In June 2018, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins and the then Minister for Women, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer, announced the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces.
The Respect@Work Report reflects the findings of the Inquiry, making 55 recommendations to address problems with current laws and providing solutions that aim to make workplaces the safe places they ought to be.
Throughout the Inquiry, the Commission heard of the need to shift from the current reactive, complaints-based approach, to one which requires positive actions from employers and a focus on prevention.
Overwhelmingly, the Commission heard that the current system for addressing workplace sexual harassment in Australia is complex and confusing for victims and employers to understand and navigate. It also places a heavy burden on individuals to make a complaint. Yet most people who experience sexual harassment never report it.
In response to the report, Kingsford Legal Centre, Redfern Legal Centre, the Women’s Legal Service NSW and Community Legal Centres Australia issued a joint statement calling for comprehensive law reform to protect workers from sexual harassment, agreeing with the Sex Discrimination Commissioner that the law is simply no longer fit for purpose.
Sharmilla Bargon, employment law solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, said that the law should be changed to require employers to take steps to stop sexual harassment.
“We regularly advise people who have been sexually harassed, who are then fired or bullied when they report it,” Ms Bargon said.
"Due to gaps in the law, we have to use ‘workarounds’ to protect people from sexual harassment and to hold perpetrators to account. We need to change workplace culture. The law needs to make clear that it’s the employer’s role to provide a safe workplace, free of harassment.”
Principal Solicitor at Women’s Legal Service NSW Pip Davis was pleased that the Respect@Work report identified non-disclosure agreements as an important issue, but disappointed that the report did not make a specific recommendation for the law to be changed.
“The #MeToo movement has drawn attention to the many ways that perpetrators and employers silence women, including the use of non-disclosure agreements that stop women from talking about sexual harassment,” said Ms Davis.
“Non-disclosure clauses should be prohibited unless a victim of sexual harassment requests confidentiality, and such clauses should never stop women from speaking about their own experiences of sexual harassment.”
Case study – Amanda and JillAmanda is employed as a casual cleaner by a small business. One of the contracts held by the business is to provide cleaning services in a nursing home. Amanda, her colleague Jill, and the cleaning business owner were cleaning the room of a patient when he pulled his penis out and started to masturbate. When Amanda and Jill complained to the business owner about being subjected to the patient’s conduct, he told them “Just ignore it. Keep working: the patient is harmless.” The following day when they complained again, the business owner stopped giving each of them shifts. |
Further case studies are included in the #MeToo: Legal Responses to Sexual Harassment at Work, a joint submission to the Inquiry from Kingsford Legal Centre, Redfern Legal Centre, Women’s Legal Service NSW and Community Legal Centres Australia (formerly known as the National Association of Community Legal Centres).
Download: Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report (2020)
