b'PEOPLE| LEGAL SECTOR| 2022SUSTAINABILITY INSIGHTGENDER EQUALITYComparison of Gender Equality PerformanceThe Workplace Gender Equality Authority collects and provides annual data on various gender equality issues. The latest data shows that the Australian legal sector performs strongly against similar industry sectors in gender-related commitment and performance.AusLSA Members Total Legal ServicesAll Professional ServicesAccounting Services Aust IndustryPolicy 90% 87% 82% 75% 79%Targets 61% 56% 51% 39% 32%Female Management59% 58% 48% 48% 45%PromotionsComposition Key Management/General32% 38% 28% 25% 32%Manager Composition Lawyers57% 62% 50% 52% 53%and ProfessionalsGender Pay GapNot measured 21% 25% 21% 16%(professionals)Source: WGEA Data Explorer2022 AusLSA Member PerformanceOver previous years AusLSA members have made commitments and set standards to improve the balance of opportunity for both men and women. Our 2022 results indicate that these commitments have become normal across the sector. Ninety per cent of respondents have a gender equity policy, including two firms with policies currently under development. This is down from 95 per cent last year. However, the remaining firms are implementing diversity and inclusion policies that address many issues in common with gender equality. This year 71 per cent of firms have decided to publish their gender equality policies (up from 61 per cent in the four years since 2018), signifying an increased acknowledgment of the importance of talking about these issues with staff and clients.For the last four years, all reporting firms have continued to allocate the critical oversight responsibility for implementing this policy to either a partner, manager or committee. There is strong evidence that leaders and leadership teams are taking greater public accountability for their firms performance on pay equity, with 50 per cent having Managing Partners who were WGEA Pay Equity Ambassadors. However, this year, there has been a reduction in the number of AusLSA firms that hold the WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation, decreasing from 59 per cent last year to 53 per cent and down from a peak of 69 per cent in 2019.The improvement of gender ratios of law firm partners has shown gradual, steady progress, growing by approximately 1 per cent per year. In 2016 when we began to measure the gender representation of female partners, the balance sat at 26 per cent. By 2021 it had grown to 31 per cent; this year, the level has increased again to 32 per cent. This is in comparison to a stable overall proportion of female lawyers. While progress must be made, these results are consistent with or better than similar professions, as reported by WGEA. For example, organisations in Accounting Services also have an equal representation of women across their employee base, but only 23 per cent per cent are in key management personnel positions.The current gender balance in senior positions can be partially explained by recruiting a high proportion of female lawyers and the building of required experience and seniority for promotion. The rate of change is also partly driven by the rate of promotions and growth in firms which is the liquidity necessary to effect the change in policies. This year we commenced gathering data on the proportion of women among senior promotions at member firms. In 2022 women accounted for 59 per cent of senior promotions. The current level of promotions shows a good correlation with the proportion of females across the membership.There is little doubt, however, that historical imbalances of opportunity are also a significant factor in some firms. Continued commitments to gender equality policies and practices will continue to underpin an improvement in these numbers over time. 22'