Social Change in the Australian Judiciary

Abstract

Social science research has documented widespread social, economic, cultural and policy changes since the last quarter of the twentieth century (Roach Anleu, 2010). Such changes include labour market transformations, increasing employment insecurity, declining real wages, financial crises and ageing populations as well as reductions in public welfare provision and privatisation. There is also greater geographic mobility and rapid advances in electronic communications. A major change is the wider range of roles for women in many occupations and professions and in public life generally. Women have entered traditionally male, higher level occupations and professions, particularly academia, law, management, medicine and more recently engineering (Crompton and Sanderson, 1990).