Policy Statement – National Model Framework Addressing Sexual Harassment for the Australian Legal Profession
15 May 2025
Sexual harassment is unacceptable, in any context. Sexual harassment impairs the dignity and respect to those who experience it. The harm can be long lasting. For organisations it may have adverse legal, financial and reputational outcomes. Eliminating sexual harassment in the legal profession has been part of a long-running commitment from the Law Council and its Constituent Bodies.
The National Model Framework Addressing Sexual Harassment for the Australian Legal Profession (Model Framework) was developed by the Law Council pursuant to its National Action Plan to Reduce Sexual Harassment in the Australian Legal Profession (NAP).
The Model Framework was first developed in 2021 in consultation with the Law Council’s Constituent Bodies, its Equal Opportunity Committee and key stakeholders as a guidance material to assist the legal profession to proactively prevent and respond to sexual harassment.
The Model Framework is directed at legal organisations, workplaces, legal practices, chambers, and regulators or other disciplinary or external complaints bodies. Organisations can either:
- adopt the Model Framework in its entirety as that organisation’s own sexual harassment policy; or
- use the Model Framework to develop, augment or refine their existing sexual harassment policies.
Following a period of consultation in 2024, updates to the Model Framework were finalised in March 2025. Revisions to the Model Framework are made against the background of recent significant changes in the law and best practice following the release of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work Report (2020).
The appendices to the Model Framework provide best practice recommendations for complaints procedures, directed toward:
- organisations taking external complaints about sexual harassment—for example, disciplinary bodies (Appendix A)1;
- organisations dealing with internal complaints—such as workplaces (Appendix B); and
- an auditing tool/checklist, which enables organisations to identify any gaps in their existing policies (Appendix C).
The Model Framework is supported by additional resources that are available via the Law Council’s Time for Change: Addressing Sexual Harassment portal.
1 The Law Council notes that the document in Appendix A has been drafted as a general guide, primarily directed towards legal profession complaints taking bodies, to facilitate best practice and consistency where possible. However, it is noted that the statutory functions and powers of complaints-taking agencies in general vary considerably, and this should be taken into account when making a complaint.
Last Updated on 27/05/2025