Treating People Fairly – Eliminating sexual harassment from our workplaces: a workplace health and safety risk
A wave of change is coming directed at eliminating sexual harassment as a work health and safety risk from our workplaces.
On 27 September 2022, the Government introduced the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 to implement 7 of the 55 recommendations of the 2020 Respect@Work report, not previously implemented. The Bill proposes to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) and impose a ‘positive duty’ on employers requiring them to, so far as possible, take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation at work.
At the state level we have the recent WA Parliamentary report into sexual harassment against women in the FIFO mining industry titled ‘Enough is Enough’. The report shifts the focus from sexual harassment being an HR or discrimination issue to being a safety issue. The WA Government has announced that it supports or supports in-principle all 24 recommendations made in the report. Although more recently has moved away from supporting the creation and maintenance by Government of a register of sex offenders in the mining industry. The WA Government has indicated it will bring the state’s definition of sexual harassment in line with other Australian jurisdictions, removing the “disadvantage test”. It is also suggested that an expert group will also be established within WorkSafe WA to investigate, assess and deal with reports of sexual harassment.
In July 2022, Safe Work Australia released a Code of Practice on ‘Managing psychosocial hazards at work’. Listed in the Code of Practice as one of the psychosocial hazards is sexual harassment. Courts may regard a code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard and determine what standards of work health and safety is considered reasonably practicable.
Employers need to start addressing sexual harassment as a workplace health and safety risk. Organisations should look at their policies, plans and approaches to safety and consider whether it sufficiently addresses sexual harassment as a safety risk.
If you want your business to thrive in a more sustainable world, employers need to start addressing sexual harassment as a workplace health and safety risk. Organisations should review their policies, plans and approaches to safety and consider whether it sufficiently addresses sexual harassment as a safety risk. DLA Piper is here to support you in your transition, contact our Employment Law team: Leanne Nickels or Joanne Leveridge.
