Fay Calderone – Transforming Workplace Culture Through Law
Fay Calderone is a respected employment and workplace lawyer who has dedicated her career to improving the way people experience work. She is a Partner at Hall and Wilcox, a national commercial law firm in Australia with more than 1300 partners and staff. With over 25 years of experience advising employers, boards, and senior leaders, she has developed a reputation for combining deep legal knowledge with a practical and people-focused approach.
Her work goes beyond solving legal problems. She focuses on helping organizations build safer, more inclusive, and higher-performing workplaces where people feel valued and respected. We at CIO Global, are proud to introduce Fay Calderone as one of the Most Acclaimed Women in Legal Sector, 2026.
Fay is also widely recognized as a speaker and thought leader on workplace culture and leadership accountability. Through the prestigious Saxton Speakers Bureau, she regularly speaks about psychosocial risk, respectful workplaces, inclusion, and responsible leadership. In addition to her legal practice, she is an author whose book Broken to Safe became an Amazon bestseller. Her upcoming book, Rise Up – A Guide to Leading with Inclusion, is scheduled to be published by Taylor and Francis Routledge Group in August 2026 and focuses on equipping leaders with practical strategies to build inclusive and psychologically safe workplaces.
Throughout her career, Fay has advised clients on some of the most complex workplace issues that organizations face today. These include psychosocial risks, respectful workplace compliance, executive employment matters, discrimination and harassment risks, and large workforce change projects. Her work often sits at the intersection of law, leadership decision-making, and culture transformation. Rather than focusing only on legal compliance, she works with organizations to move toward meaningful cultural change that improves both performance and wellbeing.
Inclusion is not an initiative – it is a leadership responsibility.
Fay chose to pursue a career in law because she wanted to create real change in workplaces. Early in her academic journey, she decided to study a double degree in workplace relations and law because she recognized that work is where power, identity, opportunity, and sometimes harm intersect. She believed that fair systems and responsible leadership could improve people’s lives. Her path into the legal profession was not shaped by privilege or certainty. It was built through determination and hard work. She worked full time in a law firm while studying full time, driven by the belief that she could contribute meaningfully to a profession that was not always designed for people from diverse backgrounds.
Her journey in the legal sector now spans more than 27 years. During this time, she achieved major professional milestones, including becoming a partner at the age of 32. While building a successful employment law practice, she also balanced the responsibilities of raising a family. As a mother of two teenage boys, she experienced firsthand the pressures of managing both professional ambition and personal responsibilities. These experiences shaped her understanding that talent exists everywhere, but opportunity is not always equally distributed. They also reinforced her belief that high performance should not come at the cost of sustainability or wellbeing.
Over the years, Fay has become known for advising organizations on critical workplace matters that affect both legal exposure and human dignity. Her expertise includes psychosocial hazards and workplace health and safety investigations, complex executive terminations, discrimination and harassment risk management, governance advisory for boards, and workforce policy reform initiatives. Through this work, she helps organizations understand that workplace culture is not just a human resources issue. It is a strategic factor that directly affects retention, productivity, and organizational trust.
Beyond legal practice, Fay is also a recognized speaker and commentator on workplace culture, respectful leadership, and inclusion. She frequently speaks to leaders and organizations about how legal frameworks and leadership behaviors interact to shape workplace environments. Her ability to translate complex legal issues into practical guidance has made her a trusted advisor to many organizations navigating cultural and regulatory change.
Great workplaces are built where safety, respect, and performance grow together.
One of the defining achievements of her career has been her work as an author. Her book Broken to Safe became an Amazon bestseller and was written as a practical guide for leaders who want to build psychologically safe and respectful workplaces. The book draws on decades of frontline legal experience and highlights the real human cost of toxic workplace cultures and burnout. Through this work, she aims to shift leadership thinking from reactive legal compliance to proactive cultural responsibility.
Her upcoming book Rise Up – A Guide to Leading with Inclusion, scheduled to be published by the Taylor and Francis Routledge Group in 2026, continues this mission. The book focuses on helping leaders understand the importance of inclusive leadership and the practical steps needed to create workplaces where people feel safe, respected, and able to contribute fully. Fay believes that inclusion is not simply a social initiative but a key driver of organizational performance and long-term success.
Like many women in the legal profession, Fay has faced challenges related to expectations, leadership perceptions, and workplace pressures. She has learned that success in demanding environments requires a strong foundation built on capability, community, and conviction. Technical excellence builds credibility, mentors and allies provide support, and a clear sense of purpose sustains motivation through difficult moments. These lessons have shaped her leadership approach and her commitment to building more supportive professional environments for future generations.
Mentoring and supporting young professionals is an important part of her work. She actively mentors early-career lawyers and believes that guidance and sponsorship are essential for building opportunity within the profession. She is especially committed to supporting women and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds who may face additional barriers in their careers. By sharing knowledge and creating opportunities, she hopes to contribute to a legal profession that values both excellence and fairness.
Fay believes the future of the legal sector will be shaped by leaders who combine strong legal judgment with human-centered leadership. The ability to make sound decisions under pressure, communicate with courage and clarity, and lead inclusive teams will define success in the evolving workplace landscape. As organizations face increasing expectations around workplace safety, culture, and accountability, lawyers will play a critical role in guiding responsible leadership.
Looking ahead, Fay remains focused on impact. She continues to work closely with boards and leaders to build psychologically safe and inclusive workplaces while expanding her work as an author and thought leader. Her goal is to help create professional environments where talented individuals can succeed without sacrificing their wellbeing. Through her legal practice, writing, and mentorship, she is committed to leaving the legal profession stronger, more inclusive, and better prepared for the future.
Leadership creates culture, and culture determines whether people feel safe to succeed.