Nearly 80 instances of workplace sexual assault have been notified to the ACT's workplace safety watchdog in the first year of a compulsory scheme.
Now WorkSafe ACT is lobbying the ACT government to change laws to protect the identity of workers who come forward to complain of sexual assault.
Work Health and Safety Commissioner Jacqueline Agius said the notifications did not account for all instances of sexual assault, or suspected sexual assault, in Canberra's workplaces.
"We know there's under reporting. We've seen the Respect@Work reports. We know what women are telling agencies unofficially about what they experience at work, as are men," Ms Agius said.
Ms Agius said the ACT was the first jurisdiction to introduce the mandatory reporting requirement and was still learning how the system should be best established.
"One of the things that we've learned is that if a complainant gives evidence against an employer for a suspect sexual assault or an allegation of sexual assault, and the employer is charged under work health and safety laws, that complainants is not protected from being identified publicly in the same way the Crimes Act protects complainants who are victims or alleged victims of sexual assault," she said.
Ms Agius said WorkSafe ACT was now working to secure a change to the legislation to ensure complainants' identities are protected.
"For WorkSafe, what we're concerned about is that the ability to prosecute in these matters is lessened by complainants feeling uncomfortable about coming forward," she said.
WorkSafe ACT has received 79 notifications of workplace sexual assault or suspected sexual assault since it was made a notifiable incident under the ACT's Work Health and Safety Act in June 2023.
The safety watchdog has issued seven infringement notices and five improvement notices under the new laws.
Ms Agius said the majority of notifications involved complainants who were women.
This aligned with private workers' compensation claim data from the private sector provided to WorkSafe ACT, she said.
Between 2017-18 and 2022-23 there were 27 accepted sexual assault workers' compensation claims in the ACT, with 78 per cent paid out to women.
The ACT was the first to adopt mandatory reporting requirements for workplace sexual assault, which was a recommendation of the 2018 review of Australian workplace safety laws.
Previously, notifications would only have been made if a person was admitted to hospital or medical treatment provided in the case of a sexual assault.
