Portrait photograph of Mary Digiglio
Mary Digiglio
Managing Partner

To cel­e­brate Inter­na­tion­al Wom­en’s Day, through­out March, we will be shin­ing a spot­light on the #womenof­Swaab who are lead­ing our firm and have paved the way for the oth­ers to find their own suc­cess­es. Start­ing with our Man­ag­ing Part­ner, Mary Digiglio who explains how Swaab has been suc­cess­ful in achiev­ing gen­der diver­si­ty in the legal profession.

#Each­fore­qual #IWD2020

How has Swaab been so suc­cess­ful in achiev­ing gen­der diver­si­ty in a pro­fes­sion that has strug­gled for so long?

The suc­cess of Swaab has been built on our cul­ture. Our firm has a his­to­ry of gen­der diver­si­ty, hav­ing being led by females. The female lead­ers have influ­enced our fir­m’s long his­to­ry of pro­mot­ing flex­i­bil­i­ty, diver­si­ty and an inclu­sive culture. 

Present­ly, 54% of our part­ners are female, our CEO of about 20 years before me was also a female. We do not have poli­cies around quo­tas for gen­der and diver­si­ty in our firm and have nev­er need­ed them because liv­ing and breath­ing diver­si­ty is just how we have always exist­ed. We also do not have a gen­der pay gap in our firm, for which we are very proud.

Hav­ing a work­force which is diverse in gen­der, age, eth­nic­i­ty, reli­gion and polit­i­cal per­sua­sion facil­i­tates per­mis­sion for every indi­vid­ual in our firm to have a voice about all sorts of issues. Our posi­tion on diver­si­ty and inclu­sion is a nat­ur­al exten­sion of our fir­m’s focus on the well­be­ing of every per­son asso­ci­at­ed with our firm.

- Mary Digiglio, Man­ag­ing Part­ner, Accred­it­ed Spe­cial­ist, Direc­tor, moth­er, sis­ter, wife and friend.

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

Impor­tant Work­place Rela­tions Changes Effec­tive 1 July 2026

Employ­ers and employ­ees alike should be aware of impor­tant changes in the work­place rela­tions are­na, effec­tive 1 July 2026. From that date:the…

Strata Plan 92183 v Samdora Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 406 | 'Substantive Control' over Works & s37 of the DB&P Act

In this case, the plain­tiff (Stra­ta Plan 92183) brought pro­ceed­ings alleg­ing defec­tive res­i­den­tial build­ing work in rela­tion to 9 town hous­es…

Dis­clo­sure: When is enough enough?

Dis­clo­sure, the fam­i­ly law equiv­a­lent of dis­cov­ery in oth­er kinds of civ­il pro­ceed­ings, is a foun­da­tion­al part of fam­i­ly law matters. The Fed­er­al…

In the News

Michael Byrnes was quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn from the Ste­fanovic saga”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 26 June 2026

Michael Byrnes was quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn from the Ste­fanovic saga”, pub­lished in HR Leader on…

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est devel­op­ments in the pro­ceed­ings brought by Jack­ie ​‘O’ Hen­der­son against ARN

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 26 June 202…

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with David Pen­berthy and Will Good­ings on FIVEAA on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the employ­ment of Karl Ste­fanovic with the Nine Net­work (from 23:25 to 28:45)

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with David Pen­berthy and Will Good­ings on FIVEAA on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the employ­ment…

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