On 18 and 19 October at the Realm Hotel in Canberra, we held our biennial AWL conference, themed Leading the Way. Powerful presentations from a range of excellent speakers motivated us all to keep gender equality, and gender justice front of mind in all we do.

We were so fortunate to be welcomed by our Patron, the Hon. Justice Jacqueline Gleeson, and to hear from our keynote speaker Jennifer Robinson of Doughty Street chambers on how the law silences women. We were extremely lucky to have inspiring panel presentations from Australia’s leading lawyers and change makers including:

Dr Anna Cody, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, and chair Leah Marrone, barrister

leading First Nations lawyers Karly Warner and Emma Hudson-Bughiar from Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT, and chair Alinta Robinson-Herbert

Deputy Chair Sarah Court of ASIC and CMM Carly Kind, Privacy Commissioner, and chair Astrid Haban-Beer

Dr Hannah Tonkin, NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner, Katrina Marson, author and Sapphire Parsons workplace safety lawyer, and chair Shelley O’Connell

Hon. Justice Chriss Loukas-Karlsson, Ann-Maree David, Kirsty Salvestro and Deborah Battison on Kindness in Law

Dr Alice Edwards, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Kate Eastman SC and Dr Kylie Weston-Scheuber, and chair Renee Bianchi

Dr Francesca Rush, Alicia Genet and Anabel Griffin, and chair Stephanie Pasharis

Tanja Kovac and Dr Sonia Palmieri, and chair Emma Luck

Fiona McLeod AO SC and Jennifer Batrouney AM KC

Each session was chaired by current and former AWL board members.

View Kate Eastman’s Paper ‘Comments on the Gender Pay Gap, Equality and Equitable Briefing Looking Back and Forward‘ here and Kylie Weston-Scheuber’s paper ‘Equitable Briefing and Equitable Remuneration: Briefing and Pay Disparity through a Gender Lens – the Way Forward‘ here.

We are deeply grateful to our Gold Sponsor, Clayton Utz, our bronze sponsor the Victorian Legal Services Board, our session sponsors College of Law, and Elias Recruitment for their support in bringing this conference to you.

At the National Portrait Gallery, we were blown away by the Hon. Justice Louise Taylor of the Supreme Court of the ACT who encouraged us to be honest and authentic in our conversations about diversity in the profession. Thank you Justice Taylor for holding us to account, and being a beacon of inspiration to so many.

We honoured Fleur Kingham, – the winner of the AWL Award.

Chair Kingham is the immediate past president of the Australian Association of Women Judges and is lifetime gender equality advocate – Fleur has supported so many women in their legal journey, co-founded the Women’s Legal Service in Queensland and has acted both within her professional roles and in the community in volunteer and pro bono roles to further the advancement of all women throughout her storied career. Congratulations Fleur. Thank you to the Australian Government Solicitor who sponsored this award.

As we know, the fight for justice and equality can never become complacent. For example, in recent weeks, we have seen the emergence of concerning challenges to women’s healthcare rights, and the lowering of the criminal age of responsibility in the Northern Territory. As lawyers, we have privilege and education, and it was heartening to learn so many in our legal community are doing so much to turn the tide of justice for so many. We must persist and we must lead from the front.

Please register your interest below to stay updated about AWL’s activities by filling out the “subscribe” form below.