b'PEOPLE| LEGAL SECTOR| 2020SUSTAINABILITY INSIGHTDIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONDiversity is a foundation of the Australian story and inclusiveness and acceptance are part of our endearing cultural values. But in recent years our ability to be more reflective and critical of ourselves as a society has exposed some areas where we are not true to these values. One of these areas in in the workplace. The good news is that the awareness that our systems are not as inclusive as we believed has led us to confront these shortcomings and commit to address and change ourselves and our organisations.Workplace inclusion requires integration of the differences we all have to benefit the organisation as a whole by formally recognising the worth of each employee. By understanding, valuing, and incorporating diverse personal contributions we increase productivity, performance, and creativity as well as create an environment where everyone feels safe and respected. Inclusion is a vital ingredient in achieving the benefits of a diverse workforce.Successful inclusion captures the range of talents and skills that different employees can bring to the workplace arising from their varied background and principles. This includes varied gender, age, language, ethnicity, cultural background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, working style, educational level, professional skills, work experience, socio-economic background, marital status and/or family responsibilities. The Diversity Council of Australia suggests in Building Inclusion: An Evidence-Based Model of Inclusive Leadership that:inclusive environments are associated with improved job and/or team performance, as well as higher return on income and productivityinclusion is associated with a higher sense of employee wellbeing and psychological safety, as well as employees feeling valued and respectedteams with inclusive climates have higher levels of innovation and profit inclusive leadership is associated with greater team engagement, while individuals working in more inclusive team climates report higher levels of commitment and satisfaction and demonstrate access to better job opportunities and career advancementin inclusive teams, employees are better able to resolve conflict and be more satisfied from working through the conflict effectivelyin inclusive climates, individuals from traditionally marginalised groups experience lower levels of unlawful behaviour such harassment and discrimination, andinclusion and inclusive leadership is associated with reduced employee turnover.Businesses with more diverse workforces also better reflect the increasingly dynamic make up of their local and global customers and stakeholders which improves working relationships and effectiveness.International research conducted by Acritas Research found that diverse teams earn twenty-five percent more revenue and are fifty percent more likely to achieve a perfect ten performance score. Their client satisfaction ratings are also more than three times higher.The report also concluded that a lack of diversity is detrimental to long-term financial success for law firms.Effectively managing diversity and inclusion also assists law firms to: comply with applicable legislation and regulationalign with increasing client diversity and expectations and sustain a changing professional profile to attract and retain a better and more responsive workforce. FORMAL POLICY PUBLISHED POLICYPOLICYPUBLISHEDYes 97% Partial 3% Yes 58% No 42%28'