In October 1993 the Attorney-General and the Minister for Justice established the Access to Justice Advisory Committee, chaired by Professor Ronald Sackville, to consider ways in which the legal system could be reformed to enhance access to justice and make the legal system fairer, more efficient and more effective. The Committee gave in principle support for the Commission's recommendation of a National Women's Justice Program. It recommended a national strategy for improving access to justice to attempt to achieve equality of access to legal services, national equity, and equality before the law. Conclusions 1.12 Work undertaken by the Commission and by others has exposed how serious and widespread the problems of women's inequality are. Despite apparent and real gains over the last decade women still experience discrimination.
Gender bias is embedded in the legal system.
Addressing specific issues in particular areas will not solve the problem unless that underlying bias is also addressed. The terms of this reference and the response to issues raised have required the Commission to consider necessary improvements to promote equality for women within the existing legal system and more fundamental changes that need to be made to the structure of the legal system. It has been described as an exercise in engineering and architecture. The challenge is to make the laws and their application more equal. This part of the final report concentrates on improving the existing legal system.