President: Janna McGuigan | Vice-President: Alicia Murray
The theme of 2017 was know your worth.
Hon. Justice Sally Fitzgerald spoke at the annual President’s function.
AWLA submitted on the Care and Support Worker (Pay Equity) Settlement Bill 2017 as part of “Pay Equity Coalition Auckland” (PECA). PECA was an umbrella group of organisations and individuals lobbying for pay equity.
PECA supported:
- The formalisation of the settlement in law, underscoring the government’s commitment to funding and ensuring employers passed on the full benefits to workers.
- The linking of pay rates to the labour cost index and recognising qualifications.
- The submissions reflected a commitment to advancing gender equality and ensuring fair compensation for care and support workers, a field predominantly occupied by women. Further, they called for clear definitions to prevent loopholes, ensuring terms like “care and support services” and “employer” were inclusive.
- PECA submitted that the definition for “care and support services” be amended to include “home-like settings” and vocational assistance (clause 4). Modifications were required for the definition of ‘employer’ to prevent employers from using individualised funding to bypass the settlement agreement, ensuring workers receive fair wages.
- The submissions argued that the term “all reasonable steps” be clearly defined to prevent employers from evading their responsibilities and specify that it applies to workers employed as of 30 June 2017, and include explicit steps like paying training fees and providing study leave (clause 11).
- PECA provided that employers should be fully funded to comply with the settlement without reducing other terms and conditions of employment. PECA suggested removing the word “towards” to clarify this funding requirement (clause 18).
Overall, PECA viewed the bill as essential for promoting pay equity for women in the care and support sector, advocating for precise language and strong enforcement mechanisms to ensure its effectiveness.
AWLA assisted in drafting the NZLS’s equitable briefing policy, and supported the Bar Association with its research into the gender ratio of counsel appearing before Aotearoa New Zealand’s appellate courts.
A women in silk event was hosted which discussed imposter syndrome, confidence, unconscious bias, equitable briefing, and having children at the bar.
AWLA hosted its first student mooting competition, this was held at the Auckland High Court, and judged by the panel of Hon. Ailsa Duffy, Jane Anderson KC and Rachael Reed KC.
The Chief Coroner, Hon. Judge Deborah Marshall spoke at the 10th annual Dame Silvia Cartwright lecture.
The inaugural issue of Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine – The New Zealand Women’s Law Journal was launched.
