LGBTQI Inclusion and Diversity Among Legal Professionals: A Snapshot

The recent same-sex marriage postal vote in Australia delivered a resounding ‘yes’ result, with 62 per cent of the 12.7 million voters agreeing that the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry. However, vocal campaigners on both sides of the debate shone a spotlight on the LGBTQI community, and the extent to which people identifying as LGBTQI have the same rights and opportunities as other Australians.

Lawyers Weekly and Thomson Reuters Legal Australia partnered to get a better understanding of the issues surrounding inclusivity in the Australian legal industry. A survey of Australian legal professionals canvassed these issues ahead of the upcoming Beyond Tokenism round table.

During October 2017, 653 legal professionals took part in the online survey, with 23 per cent identifying as LGBTQI. The survey results are in and here’s what we learnt.