Legal employers must be encouraged to hire
more lawyers with a disability, according to the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV).
The LIV will this week (9 November) hold
the first event in its Disability Employment Series to encourage the legal
profession to employ more lawyers with a disability and to urge legal employers
to think about disability and create a disability-friendly culture.
The LIV's Disability Action Plan and
Strategy to Increase Recruitment and Retention of Law Graduates and Lawyers
Experiencing Disability will also be launched at the event.
LIV councillor Stuart Webb will host the
event and panelists will include Sally Bailey, national disability coordination
officer; Dr Kevin Murfitt, a lecturer at Deakin University; and Jill Sears, who
works in a specialist diversity role within her organisation.
In 2009, an Australian Bureau of Statistics
survey found that almost 20 per cent of the population reported having some
sort of disability, ranging from mental health issues to physical limitations.
