[Victoria Legal Aid logo and on-screen text: Gender equality in action: Working flexibly]
[On screen text: Acknowledgement of Country. This video was made on lands of Wurundjeri and Bunurong People. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands across Victoria and pay respect to Elders past and present. We recognise the continuing connection to country, culture and identity and the importance of self-determination of creating better futures for First Nations people.]
[Rowan McRae and Shannon Clifford sit side-be-side in a close profile shot]
[On screen text: Rowan McRae, Executive Director Legal Practice, Civil Justice, Access and Equity]
Rowan McRae: It's about valuing the different things people are committed to outside work and that's not just going to be children that's going to be a whole range of other commitments and interests that staff will have, that mean that flexible work allows them to have a more balanced and happier life.
[On screen text: How do you work flexibly?]
[On screen text: Shannon Clifford, Executive Assistant Legal Practice, Civil Justice, Access and Equity]
Shannon Clifford: I have a toddler with hearing loss my daughter has dyslexia and ADHD and I have my own health issues, including epilepsy and I had serious surgery which caused something called aphasia. So flexible for me it means that I work compacted hours so that I can attend to all the appointments outside of work so I work a little bit longer each day to have a shorter day on Friday.
Rowan: I also work compressed hours, so I do 0.9 but over four days, so I don't work on Fridays.
Shannon: It has made a huge impact on my life being able to have that flexibility It means that I can do the tutoring, I can do the speech therapy, I can do all of the hospital visits.
Rowan: I’ve got 9-year-old twins who’ve kind of grown up with me in this role and that's been a really important aspect of the of the role for me to be able to have that flexibility. I know when I stepped into the executive role quite a few people came up to me and said, ‘oh, it's just really great to see that it's possible to get those roles and still be part-time and have small kids and manage that’.
[On screen text: How has working flexibly provided career opportunities?]
Shannon: I think since I’ve been doing the flexible working arrangements I’ve gone on a number of secondments, I have started co-chairing the Disability Employee Network, I've been able to take on a lot of new things that I've been pursuing as well as my role changing quite a lot in the time.
Rowan: I think this has allowed me to advance my career I would not have been able to take it on if it was full-time and not flexible. For me, that would be too much to give up, especially for this period when my kids are relatively little and I want to be able to be part of their lives and spend time with them in a quality way.
[On screen text: How does working flexibly benefit the organisation?]
Rowan: By being more flexible and opening up to part-time, we actually have a much bigger talent pool of people who are really committed to the work we're doing and have a big contribution to make.
[Victoria Legal Aid logo and on screen text: Fairness, Care, Courage, Inclusion www.legalaid.vic.gov.au ]
Updated