By Eleisha Foon of RNZ

The Pacific Lawyers Association is concerned Pacific women are the most discriminated against group within the legal profession in New Zealand.

The NZ Law Society has just released a new legal workplace survey which revealed Pacific people are three times more likely to face employment discrimination with Pacific women even more vulnerable.

Close to 2000 lawyers took part in the survey, as data found a negative impact on career prospects and mental wellbeing for Pacific lawyers.

The findings show a repeat of a 2018 industry-wide survey to better understand the legal workplace environment.

The three highest rates of employment discrimination over the past three years in the legal profession are:

Pacific women - 32 per cent

Pacific peoples - 28 per cent

About 48 pe rcent of respondents put employment discrimination down to their gender, 29 per cent their age and 23 per cent said it was because of their ethnicity.

“Family responsibilities, social background, and appearance also believed to be motives in employment discrimination,” the survey found.

It highlighted workplace bullying towards Pacific and (Asian) lawyers was prevalent, consistent with what was found in the follow-up 2023 survey.

Some results did show a decline in sexual harassment within law practices over the past five years, but reluctance to report sexual harassment “was an ongoing issue”.

Law Society chief executive Katie Rusbatch said “it is encouraging to see some signs of progress, although the survey shows there’s still a lot more work to do”.

“It is also concerning to see that work-life balance is lowest among Pacific people working in the legal community.”

Pacific Lawyers Association president Arti Chand said “to shift the dial the Pacific legal community needs to have a real voice where it counts”.

Arti Chand. Photo: Supplied

“Lack of proper representation of Pacific lawyers” is problem that goes beyond gender diversity and it was about “reflecting the community all lawyers serve,” Chand said.

Find the full results of the survey here

Following accusations of sexual harassment at some law firm events and the launch of the #metoo movement, the New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa, in 2018, commissioned Kantar Public (formerly Colmar Brunton) to undertake a workplace environment survey to ascertain the degree to which lawyers were experiencing this type of behaviour in workplaces across the country.

The 2023 Workplace Environment Survey has been undertaken to follow up the 2018 survey and establish any behavioural changes in the legal workplace environment since then.

Report workplace bullying

If you or someone else has been affected by bullying, discrimination, harassment, or other forms of unacceptable behaviour, you can report this to the Lawyers Complaints Service.

Unacceptable behaviour can be reported to 0800 261 801, or on the Report a lawyer website page.

You can also raise a concern and have a Professional Standards Officer call you back.

The Law Society has a specialist team in the Lawyers Complaints Service that handles sensitive matters and can discuss these matters with you on a confidential basis.

- RNZ