists come from a range of backgrounds, and aim to show you that there is no one set path following the completion of a law degree.
Naomi Wootton (ANU) and Prue Bindon
Brooke West (UC) and Tamara Sullivan
Congratulations to Naomi Wootton (ANU) and Brooke West (UC) who were the 2015 recipients of the Women Lawyers Association ACT prize for the top achieving female law student.
We wish them continues success in their future careers.
WLA ACT has the pleasure of inviting you to our first Mentor Breakfast of 2016, with guest speaker Katrina Cooper, Senior Legal Advisor at the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.
Katrina Cooper is currently the Senior Legal Advisor at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with oversight of international and domestic law issues. She has had a varied career as a diplomat, including postings to Chile, Port Moresby and as Australia’s Ambassador to Mexico. She has also recently been announced as the next Deputy Chief of Mission to Washington DC.
Katrina will share her insights on her career as a lawyer and diplomat, and on her work with the Women in Leadership initiative at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mentor breakfasts provide our members with the opportunity to hear from a prominent woman in the legal profession and to celebrate and learn from their achievements.
Date and time: Tuesday, 10 May 2016, 7.30am to 8.30am.
Venue: Assembly Room, Hyatt Hotel, Canberra.
Cost: $45 for members and $50 for non-members.
Attendees will be able to claim 1 CPD point in Core Area 3.
Please click here to purchase tickets.
We are delighted to announce that Gillian Beaumont Legal has selected Georgina McKay as the winner of the Gillian Beaumont Legal & WLA ACT Award 2016 to attend the AWL National Conference in Perth.
Congratulations to Georgina and thank you to all members who submitted applications and contributed to the competitiveness of this Award.
We look forward to reading about Georgina's experience at the Conference in our next Newsletter.
Thanks again to Gillian Beaumont Legal for the generous support that has made this Award possible.
On Friday 11 March 2016, the WLA ACT, in conjunction with Legal Aid ACT and the Women's Legal Centre, celebrated the launch of Dr. Skye Saunders’ new publication – aptly titled “Whispers from the Bush”. WLA ACT was proud to support Skye and all her hard work and dedication in raising awareness surrounding the workplace sexual harassment of Australia rural women.
Skye spoke of her experience of growing up in a country town, and how her strong connection to the bush prompted her to address the issues that rural women face in the workplace today. She touchingly remembered her late mother, whose memory she drew strength from while listening to countless rural women who were brave enough to share their story, on a subject that until now, has received little to no attention in the wider Australian community.
Skye’s book outlines how sexual harassment isn’t unique to rural environments, but how it is particularly problematic for rural women because they live in more isolated communities, where entrenched patriarchal practices, values and behaviours still exist. Skye acknowledged that while there are a number of men in rural settings who salute the contributions women make in typically ‘male oriented’ workplaces, there are a greater number of men who still use sexual harassment as a way of making women feel like they are intruders in their own workplace.
Joining Skye, were speakers Melinda Tankard-Reist; author, media commentator and women's advocate, and Belinda Barnard of the ACT Human Rights Commission. Both of these women applauded Skye for the work she had done in opening up a very difficult dialogue, and shared their own, very personal experiences with differing levels of sexual harassment in the workplace.
WLA ACT commends Skye in her efforts as an advocate for rural women. We would also like to warmly thank the women who helped Skye in her research for this much needed publication, Melinda and Belinda for taking the time to offer their own insights on a very important issue within our society, and Legal Aid for the generous use of their boardroom.
Skye’s book is available for purchase online.
We are pleased to circulate our newsletter for this quarter.
Items this issue include:
WLA ACT, in conjunction with the Women's Legal Centre and Legal Aid ACT, has the pleasure of inviting you to the book launch of 'Whispers from the Bush: The Workplace Sexual Harassment of Australian Rural Women', by Dr Skye Saunders.
Dr Skye Saunders is an academic at the Australian National University (ANU). Prior to joining the ANU, Skye worked as a Canberra-based solicitor in the area of Employment Relations and Discrimination Law where she developed a particular interest in sexual harassment matters. Skye is an advocate for issues of gender and the law, particularly in the complex context of remote Australian communities.
With guest speakers:
Melinda Tankard Reist, Women & Girls' Advocate
Belinda Barnard, Deputy ACT Discrimination Commissioner
Drinks and nibbles provided.
Friday 11 March 2016
5:30pm
Legal Aid Office, 2 Allsop St, Canberra
This is a free event for members and non-members.
Please RSVP online via this link
We are delighted to announce the Gillian Beaumont Legal & WLA ACT Award for a member to attend the Australian Women Lawyers 2016 National Conference. The Award builds on the success of the first award made two years ago and is once again made possible with the generous support of Gillian Beaumont Legal.
The Conference is the peak conference for female practitioners, leaders and senior professional across the Australian legal sector to form new relationships, discuss ideas and learn from industry leaders. For more information about the conference please click here
Your application is to be submitted by email to contact@wlaact.org.au by Friday 4 March 2016 and must satisfy the following requirements:
1. You must be a current member (2015/16 Financial Year) of WLA ACT.
2. You must submit a statement of 1,000-1,500 words (longer statements will not be considered) addressing as relevant-
a) Your contribution to the aims of the WLA ACT (see 'about us')
b) The likely benefits to you of attending the Conference
c) The need for support (your personal financial circumstances do not need to be disclosed, but it would be relevant, for example, whether or not your employer would fund you to attend, whether or not you are in the early years of your career, whether or not you work for an NGO/community service).
3. You must provide a brief (one page) CV, including date of admission (if relevant) and work history.
4. You must provide a letter of endorsement from your employer (if relevant) to the effect that they support your application and approve your attendance.
5. You must commit to preparing a 1,000-2,000 word written piece about the Conference within 30 days of your return, for publication as WLA ACT sees fit.
The Award winner will be selected by Gillian Beaumont Legal and will be notified by WLA ACT on Friday 18 March 2016.
If you're a working mum and would like some targeted assistance in helping to balance your roles at work and home, you may be interested in the Working Mothers' Program workshop. Read on and complete our survey ...
In the Law Council of Australia's National Attrition and Re-engagement Study (NARS) Report published in 2014, it was reported that female practitioners who participated in the survey were less satisfied with their work than their male counterparts. Among the 3 elements of work that gave female respondents the most dissatisfaction were:
These may be most acutely felt for women with family responsibilities.
'How Do You Do It' is a private provider which offers the Working Mothers' Program to assist working mothers with strategies to help them more easily balance their roles so that they are more productive, confident and satisfied in both work and family areas. The program covers these 3 areas of dissatisfaction identified in the NARS Report. The facilitators at How Do You Do It have extensive experience working with women in professional services contexts, including in the legal profession. Attached is a summary of what is offered in the program.
The Working Mothers' Program requires a minimum number of participants (usually 10-12 people) which may mean that it is not feasible for many firms in Canberra to offer to their female staff. However, if there are sufficient numbers of WLA ACT members willing to participate in the program, this is something that WLA ACT can help to facilitate. How Do You Do It can adjust the program to cater for participants coming from different organisations.
If you are a WLA ACT member and the Working Mothers' Program is something that you may be interested in, we encourage you to discuss it with your employer/organisation and click here to complete this survey so we can assess the feasibility of running the program. Your responses will not be shared with anyone other than the WLA ACT Committee. If it is becomes appropriate to share your responses with How Do You Do It, we will seek your express consent before doing so.
