Update to Speak Safely – Report Inappropriate Conduct in the Legal Profession

Since February 2023, the Legal Profession Board of Tasmania (the Board) has enabled confidential and anonymous reporting of sexual harassment in the legal profession via its online reporting tool, Speak Safely.

The Board is pleased to confirm that the Speak Safely tool has now been expanded to encapsulate reports of all inappropriate personal conduct in the legal profession.

What is Inappropriate Personal Conduct?
Inappropriate personal conduct includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment, workplace bullying, discrimination and harassment in the legal profession.

Sexual harassment may include:

• unwelcome sexual advances
• unwelcome requests for sexual favours
• other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated, where a reasonable person would anticipate that reaction in the circumstances

It does not have to be repeated or continuous.

Workplace bullying may include:

• repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety
• repeated less favourable treatment of a person by another or others in the workplace, which may be considered unreasonable and inappropriate workplace practice. It includes behaviour that could be expected to intimidate, offend, degrade or humiliate

It does not include reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner.

Discrimination in the workplace may include:

• an employer (or manager) taking adverse action against an employee because of their background or certain personal characteristics
• a person or a group of people treating another person or group of people less favourably because of their background or certain personal characteristics

Harassment in the workplace may include:

• offensive, humiliating or intimidating behaviour based on or linked to a person’s background or certain personal characteristics

Inappropriate personal conduct by a legal practitioner is a breach of professional responsibility and may amount to unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct. Harassment by others in legal profession workplaces, whether a practitioner or not, is of equal concern.

Everyone has the right to feel safe at work. The Board encourages anyone who has been subjected to, witnessed, or has knowledge of inappropriate personal conduct by someone in the legal profession to make an anonymous report via the Speak Safely portal on the Board’s website.

How to make a report or complaint about inappropriate behaviour

If you have experienced or witnessed harassment, discrimination or bullying by a lawyer or someone in a legal setting, but do not want to make a formal complaint, you can contact the Legal Profession Board informally and anonymously:

• submit a report using our online reporting tool here
• call us on (03) 6226 3000 and ask to talk to a member of our Speak Safely Team
• email harassmentcomplaints@lpbt.com.au

The Legal Profession Board

February 2026