17 BACK TO NAVIGATION 2017 AusLSA Member Performance AusLSA members share a professional foundation of justice, integrity, equality, and the pursuit of excellence, which connect well with the values of diversity, equality, respect and inclusion. Ninety-one percent of reporting law firms have now formalised their diversity values and commitments in a policy, with a further nine percent of firms currently developing their policy or having policies that partially cover the range of diversity issues surveyed. Half of these firms also promoted their policy by publishing their diversity commitments on their websites. All but one member had implemented a governance structure that identified who was responsible for their policy with fifty eight percent of firms allocating this accountability to one of the Partners, and also utilising a committee to assist with delivery across the firm. Challenges and Opportunities Only twenty-five percent of legal firms in the 2016 Acritas study were rated as ‘very diverse’. While we can currently measure activity in diversity programs, ongoing progress in this space is needed to keep pace with the diversity that exists in the wider Australian community. The Law Council of Australia Diversity and Equality Charter provides law firms with foundational principles and commitments to create firm specific policies and strategies. Commitment to the charter is also a valuable public commitment in joining with other law firms to establish an industry standard. Australian Human Rights Commission Leading for Change guidelines identify three clear priorities that law firms should include in their strategies to generate change in diversity: • Leadership and investment • Measuring and reporting • A culture of identifying and confronting biases.