Inclusion & diversity

Balance is at the heart of our business.

We focus on excellence whilst recognising the importance of maintaining balance. As people move through different life stages,  their career commitments evolve and they require different work arrangements to support them. 

To retain top talent, we offer flexible work arrangements, including hybrid working, part-time work, paid parental leave. non-primary caregiver leave, study leave, carer’s leave and options to work from home. Currently, 60% of our people benefit from these flexible work arrangements, including reduced hours, adjusted work hours, working from home, a combination of these or a more tailored approach. We support our people at every stage of their lives.

We fight for the fair representation of women.

Colin Biggers & Paisley is dedicated to fostering a culture of genuine equality and opportunity for women. We actively work to maximise opportunities for women to succeed and excel in their careers through intentional inclusion initiatives.  We also have a commitment to gender pay equity (men and women being paid the same salary for doing the same role) for similar roles and performance.

We are a signatory to the Law Society of New South Wales' Advancement of Women Charter and the Law Institute of Victoria's Charter for the Advancement of Women. Together, we are committed to promoting diversity, equality, respect and inclusion consistent with the principles of justice, integrity, equity and the pursuit of excellence in the legal profession.

We’ve always worked hard to make sure our practice is supportive of families, being one of the first law firms to officially be recognised as a Family Inclusive Workplace™. This certification is a commitment from the practice to continue to build and embed a sustainable family friendly workplace culture now and into the future.

Being recognised as a Family Friendly Workplace helps us continue to build a positive and inclusive culture where open communication about finding balance is encouraged. We understand that life changes when someone becomes a parent or a carer – priorities shift, balance at work becomes even more important, time becomes a more precious commodity, and values can shift. We are committed to supporting our people with these competing and changing priorities.  When our people return from parental leave we provide coaching to assist them make the transition back to work and make the decisions about balance that are right for them and their family.

Through an exciting partnership with Parents at Work, we have also created a Work + Family Hub, which is full of interactive resources, webinars, podcasts, and courses across a variety of topics including preparing for parental leave, career/life alignment, working dads, balance and wellbeing, raising toddlers or teens, supporting grandchildren, rainbow families, neurodiverse families, navigating aged care and more. 

As part of our Reconciliation Action Plan commitments we have strong relationships with Indigenous community organisations and suppliers. 

In our Sydney office, we have implemented our own Indigenous Cadetship program where we employ an indigenous law student as a paralegal to gain experience whilst they are completing their law degree. 

We also work closely with Indigenous students’ associations that support emerging lawyers while they study. Through these initiatives we continue to work towards our goal of increasing the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the legal sector and at Colin Biggers & Paisley. 

We are committed to providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with opportunities for sustainable employment, career development, training, support, mentoring and culturally sensitive work environments. 

Our Indigenous Employment Strategy sets out our commitment to facilitate and celebrate inclusion and diversity in our practice. For more information on our programs and opportunities visit our Reconciliation page.

We believe in acceptance, equality, understanding, respect, human rights, and the power of our community.

We are committed to fostering a safe and supportive culture, where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse, queer, (LGBTQ +) employees feel respected, valued and empowered to bring their whole selves to work every day. We know this is an important aspect of employee wellbeing, performance, innovation and satisfaction.

Our inclusion and diversity for LGBTQ+ employees starts with  Pride@CBP, a group of both employees who identify as LGBTQ+ and the allies who support them. Pride@CBP shapes our inclusion strategy and creates an empowering space for all of our people. We are proud of our respectful and supportive practice which supports our people to talk honestly and openly about themselves, their relationships, and their families.

As part of our strategy, we partner with Pride in Diversity, Australia's first and only not-for-profit workplace program assisting Australian employers to support people of diverse sexualities and genders. They provide our practice with guidance on workplace inclusion including in our HR policies, organisational change, workplace diversity, resources and networking opportunities that empower our LGBTQ+ employees.

Along with hundreds of other organisations from different industries, we also participate in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI). It is an internationally recognised, national benchmark for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion in Australia. In 2021 and 2022, we were recognised in the AWEI as a gold-ranked small employer reflecting our inclusive initiatives and proactive strategy to support our people.

Additionally, we are a Corporate Sponsor of Pride in Law, a national  legal networking association for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.

Our practice actively supports LGBTQ+ events, including the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), Wear it Purple Day and World AIDS Day.