Fay Marles Equal Opportunity Sub Fund

The Appearances by Female Counsel in Courts in Victoria project is funded by the Fay Marles Equal Opportunity Sub Fund. This fund was established in 2013 to honour the leadership and legacy of Victoria’s first Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Fay Marles AM.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity Act was passed in 1977 and Fay was appointed that same year. For the next decade she led the way in implementing anti-discrimination reform, enabling women to take their place more equally in our workplaces and our community.

The Sub Fund supports projects that provide:

• leadership training to increase young women’s working knowledge of equal opportunity legislation, structures and processes;
• research that strengthens knowledge of loopholes and gaps in equal opportunity legislation, with a view to system improvement and policy change;
• education and engagement on equal opportunity issues in workplaces, organisations and in the broader community.

Project: Appearances by female counsel in courts in Victoria

Grant type: Sub Fund
Amount: $3,784
Year: 2019-20
Website: www.vicbar.com.au/public/bar-associations/women

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This research project aims to determine the number and percentage of women barristers appearing in the State and Federal Courts of Victoria.

It will build on the Women Barristers Association’s previous research showing that women appear at rates well below the 29% of barristers in Victoria who are women.

This research will extend to the Supreme Court (trial division) and potentially the Federal and Federal Circuit Courts.

The Women Barristers’ Association is partnering  with Women’s Legal Service for this project.