The outcome of the defamation case involving Bruce Lehrmann and Channel 10, as well as Lisa Wilkinson, carries crucial lessons for Australian employers. Ultimately the case was decided on the question of whether the defendants could establish on a balance of probabilities that Brittany Higgins had been raped by Bruce Lehrmann in the early hours …
Trust: “Our willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of others because we believe that they have good intentions and will behave well towards us” Most Australians would have been dismayed in recent weeks by the exposure of a range of diverse instances of breaches of trust: the Senate inquiry into PwC finds breaches of …
Dr. Bijna Kotak Dasani MBE FRSA For many, being able to have access to a transaction account can be that vital first step toward broader financial inclusion as it allows people to store money, and send and receive payments. The latest figures from The Global Findex Database 2021 show that although 71% of people in …
Symmetra wrote very recently about the profound impact which the implementation of AI tools in various aspects of employment will have on issues of discrimination [link here] but since then the landscape in this area has changed significantly. The US National Artificial Intelligence Act defines AI as “machine-based system that can, for a given set …
Dr. Bijna a distinguished former Banker turned Venture Capitalist and Entrepreneur is a highly respected figure for her efforts in leading diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) across the financial services industry. She was appointed Member of The Most Excellent Order Of The British Empire (MBE) by Her Royal Highness Princess Royal, Princess Anne, at a …
Sydney—take a bow! The Valuable 500 has just voted our city the 9th most accessible in the world for people with disabilities. Valuable 500 is an association formed at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos in 2019 to which 500 of the world’s most influential CEOs belong and whose objective is to unlock the potential …
Recently Barnaby Joyce in a radio interview, claimed that incorporating the Voice in the Australian Constitution would be contrary to the principle of equality. It would give special and distinctive status to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. We disagree with this proposition most emphatically. The stance of Symmetra is that giving a Voice to Indigenous …
As we discussed in our two previous posts, employers, large and small, in Australia must now contend with an entirely new set of legal obligations when trying to render their workplaces free of sexual harassment. Firstly, the principal duty falls squarely on the employer who must act proactively and systematically to take steps to …
The legislative landscape surrounding workplace sexual harassment and violence in Australia has undergone a profound change recently. The change is reflected in two principal areas: The first area concerns who bears the primary legal responsibility for addressing sexual harassment and what processes should be implemented and followed to combat it; The second area concerns classifying …
Australia was at one time (in the 1970s and 1980s) lauded as being in the forefront of tackling the scourge of sexual harassment in the workplace and elsewhere. Since then, it has fallen behind. Sexual harassment has remained a perennial and intractable problem in the Australian workplace – as it has in other countries. Until …