Legislative changes directly affecting barristers and barristers’ chambers

The Bar Association encourages all members to attend this CPD seminar, as the changes to be discussed affect you.

The Bar Association’s Industrial, Employment, Health and Safety Committee and the Diversity and Equality Committee are delighted to invite members to a CPD seminar on 19 July 2023 covering significant changes under the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 (Cth). Those changes commenced on 13 December 2022 and have direct application to the New South Wales Bar.

Key amendments include new provisions in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SD Act) making it unlawful for a person to subject another person to a workplace environment hostile on the ground of sex (s 28M, SD Act). There is now also a positive duty on all employers and persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), which may include barristers and would include barristers’ chambers, to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate, as far as possible, specified forms of unlawful sex discrimination, sexual and sex-based harassment, victimisation and hostile workplace environments (Part IIA, SD Act).

These amendments were prima facie largely or wholly absorbed into Rule 123(1)(a) of the Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules 2015 on 13 December 2022, by reason of the broad scope of the term ‘discrimination’ in Rule 125.

The CPD will in addition cover amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) prohibiting sexual harassment in connection with work which commenced on 6 March 2023.

The CPD seminar will be held at 5pm in the Bar Association’s Common Room.

Please register to join Bruce Hodgkinson AM SC (Co-Chair of the IEHS Committee) and Sera Mirzabegian SC (Co-Chair of the DEC), and IEHS Committee members Penny Thew, Jamie Darams and Maurice Baroni, for a CPD seminar to discuss these important changes. This CPD will run by registration only.