The president of the doctors’ union, Dr Antony Sara, has apologised for comments he made that overall incidents of sexual assault in medicine are “not high”, and for describing findings from his own organisation’s research into the issue as “survey bias”.
A 2019 inquiry conducted by the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (Asmof) into sexual harassment found 33% of all doctors had experienced sexual harassment at least once in their careers. Female doctors were consistently more likely to experience sexual harassment, and 70% of perpetrators were reported to be fellow doctors, the survey found.
Sara told Guardian Australia such statistics were the result of “survey bias” and that overall incidents of sexual assault were “not high”. “The number of these that would be actionable, rather than just a micro-aggression, would be fairly unclear,” he said.
The comments followed radiation oncologist Dr Dominique Lee publicly identifying herself on Sunday as the doctor responsible for the only successful prosecution of a senior doctor through the criminal justice system for sexual assault. Dr John Kearsley, the then director of radiation oncology at St George hospital in Sydney, was jailed after drugging and indecently assaulting her.
Lee has called for an independent regulator to be formed that is responsible for examining harassment, bullying and assault complaints by health professionals against other health professionals. She said hospitals often rely on the reputations of senior doctors to promote the hospitals’ work, and are therefore biased in investigating complaints against high-profile staff who abuse their positions of power.
Sara told Guardian Australia that forming such a body “at first blush, seems like a good idea” but that “the costs of a separate standalone body would be quite high when the number of such [indecent assault] cases is not high”.
“Current processes can work – Asmof NSW represents about 40% of doctors in training in NSW, and has experience representing its members in all sorts of matters,” he said.
Asked by Guardian Australia to clarify comments that assault cases are not high given the Asmof survey findings, Sara responded it was an example of “survey bias”. “Doctors in training who have been harassed are more likely to report,” he said. “The number of these that would be actionable, rather than just a micro-aggression, would be fairly unclear.”
Sara, who has been head of Asmof for three decades, apologised for the comments on Wednesday in a statement published to X, saying: “In my attempts to address the challenges of reporting and addressing these issues in the workplace, I have been seen to minimise the experience of doctors.
“My comments have faced valid criticism from colleagues and members,” the statement said. “I sincerely apologise to our members who expect strong leadership from male allies.
“It is imperative to recognise that sexual harassment remains distressingly prevalent amongst doctors at their workplace. This is unacceptable.
“Our union recognises the alarming risks doctors face when reporting incidents of sexual harassment. We need a cultural transformation in our profession. We need zero tolerance for sexual harassment and sexual violence.
“Undeniably, the hierarchical structure within the medical environment, coupled with high levels of representation of men in senior positions, poses specific risks to doctors who are women. These risks are further exacerbated by the competitive atmosphere and the prevalence of short-term employment contracts.”
Sara said Asmof “firmly believes doctors should have legally protected rights to a workplace free from harassment and violence” enshrined in their industrial agreements.
Nada Hamad, an associate professor, transplant haematologist and deputy co-chair of the equity, diversity and inclusion in medicine committee at UNSW, agrees with Lee that an independent body needs to be established to investigate complaints about healthcare professionals by other staff, and that union and hospital processes are not independent enough.
“The culture in medicine has been so siloed and insular for such a long time that there is a perceived moral privilege that doctors are thought to hold,” Hamad said.
“But like anyone else, they can do bad things. There is no moral advantage to being a doctor, but because they are assumed to hold a higher moral standard, they are not always held accountable for bad behaviour.
“This is why this is a public interest story. These deep-seated biases within the profession also impact public wellbeing and safety. Patients should not have to think they won’t be believed or heard by a doctor if they report assault, because of the culture that exists within medicine. If we can’t protect our own, we certainly can’t be the ones to protect the public.”
Hamad said the number of assaults within medicine was irrelevant, because any number was problematic.
“The point is, sexual harassment and assault exists,” she said. “And what are we doing about it? No matter the prevalence, we need to stamp it out and be implementing better policies, procedures and education.
“And when someone in medicine says they have been harassed, bullied, or sexually assaulted, there needs to be a red button to an external organisation made up of people who are not doctors to investigate. We need outside people, because within medicine, investigations never work well. We need outside help for transparency.”
Do you know more? melissa.davey@theguardian.com
