Commissioner calls for legal issues
South Australia's Judicial Conduct Commissioner wants details of inappropriate conduct within the legal profession.
Commissioner Ann Vanstone released a statement on Wednesday saying recent reports of alleged inappropriate conduct by judicial officers have been highly concerning.
It comes after a report by Acting Equal Opportunity Commissioner Steph Halliday found that sexual and discriminatory harassment was widespread in the legal profession.
About 42 per cent of respondents in the report said they had experienced sexual or discriminatory harassment at work.
Two investigations have been launched after a woman told reporters for InDaily she originally shared her complaints with the Equal Opportunity Commissioner late last year.
“I do not think the absence of those complaints is because there is an absence of conduct of that type, or because legal practitioners are not aware of the mechanism for making complaints,” Commissioner Vanstone said this week.
“I suspect it is because of the fear of speaking up.
“The Halliday report cites ‘a fear of repercussions on career and work life’ and an attitude that ‘it is best not to rock the boat’.”
Ms Vanstone said inside information is needed to truly dig into the issues.
“Judicial officers sit at the top of this hierarchy,” her statement read.
“It is interesting to note how few complaints are made by legal practitioners to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner.
“Up until last Friday I had not received any complaints that would constitute sexual harassment as defined in the Halliday report.”