President: Helen Melrose | Vice-President: Christine Nolan
The AWLA annual general meeting minutes dated 7 May 1985 detailed that AWLA had 160 members and 200 women on the mailing list. Hon. Margaret Wilson DCNZM was unanimously elected as AWLA’s first honorary member.
The May annual general minutes detailed that AWLA intended to establish the following:
- Research program to review and report on what happens to women law students after leaving university;
- Research to assist members through a salary survey;
- A group to comment on law reform matters particularly affecting women;
- Encouragement to members to submit legal writing and articles of interest to NZLJ and other legal periodicals;
- A newsletter group to ensure the production of regular informative content; and
- Initiating a regular schedule of assertiveness training courses.
The June newsletter reported on the Stop Sexual Harassment Conference which took place in Wellington. Speakers at the conference presented research on the current perspectives of and the prevalence of sexual harassment. Workshops focusing on dealing with and challenging the misconceptions around sexual harassment were also held.
The conference concluded that initiating an educational campaign is necessary to increase visibility, encourage victims to complain, and stimulate public conscious about the injurious nature of sexual harassment. Further, legislative reform is vital to promote educative and preventative measures. Suggestions included:
- Extension of the Education Bill to include self defence and assertiveness training for young women;
- Extension of the Human Rights Commission Act to include a legal definition of sexual harassment which would be adequately general and flexible to cater for future changing perceptions;
- Extension of the Industrial Relations Act to make sexual harassment a “condition of employment” grievance;
- Extension of university rules (and other tertiary institutions) to include a prohibition of sexual harassment clause;
- Extension of the Human Rights Commission jurisdiction to cover situations outside employment, accommodation, education, goods and services; and
- A comprehensive range of legally sanctioned punitive measures according to the degrees of harassment felt by the victim, not the test of the “reasonable man”.
AWLA held a seminar on the legal issues concerning new birth technologies in June 1985. The aim of this seminar was to inform on the legal issues raised in the Department of Justice’s Report on New Birth Technologies, and to encourage members to write submissions to the Department of Justice for the legislation, regulation and control of new birth technologies.
The June newsletter circulated an expression of interest for members to provide legal assistance to a group of Auckland lawyers exploring possible avenues to prevent the proposed Springbok tour in 1985. Assistance was requested to:
- Provide advice to interested groups to ensure protests proceed in accordance with the law;
- Monitoring protest demonstrations; and
- Making legal services available for protestors charged with offences as a result of protest action.
AWLA held seminars on exclusion clauses in insurance policies which exclude disability arising from pregnancy, assertiveness training courses, and a discussion event focusing on the tax deductibility of child care expenses.
A Partnership Support Group was established to assist women in partnership or who were considering entering partnership.
