Make a report about sexual harassment you experienced or witnessed in the legal profession here:

The sexual harassment reporting tool, developed by Elker, is a safe space to report sexual harassment experienced or witnessed in the legal profession, with the option of anonymity.

The Elker portal is available online 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. You can remain completely anonymous while making your report. While anonymous, you can communicate with the LPBT Response Team by encrypted 2-way chat. Read more about the Elker portal here.

Informal report

You can make an informal report via the Elker portal.

The portal will log your matter, provide you with some preliminary information, connect you to the LPBT Response Team and provide you with a mechanism for checking on your matter’s progress.

A report is not considered a formal complaint, however, making an informal report does not prevent a person from making a formal complaint at a later time.

The Elker portal is designed to make reporting incidents of harassment easier. Some key benefits and features of the Elker portal are:

• A reporter can remain anonymous throughout the process or provide contact details.
• There is a ‘quick exit’ button within the reporting tool that allows a reporter to quickly leave the site if they are concerned about someone looking over their shoulder.
• A list of support services is provided for assistance or support.
• A reporter can select whether they want to be contacted or not, and their preferred method of communication.
• Anyone can make a report; either the person who experienced the harassment or a third party or witness.
• There is a free text area where a reporter can provide as much or as little information as they want.

While we will not be able to investigate your specific incident, we will be able to track and monitor incidents. The information disclosed in informal reports helps alert the Board to sexual harassment occurring within the Tasmanian legal profession. Your report may help inform education and training or help us monitor hot spots of harassment.

Formal complaint

You can also make a formal complaint against a practitioner, which is managed by the team via our regular complaints process, via our online complaints form

If you are not sure which pathway is right for you, you can speak confidentially to one of our Response Team Members to understand more about the process.

If you decide to make a complaint to the Board you must put your complaint in writing.

Once you have lodged a complaint with the Board, the information you have provided will normally be sent to the lawyer concerned and they will respond to your complaint.  If the Board thinks that the conduct of the lawyer may amount to either unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct, it will appoint an investigator.