Elizabeth Broderick

Elizabeth Broderick is the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Trained as a lawyer, she is a former partner and head of legal technology at Ashurst Australia (then called Blake Dawson Waldron), a global commercial law firm.[1]

Early life

Broderick grew up in Caringbah, New South Wales as the daughter of two doctors, Margot and Frank. She has two sisters including an identical twin - Jane Latimer.[1]

Career

As A Lawyer

Broderick is trained as a lawyer. She has spoken publicly about her own experiences of sexual harassment by a client as a young lawyer.[2]

At law firm Blake Dawson Waldron (now Ashurst), Broderick worked part-time for twelve years while she was a partner - the first partner at the firm to work part time.[3] This was a "revolutionary change in law-firm culture". She also created a database giving people legal advice at low cost. Broderick was named "Telstra NSW Business Woman of the Year" (2000–2001) as a result of these achievements.[1]

As Sex Discrimination Commissioner

As Sex Discrimination Officer since 2007, Broderick has worked on equal-pay cases, "proposed a model for the paid parental leave scheme", and commented publicly on sexual harassment cases.[1]

Male Champions of Change

This is one of Broderick's signature initiatives as Commissioner. She persuaded many of "the most powerful men in the country" to publicly commit to being part of the program and taking action on gender inequality.[2]

Australian Defense Force Investigation

In 2014, she published a fourth and final report on gender-discriminatory practices in the Australian Defense Force.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Keenan, Catherine (4 March 2011). "Meet Elizabeth Broderick, the woman who can walk into any boardroom and strike a deal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Frankly Speaking With Elizabeth Broderick". Marie Claire. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Thinkers No 4: Elizabeth Broderick". The Power Index. Crikey.
  4. ↑ Snow, Deborah (26 March 2014). "'Significant progress' but Elizabeth Broderick warns of backlash in Defence over boosting women in the ranks". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2014.