Respect @ Work
On Tuesday 27 September, the Federal Government introduced the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 (Cth) (Bill) which are important reforms to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in response to the 2020 Respect@Work report on workplace sexual harassment.
The centrepiece of the Bill is an employer duty to prevent sex discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. Rather than just waiting for an employee complaint, employers must now take proactive and preventative action in regard to sexual harassment. Further to this, the employer duty also includes the requirement to prevent harassment by third parties such as customers, suppliers and clients.
The Bill, with an aim to ‘achieve substantive equality between men and women’ also provides some further functional activities:
To set clear boundaries on acceptable conduct in the workplace;
To clarify the meaning of unlawfully subjecting a person to a hostile workplace environment (e.g., the seriousness of the conduct; the frequency of the conduct, the influence and authority of the people engaging in the conduct and any other relevant circumstances);
To enable representative actions before the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to proceed to court;
To add protections to AHRC legislation to provide greater clarity on the costs of pursuing legal action; and
To increase reporting requirements under workplace gender equality laws.
We recommend that all employers take these initial steps to ensure they are meeting their duties:
Have ongoing discussions with your employees in the workplace – normalise the conversation about sexual harassment and make it clear that you have a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours.
Do a risk assessment of your business – are you considered a hostile workplace environment? Have you reviewed the potential hazards? Do you have processes in place to minimise any risks of sexual harassment (including any other forms of unacceptable and/or unlawful behaviour)?
Ensure your business has an up to date policy that outlines unlawful and/or unacceptable workplace behaviours. This policy should cover bullying, harassment (including sexual harassment), all forms of discrimination, victimisation and how your business will action any complaints.
Look at your other policies. Do you have company functions? Is the nature of the functions appropriate? Is alcohol provided?
Watch this space. As we get more information about the reforms and what this means for your business – we will bring you updates and further recommendations.