The guidance was released in honour of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The NSW Law Society has published a guide to address racism in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The Introductory Guidance and Strategies for the Legal Profession offers tips for solicitors and firms with regard to actions and practical steps they can take to combat racism in their practices and in the wider community. Lawyers are urged to apply their knowledge and roles to critically assess and challenge legislation, institutions, and policies that may reinforce racism.
“We live in one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world, yet racism persists in our society and extends into our workplaces”, Law Society President Brett McGrath said. “To better serve our diverse communities, lawyers need to ensure a lack of discrimination within their own ranks. This isn’t only important from a moral perspective, but it also makes business sense, because our profession, our workplaces and our clients are all diverse”.
He highlighted the role of the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which comprised lawyers from various ethnically and culturally diverse communities. The committee crafted the guidance, drawing on contributions from the Indigenous Issues and Employment Law Committees and other diverse stakeholder groups.
The guidance was launched on 21 March at an event that featured Liverpool Local Court Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim, the first Western Sydney University graduate to take the bench. Abdul-Karim had fled Lebanon for Australia at the age of 15 as a refugee.
“As this guidance points out, ‘responding to racism enlivens the ethical obligations of all lawyers to uphold principles of fairness, justice and equality across all aspects of their practise of the law’. This includes behaviour in the workplace, and the way we serve clients from diverse communities”, McGrath said.
