New code on sexual and gender-based harassment adds to the mix

New code on sexual and gender-based harassment adds to the mix

by | Jan 11, 2024 | C1: Commitment, C2: Capability, C3: Competency, C4: Culture, Compliance, Diversity, Psychosocial hazards, Sexual harassment, Workplace wellbeing

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New code on sexual and gender-based harassment adds to the mix

example flexible working arrangement

Safe Work Australia has published a new code on sexual and gender-based harassment which makes reference to the positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment and gender-based behaviours that has been legislated nationally under the Sex Discrimination Act. You can access the code here.

It also notes that satisfying your duty under the Sex Discrimination Act doesn’t necessarily mean that you would also satisfy your WHS obligations – for example in relation to the positive duty to eliminate or control psychosocial hazards.

It also makes the point that, if someone is sexually harassed, it is likely that other psychosocial hazards could be in play.

I then got to thinking about all of the different jurisdictions that now have a footprint in the area of sexual harassment and how confusing it must be for people (whether a victim trying to access help or an employer trying to understand their obligations) to work out where to go for what – the picture above tells the story.  

So who does what?

This is what it looks like for Victorian employers and employees.

Firstly, Safe Work Australia which published this code is a national body funded by Commonwealth, State and Territory governments to develop national policy and guidance materials such as codes on workplace health and safety matters. It is not a regulator and has no involvement on complaints or enforcement matters. 

WorkSafe Victoria is the regulator on Workplace Health and Safety matters in Victoria. Complaints of sexual harassment can be made to WorkSafe Victoria and they will investigate such matters in the context of whether there is any breach of WHS obligations.

The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent authority that investigates complaints about discrimination and human rights breaches. It does accept complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination and can assist in resolution of complaints through a process of conciliation. Since December 2023, it also has inspection and enforcement powers relative to any alleged breaches of the new positive duty on PCBUs including employers to eliminate sexual harassment and other unwanted gender-based behaviour.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission deals with complaints under Victorian Equal Opportunity legislation including those related to sexual and gender-based harassment and provides a voluntary conciliation service.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is the national workplace relations regulator. Part of its role is educational and providing employers and employees on their obligations and rights and legal processes for dealing with such things as sexual harassment. Because there are specific jurisdictions that deal with sexual harassment cases, they are more likely to provide advice on what options a worker has rather than deal with a complaint themselves.

The Fair Work Commission has, for a number of years, had the power to issue “stop sexual harassment orders”. Since March 2023, the Commission has had additional powers enabling it to accept claims of sexual harassment and implement mediation, conciliation and arbitration processes to resolve them.  It is important to note that all workers, not just employees, have access to this jurisdiction.

So what do you do now?

As you can see from the above, this is a very complicated area of law with a variety of pathways that a complainant might take depending on the outcome that they are looking for.

There are a couple of things that all employers need to do. 

Firstly, take the positive duty to prevent sexual and gender-based harassment seriously and ensure that you do what is necessary to meet that duty.

Secondly, ensure that you have access to sound and informed professional advice.

At Ridgeline HR, we can help you with a lot of that and we have a network of specialist lawyers and other professional service providers to assist in complex or specialised areas.

If you would like to explore how we might help you and your business in this or any other area of people compliance and culture, please give us a call on 0438 533 311 or email enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au to arrange your free first consultation.

 

 

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

PARTNER LINKS

PosWork

FMD Financial

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria

QUICK RESOURCE LINKS

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

Worksafe Victoria

Safe Work Australia

Business Victoria

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH

Is it time to revive “the e2 initiative”?

Is it time to revive “the e2 initiative”?

by | Jan 7, 2024 | C1: Commitment, C2: Capability, C3: Competency, C4: Culture, Employee Engagement, EVP, Fair Work, Psychosocial hazards, Sexual harassment, Wage Obligations, Workplace wellbeing

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Is it time to revive “the e2 initiative”?

example flexible working arrangement

The “e2 initiative” was a project undertaken by Ridgeline HR Practice Leader, Peter Maguire in association with two quite different organisations that he worked with over a decade ago.

Investors in People Australia was the Australian licensee for Investors in People, a standard of excellence in leadership and development of people originally developed in the UK in the early 1990s. Investors in People is still going strong in the UK and in some other parts of the world albeit that it has never really taken off in Australia.  For further information on Investors in People, see https://www.investorsinpeople.com/. Peter was an accredited Investors in People Specialist who advised and assessed organisations using the Investors in People Standard.

The Australian Institute of Employment Rights (which was created in the WorkChoices era) works to promote the recognition and implementation of employment rights in a cooperative industrial relations framework based on the principles of. the International Labour Organisation.  In 2007, the Institute released The Australian Charter of Employment Rights which sets out 10 fundamental principles on which fair and balanced workplace laws and relationships should be based. There is an accompanying Australian Standard of Employment Rights which provides more detail on how organisations can implement those 10 principles in their workplaces. For further information on The Australian Institute of Employment Rights and its work and publications, go to https://www.aierights.com.au/. Peter was one of the leads for advising and assessing organisations against the Australian Standard of Employment Rights.

What was the “e2 initiative”?

The initiative brought together the two standards – the Investors in People Standard as the measure of “effectiveness” of an organisation and The Australian Standard of Employment Rights as the measure of the “ethics” of an organisation.

The equation:                      ethics x effectiveness (e2) = employee engagement (e2)

The premise for developing the program was that there was a clear disconnect between what we knew then to be best practices in leadership and management of people and what was happening with workplace laws and organisational behaviours and cultures in our workplaces.

The concept was that by bringing the two instruments together we could influence the development of more harmonious workplace relations environments which would also have the dual benefits of improving employee engagement and productivity.

There was also the potential for organisations which implemented the two standards effectively in their workplaces to achieve accreditations as an Investor in People and as an Ethical Employer. 

Are things different today?

In some ways, yes and, in others, no.

LIke then when we were not long into the Fair Work era, we are going through a period of significant legislative change in workplace relations pursuant to the election of a Labor government after years under conservative governments.

Like then, we still have regular reports of large organisations underpaying wages and entitlements and in many cases they are simultaneously harvesting record profits.

We have had inquiry after inquiry making findings of culpable corporate misconduct in so many different jurisdictions.

We also still have peak bodies for unions and employers being openly combative when it comes to any proposed changes to employment rights and workplace relations laws. 

Like today, leadership experts were urging our managers to be accountable, be compassionate, be engaging, be vulnerable and be collaborative. On the other hand, they were being told to  manage risk, reduce costs and maximise profits and they were being rewarded for that. It was the latter that provided organisations’ policy settings.

So there is a lot that really hasn’t changed much at all.

The advent of positive duties

The penny has dropped that the traditional compliance/risk management model as applied by most organisations doesn’t work. 

The positive duties that organisations must now meet in relation to elimination of sexual harassment and psychosocial hazards have been introduced for that reason – it isn’t just about changing policies, it is about bringing about real changes in behaviour – by individuals and work groups and organisations and everyone whom we interact with in the course of the work that each of us do. We all have a role to play in that.

That was exactly what the “e2 initiative” was about – changing workplace behaviours in partnership with all of the people in a workplace.

Need help?

Interested in exploring ways in which we might be able to help you to deal with your new positive duties? Give us a call on 0438 533 311 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter. 

 

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

PARTNER LINKS

PosWork

FMD Financial

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria

QUICK RESOURCE LINKS

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

Worksafe Victoria

Safe Work Australia

Business Victoria

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH

Supporting women experiencing family and domestic violence

Supporting women experiencing family and domestic violence

by | Nov 25, 2023 | C1: Commitment, C2: Capability, C3: Competency, C4: Culture, Diversity, Employee Engagement, EVP, inclusion and equity, Sexual harassment, Workplace wellbeing

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Supporting women experiencing family and domestic violence

example flexible working arrangement

Today is the “International day for the elimination of violence against women”.

So it is an opportune time to refresh on what we all (and particularly we men) can do to influence reductions in both the incidence and effects of family and domestic violence on women.

According to Our Watch, a not for profit established by the Victorian and Federal Governments in 2013 to lead the fight against violence against women, “Violence against women is any act of gender-based violence that causes or could cause physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of harm or coercion, in public or in private life.”

They quote some concerning statistics – in Australia:

  • 2 in 5 women (39%) have experienced violence since the age of 15.
  • On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.
  • In the year 2021/22, 5606 women (average of 15 women/day) were hospitalised due to family and domestic violence.
  • 1 in 2 women (53%) has experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime.
  • The perpetrators of sexual violence and harassment are predominantly men.

That is why we have to do something about this terrible situation.

The real challenge

I recently had a conversation with an employer of close on 100 people in relation to the positive duties that apply to the elimination of sexual harassment and psychosocial hazards. His view was that people’s private lives are none of his business and employers should not be expected to pry into employee’s private affairs. He really doesn’t want to know.

If we are really going to properly support women who are experiencing family and domestic violence, we need to know and we need to create workplace environments that are safe for women to let us know and to ask for help……and we need to give that help.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has published the “Small Business Employer Guide to Family and Domestic Violence”. 

This states:

“It’s critical that small business employers can recognise the signs of family and domestic violence, so they can help employees get the support they need.

Behaviours that may signal a person is experiencing family and domestic violence include:
` excessive or unexplained absences or lateness
` a sudden or sustained drop in productivity
` unexplained injuries
` social withdrawal
` frequent or unusual work breaks, or unusual start and finish times
` anxiety or fearfulness
` appearing distracted, depressed or overly jumpy
` lack of concentration or difficultymaking decisions
` inability to take work-related trips
` personal calls, texts or visits that cause the employee distress.

If a manager or co-worker suspects that an employee may be experiencing family and domestic violence, it’s appropriate for them to raise their concerns with the employee.

While they’re not counsellors, it’s important they feel equipped to raise their concerns to support their employee or co-worker.”

So the message is clear – we should care about our employee’s wellbeing and we should be asking questions if we see that something’s not quite right whether that is from causes at or outside work. 

Legal obligations

The Federal Government has introduced a couple of significant legal changes in the past year, namely:

  • A new National Employment Standard providing people experiencing family and domestic violence with 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave per annum (this is a standard entitlement for all employees whether engaged on a full-time, part-time or casual basis) – read more on this here; and
  • A positive duty on Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) to eliminate workplace sexual harassment, sex discrimination and sex-based harassment – read more on this here

Additionally, sexual harassment is one of the psychosocial hazards in respect of which States and Territories are legislating positive duties on PCBUs to eliminate from workplaces. If someone is experiencing family and domestic violence, this can have a huge impact on their physical, emotional and mental health. Part of the support that an employer can provide is ensuring that work doesn’t aggravate any such condition that an employee might have as a result of experiencing family or domestic violence. 

Please also note that, in Victoria, there has been a positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment for a number of years under equal opportunity legislation. Further information is accessible here.

The Respect@Work toolkit.

The Federal Government/the Australian Human Rights Commission has set up a website (https://www.respectatwork.gov.au/) in support of the new positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment etc that was legislated last year.

This website includes lots of resources for organisations to use in developing policies, procedures and practices with respect to the prevention of sexual harassment in workplaces which are suitable for large organisations, Boards of Directors for large organisations but are not very practical for small businesses.

Our HEART approach

We believe that there are essentially 5 elements to a positive duty approach was presented in our HEART model:

HONESTY – Take a good hard look at what is really happening in your organisation with an open mind and a curious mindset.

ENGAGEMENT – Harness the passion and collective wisdom of your people to shape and drive the agenda for change.

ACCOUNTABILITY – Build and deploy the plans, processes and systems to hold everyone responsible for playing their part.

REVIEW – Recognise that this is a journey and not an event. Set goals, monitor vigilantly, celebrate milestones, learn and grow.

TRUST –  Provide a psychologically safe workplace where people speak up without fear and actions show that they are listened to.

How we can help

Whether you need to develop or review policies or procedures or you need a cultural assessment done or you want to run some educational sessions or you need help in facilitating communication and consultation processes or you need someone to support you  with an employee who is experiencing family or domestic violence, we can help.

Call us

  • Give us a call on 0438 533 311 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

PARTNER LINKS

PosWork

FMD Financial

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria

QUICK RESOURCE LINKS

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

Worksafe Victoria

Safe Work Australia

Business Victoria

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH

Helping with your positive duties

Helping with your positive duties

by | Nov 11, 2023 | C1: Commitment, C2: Capability, C3: Competency, C4: Culture, Employee Engagement, EVP, Psychosocial hazards, Sexual harassment, Workplace wellbeing

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Helping with your positive duties

example flexible working arrangement

All organisations have to meet their new positive duties to eliminate sexual harassment and to eliminate or control psychosocial hazards.

Relevant authorities have published codes or guidelines which set out what organisations are supposed to do to meet these positive duties and the reality is that, if we are to be seen to be compliant, we need to do what they say.

But they are really complex and designed with large organisations in mind, ones which have their own WHS and HRM people and systems and resources to manage these obligations.

For smaller businesses, a much simpler approach is needed and that is achievable with the right partner. Here is how we would go about that.

What does good compliance look like?

There are consultants out there who will tell you that, if you put in place the documentation – like employment contracts, position descriptions, employee handbooks, policies and procedures – you will be able to demonstrate your compliance.

Sorry but that just goes part of the way and can actually create risks if you have them on paper but don’t actiually manage people issues in accordance with them.

20 years ago, I developed our 4C compliance model because compliance involves a lot more than just having a document.

This is what good compliance looks like:

C1: Commitment: leadership makes a positive statement of intent like in a policy or a values statement or a purpose statement, etc

C2: Capability: the organisation provides the resources – the people, systems, tools and processes – that are necessary to give life to the commitment

C3: Competency: the organisation provides people with the skills, knowledge, tools and time to apply the resources properly to deliver the desired outcomes

C4: Culture: the commitment is demonstrated in practice through the applied capability of the organisation and the competency of its people to deliver consistent high performance and in ongoing measurement and continuous improvement.

How are you tracking against our 4C model?

Goalposts have shifted

Our friends at the Michelle McQuaid Group came up with the very simple and appropriate message that we need to shift from “a culture of compliance” to  “a culture of care” if we are going to properly address the mental health and wellbeing challenges in our workplaces and meet our are positive duty to eliminate or control psychosocial hazards.

They are right and there are good reasons for that.

The traditional approach to risk management has been to have a policy, tell people about it and act on any complaints or incidents that arise. That doesn’t work for many reasons but there are two in particular that I want to point to:

  1. This approach relies on people making a complaint and most victims and bystanders don’t do that; and
  2. It isn’t effective in addressing the underlying behaviours or factors that are creating the problem.

We believe that we have always had a duty to protect our people from psychosocial hazards including sexual harassment in line with the general duty to protect people from the risk of illness or injury at work.

What is happening now is that organisations are being told that they have an explicit duty to proactively assess their organisations for risk arising from psychosocial hazards and then eliminate or control/minimise any that they find through a systematic and engaging/consultative approach with their people.

Relationships are key

The underlying challenge is to create psychologically safe workplaces where there is trust and positive relationships between management and workers and other stakeholders and everyone is required to comply with the rules of behaviour – not just nominally follow the policies.

There is of course a need for formal and proper processes and policies and procedures etc but we need to think of them as tools supporting positive relationships rather than just as risk management tools. A core message coming through is that we have to get back to treating people as human beings rather than as human resources.

That is why positive relationships are so essential to creating the required “culture of care”.

How can we help

The image at the head of this article gives you an idea of the various ways in which we might be able to assist.

We have the benefit of having competencies in both workplace relations law and positive leadership, two essential ingredients to navigating this new positive duty.

We can simplify the processes set out in the guidelines to accommodate the needs of smaller businesses who do not have the resources to be able to manage and we can adapt them to suit the particular circumstances and settings of the business.

For HR/People and Culture practitioners who are struggling with what the new positive duties mean for what they should be doing and how they should be doing it, we can provide positive duty coaching  to help you make the necessary adjustments.

Need help?

  • Give us a call on 0438 533 311 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

PARTNER LINKS

PosWork

FMD Financial

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria

QUICK RESOURCE LINKS

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

Worksafe Victoria

Safe Work Australia

Business Victoria

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH

Relationships matter

Relationships matter

by | Oct 22, 2023 | C1: Commitment, C2: Capability, C3: Competency, C4: Culture, Employee Engagement, Human Resources, inclusion and equity, Psychosocial hazards, Sexual harassment

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Relationships matter

example flexible working arrangement

There are lots of organisations around who say: “people are our greatest asset” but, when we have a good look inside them, we sometimes struggle to see how that tenet is actually being lived in practice 

It isn’t unusual to find that organisations can invest a lot in policies, procedures, surveys and metrics and individual development and performance management and still not get the cultural and performance outcomes that they are looking for.

As much as all of that investment in systems, processes, data and resources is important, we are also dealing with human beings and, to a significant degree, the return on those investments is dependent on people’s ability and engagement to utilise those resources and to collaborate with each other.

Yet it is rare that we find that relationships feature significantly, if at all,  in performance or development management processes.

If people are your greatest asset, why is that?

The simple reality

In any job that I do, there will be people whom I rely on for certain inputs that I need to do my job and there will be other people who rely on me for certain outputs from me  to do their jobs, 

Anyone who has implemented lean quality systems understands process mapping and internal customer/supplier relationships and how important they are for getting work processes right with minimal waste and optimal efficiency.

But those relationships are between human beings ie the people or teams who are those customers and suppliers.

How effective are you in assuring that the people in those process chains understand their interdependencies, have the training and resources (including time) to play their part and are supportively held accountable for doing that?

When people arrive

Whether you call it induction or onboarding or orientation or some other name, that new experience when someone joins your organisation has a profound impact on how quickly the new starter settles in and becomes productive and what they think about the culture of their new workplace and whether they will be happy there.

Typically, what we see in this entry program is a lot of stuff around rules and administration and compliance and the physical workplace and work processes/systems and sometimes some stuff around desired organisation culture, values, vision, mission, etc

There might be someone appointed as buddy but we don’t often see anything really constructive in key relationships ie the people this person is going to rely on for stuff and the people who this person is going to rely on to do their stuff.

Given what we have already said about the importance of people, wouldn’t it make sense to help the new starter to understand these key relationships and interdependencies as soon as possible?

We recommend including meetings with each of the people that the new starter is going to have a key relationship with and asking that person to answer 3 questions for the new starter:

  • What their role is
  • What they rely on the new starter for
  • What the new starter relies on them for  

Just spending a little time up front on properly inducting a new starter into their key relationships can make such a positive difference to them and their development and the relationships……..and, of course, on their performance and the realisation of return on investment.

Why people leave

There is a mountain of research out there about why people leave organisations. Gallup says people leave managers, Culture Amp says that may be the case sometimes but it is more about leadership and development opportunities. Others says that money and recognition  are key issues.

I think that, in the main, people leave problematic relationships just as happens in other elements of life. That might be that I don’t think that my manager appreciates or supports me or it might be that I don’t see positive leadership that I respect and want to follow. It might be that I have outgrown the organisation and it isn’t able to provide me with the meaning that I need from work or meet my personal growth needs. Or it could be that there is one of more  internal relationship(s) that are negatively affecting me.

There is a lot that we can influence in all of that by investing in relationships with our people and having open and regular conversations with them so that we become aware of how they are feeling and can act to address any issues for them.

Of course, there are occasions when someone just gets an offer that you can’t match and they think it is too good to refuse or they leave for other reasons such as to start a family or their own business or some other personal endeavour or to retire. If the relationship is sound, those people will be advocates for you as an employer and sometimes people find that “the grass isn’t greener” and “money isn’t everything” and they might just come back if you leave the door open

There have been a couple of times in my career when, on announcing my resignation, my boss responded: “Why are you leaving? We had big plans for you”, Of course, I didn’t know of those plans because they hadn’t told me about them ie they had not invested in the relationship with me.

Don’t let that happen with your people.

The new positive duty regime

This year we are seeing the introduction of positive duties to eliminate or control psychosocial hazards and, guess what……..a lot of those psychosocial hazards are related to the quality of relationships.

Four of those are pretty obvious – “violent and aggressive behaviour”, “bullying”, “harassment including sexual harassment” and “conflict and poor workplace relationships and interactions”.

However, if you explore a number of the other psychosocial hazards, you will find that relationships have a lot to do with the risks associated with the particular hazard – for example, relationships between management and workers or between workers in the same or different businesses or between a company, its people and its customers to name a few. 

So, a key part of meeting the new positive duty is to assess relationship risk and put in place appropriate control measures.  

Of course, engaging your people in that conversation and building positive relationships is actually part of that process and the solution.

Conclusion

So investing in relationships is important because “relationships matter” – to staff engagement and wellbeing, to staff retention , to productivity and for legal compliance.

 So why wouldn’t you do that?

 

Need help?

  • Give us a call on 1300 108 488 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

PARTNER LINKS

PosWork

FMD Financial

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria

QUICK RESOURCE LINKS

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

Worksafe Victoria

Safe Work Australia

Business Victoria

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH

Time to get serious about sexual harassment

Time to get serious about sexual harassment

by | Aug 1, 2023 | C1: Commitment, C2: Capability, C3: Competency, C4: Culture, Diversity, Employee Engagement, EVP, Human Resources, inclusion and equity, Psychosocial hazards, Sexual harassment

Latest News & Events

Time to get serious about sexual harassment

example flexible working arrangement

In December 2022, a new positive duty on employers and persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to eliminate workplace sex discrimination and harassment commenced.

The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 (Cth) amended the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), introducing a positive duty on employers and PCBUs to eliminate:

  • workplace sexual harassment, sex discrimination and sex-based harassment;
  • conduct that amounts to subjecting a person to a hostile workplace environment on the ground of sex; and
  • certain acts of victimisation.

Now employers and Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) have a legal obligation to take proactive and meaningful action to prevent all of the above offending behaviours from occurring in the workplace or in connection to work.

This is a big step up from what had been the case where it was a complaints-driven process – action was only required if someone made a complaint after the fact ie after the sexual harassment had already occurred.

Respect@Work  

The Australian Human Rights Commission has established a website with lots of resources to help organisations to learn about sexual harassment and what the positive duty means. See https://www.respectatwork.gov.au.

The first step in the process of exercising your positive duty is to actually understand what the issues are and what your obligations to exercise the positive duty mean in practice. You then need to conduct a risk assessment to ascertain whether there are any risks that need to be eliminated or controlled relative to sexual harassment and the other offensive behaviours noted above.

Above is the risk management model published via Respect@Work which is an adaptation from Safe Work Australia’s model for managing work health and safety risks.

There are two points with this which are important to note:

  • Workers must be consulted at every step in the process and the best results will be obtained by educating and engaging them in the mission to eliminate sexual harassment from your workplace; and
  • This is a continuous process – not something that you just do once and then you have ticked the box. The positive duty means that you must keep assessing risks and the effectiveness of control measures and making necessary adjustments on an ongoing basis.

Please note that sexual harassment also features as one of the psychosocial hazards in respect of which Australian organisations are progressively being required to deal with as a workplace health and safety positive duty.

What is sexual harassment?  

 Australian law states that sexual harassment occurs when:

  • a person makes an unwelcome sexual advance, or an unwelcome request for sexual favours, to the person harassed; or engages in other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to the person harassed;
  • in circumstances in which a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would have anticipated the possibility that the person harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated.

Examples of behaviour that constitutes sexual harassment include:

  • inappropriate physical contact;
  • intrusive questions about a person’s private life or physical appearance;
  • sharing or threatening to share intimate images or film without consent;
  • unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing;
  • repeated or inappropriate invitations to go out on dates;
  • sexually suggestive comments or jokes that offend or intimidate;
  • requests or pressure for sex or other sexual acts;
  • sexually explicit pictures, posters or gifts;
  • actual or attempted rape or sexual assault;
  • being followed, watched or someone loitering;
  • sexually explicit comments made in person or in writing, or indecent messages (SMS, social media), phone calls or emails—including the use of emojis with sexual connotations;
  • sexual gestures, indecent exposure or inappropriate display of the body;
  • unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that occurs online or via some form of technology—including on virtual meetings;
  • inappropriate staring or leering;
  • repeated or inappropriate advances on email or other online social technologies.

In determining whether an advance, request or other conduct may be sexual in nature, the intention of the alleged harasser is not relevant. An advance, request or other conduct may be sexual in nature even if the person engaging in the conduct does not have a sexual interest in that person or is of a different sexual orientation to the person harassed.

Equally, the behaviour may be unwelcome to a person even if it is accepted or tolerated by others or is part of the culture of the organisation.

As to whether the behaviour offend, intimidates or humiliates someone, that also is a subjective test – it is about the how a person perceives and is affected by the behaviour and about how a reasonable person could expect that to happen.

What are the drivers of sexual harassment? 

There are 4 key drivers of sexual harassment noted on the Respect@Work website. They are:

  1. Condoning of sexual harassment against women (are these behaviours justified, excused or trivialised in your workplace?)
  2. Men’s control of decision making in public and private life (how well represented and how much of a voice do women have in management decisions in your workplace?)
  3. Rigid adherence to gender roles and stereotyped constructions of masculinity and femininity (in your workplace, are there any perspectives that some jobs are best done by men and some best done by women?)
  4. Male peer relations that emphasises aggression and disrespect towards women (in your workplace, is there a culture of sexist language or jokes or commentary that is disrespecting of women?)

The questions posed above are just a few of those you need to be asking.

The Exposures 

From December 2023, the Australian Human Rights Commission will be able to enter workplaces to inspect them for issues of sexual harassment and will be able to initiate prosecutions and penalties of offending employers.

Workplace Health and Safety authorities around the country are progressively becoming able to do likewise via legislation for PCBUs to have a positive duty to eliminate or control psychosocial hazards.

The Fair Work Commission already had a jurisdiction in which workers could seek orders to stop sexual harassment. As from March 2023, they also have a new jurisdiction where workers can take complaints of sexual harassment and seek compensation.

So, yes, it is time to get serious about stamping out sexual harassment.

Note: much of this content has been drawn from the Respect@Work website.

Need help?

  • Give us a call on 1300 108 488 to arrange your free first consultation to see how we can help with advice and support on this or any other HR matter

CONTACT US

Ridgeline Human Resources Pty Ltd
ABN : 24 091 644 094

enquiries@ridgelinehr.com.au

0438 533 311

PARTNER LINKS

PosWork

FMD Financial

Civil Contractors Federation Victoria

QUICK RESOURCE LINKS

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

Worksafe Victoria

Safe Work Australia

Business Victoria

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH