Diversity and Inclusion at Clayton Utz
Our people come from a wide range of backgrounds and have different skills, interests, personalities and capabilities. We are committed to an inclusive culture in which all of our people are recognised for their unique contributions and are encouraged and supported to achieve their full potential.
Diversity at Clayton Utz includes diversity of thought, background, experience, personal circumstances, education, religion, sexuality, gender, age, ethnicity and ability/disability. That diversity helps to generate new ideas, creates more effective teams and relationships, and is a key enabler to attract, develop and retain the very best people.
Diversity and inclusion is integral to our culture which is founded on the values of trust, respect and co-operation.
We are a proud member of the Diversity Council of Australia and have been a sponsor of its Gender Reporting Network for several years.
Our Diversity Council
The Clayton Utz Diversity Council sets the firm's diversity and inclusion strategy and develops initiatives to give priority to diversity in the workplace. Our Chief Executive Partner leads the Diversity Council which is also supported by our Head of Diversity, Alison Woolsey.
Gender equality
A key focus of our diversity initiatives is to make Clayton Utz an environment in which women have every opportunity to succeed.
We established a national gender network called Momentum in 2008. It assists and advises on gender initiatives, its members act as champions, it facilitates focus group discussions on difficult issues and hosts events and activities to support the advancement of our women.
In recognition of our continued commitment to gender equality, Clayton Utz has been named on the 2016 Workplace Gender Equality Agency's list of Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation-holders. This is the third consecutive year for the firm and we are one of only 106 organisations to be awarded the citation. It recognises market-leading employers that are demonstrating an active commitment to removing any structural and cultural barriers to equal opportunity for women in their workplaces.
Cultural diversity
We want Clayton Utz to be a culturally sophisticated firm that maximises domestic and regional business benefits through outstanding cultural intelligence. We're talking with thought leaders around cultural diversity, gathering and reporting data on cultural diversity and focusing on professional development for cultural diversity and inclusive leadership. We are proud to be an active member of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association and in March 2017 we committed to the Managing Partners (of large law firms) Cultural Diversity Charter.
Flexibility
Flexibility is an absolute priority for diversity and inclusion at Clayton Utz and a significant proportion of our workforce work under formal and informal flexible arrangements. Our flexible work policy is intended to support mainstreaming flexibility across the firm to attract and retain the best talent. Flexible work is not simply about part-time work and is vital for our employees to be able to balance their unique and changing needs during different life and career stages.
LGBTI inclusion
Clayton Utz is a member of Pride in Diversity (the Australian employer support program). Integral to our diversity and inclusion strategy is our LGBTI program, "LGBTI Alliance", which operates across all offices to create an environment that maximises our people's opportunities to achieve business success and career satisfaction, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. The LGBTI Alliance focuses on such things as fostering an LGBTI-inclusive culture within the firm, connecting with the broader LGBTI community, developing internal policies, training and education. Our LGBTI Alliance has made a huge impact on the firm and our people. We received the 2016 AWEI (Pride in Diversity) Achievement Award and in May 2017 we were even prouder to be awarded AWEI Gold Employer status. This is a testament to our dedication, drive and vision of an LGBTI-inclusive workplace.
Accessibility and inclusion
The mental health and psychological wellbeing of our workforce is something we take seriously at Clayton Utz. This is why we offer a range of resources to help our people whenever they need it, and we regularly look for new ways to support and develop the resilience of our people. We are taking steps towards inclusion for people with other disabilities including the development and implementation of a Workplace Adjustment Policy and our membership of the Australian Network on Disability (AND).