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Law Council of Australia

Policy Agenda

Equitable Briefing Policy

The Law Council’s Equitable Briefing Policy is intended to drive cultural change within the legal profession, support the progression and retention of women barristers, and address the significant pay gap and underrepresentation of women in the superior courts.

The Policy is available for adoption by Barristers and any briefing entity, including organisations and counsel in addition to clients of briefing entities operating in Australia. The selection of counsel is ultimately the decision of the client, and in-house counsel are encouraged to adopt and apply the Policy when instructing briefing entities and making their selections of barristers.
 

Sign up to the Equitable Briefing Policy

Barristers and Briefing Entities can adopt the Equitable Briefing Policy by completing the following form.

Please note the form requires confirmation on agreeing to the terms and conditions and supplying a company logo (if signing up on behalf of an organisation).
 

Annual reporting

In adopting the policy, barristers and briefing entities commit to providing a confidential annual report on their briefing practices and measures taken to implement the Policy to the Law Council by 30 September each year.

The Law Council will subsequently collate the data provided and produce a final report of figures for publication. Data will be aggregated and published information will not disclose identifying information.

The Law Council has developed an online portal to assist Policy adoptees in providing their annual reports following the end of each financial year. The Law Council has also developed the Guidelines to assist to Policy adoptees in reporting requirements.
 

Submit your annual report for the 2022 – 2023 financial year

Deadline extended until 9 October 2023

The reporting portal for 2022 – 2023 is now open:

A copy of the reporting questions can be accessible below, however adoptees of the policy will need to submit their report via the online portal. 

To assist you with reporting, the Equitable Briefing Policy Reporting Template and Guidelines provides detailed information on how to how to make a report and includes a reporting template to show the information required.
 

Review of the Equitable Briefing Policy

The Law Council recently conducted a Review of the Equitable Briefing Policy based on the data collected over the first four years of the Policy. The Review considered matters including whether the reporting targets should be revised, whether the Policy should address additional areas of diversity, and whether the terminology used in the Policy is up-to-date.

In November 2022, the Law Council updated the Policy in accordance with the findings of the Review.


Previous annual reports

Contact

For any inquiries about the Equitable Briefing Policy, please email Akhila Sambhara - akhila.sambhara@lawcouncil.au.
 


Organisations that have endorsed the Policy: 
 


 


Counsel who have adopted the Policy:
 

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