Law firms are failing to promote on merit and should be subject to affirmative action measures to increase the representation of women in partnership ranks, according to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

“It's just clear that merit isn't the basis on which people get to the top in law firms,” Broderick told The Australian. “The numbers speak for themselves, if you assume merit is distributed equally between the sexes.” Broderick said that “structural and systemic interventions” were needed “to ensure women can compete at the same level as men.”