In June 2018 the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, was tasked with a National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces. After an 18-month inquiry, Commissioner Jenkins handed down the Respect@Work report in March 2020.
The Respect@Work report was a watershed moment in recognising the impact of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces and setting out a clear path to reform.
The report's findings were based on a survey of 10,000 workers, 460 written submissions and 60 public consultations with 600 participants including victim/survivors, government agencies, business groups and communities bodies.
The National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces found that 33 per cent of people who had been in the workforce in the preceding five years had experienced workplace sexual harassment.
It found that almost two in five women said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the past five years.
It also found Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were more likely to have experienced workplace sexual harassment than people who are non-Indigenous.
Women, young people, LGBTQI workers, people with disability, those from CALD backgrounds, and migrant workers or workers on temporary visas were also identified as having greater risk of workplace sexual harassment.
The widespread nature of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces was made apparent to all. It was a national disgrace that demanded action.
The Respect@Work report made 55 recommendations to federal, state and territory governments, independent government agencies, the private sector and the community more broadly, all driven by the same impetus-to put an end to sexual harassment and make Australian workplaces safe for all.
Shamefully, the previous government let this report sit on the minister's desk gathering dust for over a year. It wasn't until the #March4Justice rallies they even thought to respond.
Having promised to implement all 55 recommendations, they reneged, failing Australian women once again.
The Albanese government is honouring its commitment to fully implement the recommendations in the Respect@Work report.
This week, we introduced the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill.
The bill fully implements seven recommendations - including all remaining legislative recommendations, barring the inclusion of a prohibition on sexual harassment in the Fair Work Act 2009, which the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Tony Burke, is separately progressing.
The bill will:
- Place a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation, as far as possible;
- Strengthen the Australian Human Rights Commission with new functions to assess and enforce compliance with this new requirement, including the capacity to give compliance notices to employers who are not meeting their obligations;
- Expressly prohibit conduct that results in a hostile workplace environment on the basis of sex; and
- Ensure Commonwealth public sector organisations are also required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency on its gender equality indicators.
We know that gender inequality is a key driver of sexual harassment and achieving women's economic equality demands we ensure women are safe at work.
Implementing all the recommendations of the Respect@Work Report is a priority for the Albanese government.
The Respect@Work report represents a fundamental change in how public policy and the legislative framework support people who experience sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
This bill takes those steps as set out in the Respect@Work report, makes that change, and signals to all workers that they deserve to be safe at work.
Everyone has the right to a safe and respectful workplace. Sexual harassment is not inevitable. It is preventable.
And this government will continue to work to prevent workplace sexual harassment from happening in the first place.
Sharon Claydon is the Deputy Speaker of the Australian Parliament, chair of Federal Labor's Status of Women Caucus Committee and the federal Member for Newcastle
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