TO: All staff

Recent allegations highlighted in the media about inappropriate workplace behaviours, sexual harassment and generally poor workplace cultures has caused us to pause and think about how our organisation is positioned to prevent our people from being exposed to these unsafe behaviours.

We cannot assume that our organisation is immune to poor behaviour. Harassment in its many forms, including sexual harassment, can happen to anyone. It’s far more prevalent than some people think.

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission:

  • Almost two in five women (39%) and just over one in four men (26%) have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the last five years.
  • It is more likely to be experienced by younger people (those aged 18-29 years), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people, people living with disability and those in the LGBTIAQ+ community.
  • In 2018, more than 1 in 3 people were bystanders to sexual harassment in the workplace, but only one-third took action in response.

(Source: Everyone’s business: Fourth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces 2018)

Everyone has the right to feel safe at work. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and respectful work environment that is free from all forms of bullying and harassment.     We expect you to respect those who you work with and for you to be respected.

We want to ensure we have a zero-tolerance culture where people feel safe to speak up without fear of retribution. 

TAKE ME BACK

TO: All staff

You likely will have noticed recent media coverage about a new ‘positive duty’ on organisations to eliminate sexual harassment from their workplaces. This new legislation has caused us to pause and think about how our organisation is positioned to prevent our people from being exposed to sexual harassment, related inappropriate conduct, and the harm resulting from these unsafe behaviours.

We cannot assume that our organisation is immune to poor or unlawful behaviour. Harassment in its many forms, including sexual harassment, can happen to anyone. It’s far more prevalent than some people think.

At [COMPANY NAME], we take our commitment to workplace health and safety seriously. We welcome the new legislation contained in the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 which commenced on 13 December 2022, and recognise the Australian Human Rights Commission’s increased powers to enforce the positive duty commencing on 12 December 2023.

We remain focussed on building and maintaining a culture that prevents sexual harassment in all its forms. We are committed to rigorously assessing and evaluating our effectiveness in achieving this.

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2022 Fifth National Survey of sexual harassment in Australian workplace:

  • Almost two in five women (41%) and just over one in four men (26%) have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the last five years.
  • Sexual harassment is more likely to be experienced by younger people (those aged 15-29 years old); Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; people living with disability; and people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions.
  • Fewer than 1 in 5 people made a formal report or complaint about sexual harassment.
  • 41% of people witnessed or heard about the sexual harassment of another person at work, and 35% took action to prevent or reduce harm. Importantly, the majority of people (61%) who took action after witnessing or hearing about workplace sexual harassment said that the harassment stopped as a result.

These statistics are unacceptable. Everyone has the right to feel safe at work. We are committed to providing a safe and respectful work environment that is free from all forms of sexual harassment and related inappropriate conduct. We expect you to show respect to those who you work with, and for you to be treated with respect at all times.

We want to ensure we have a zero-harm culture where people feel safe to speak up without fear of retribution.

If you experience sexual harassment or related inappropriate conduct, whether it happens to you or you witness it happening to someone else, we want you to feel safe and comfortable to raise these concerns with us. They will be taken seriously, you will be supported and protected, and appropriate action will be taken to address the matter.

What to do if you need to raise an instance of sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct:

  • Raise any incidents you experience or witness to your manager or Human Resources [OR WHICHEVER IS THE NAME OF THE APPROPRIATE BUSINESS UNIT] You may report to someone outside of your business unit, for example, where the person you are concerned about is a nominated point of contact. [YOU SHOULD ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION RELATED TO CONTACTING THE CEO OR RELEVANT BOARD MEMBER]. You can also contact our [EXTERNAL WHISTLEBLOWING SERVICE / ANONYMOUS REPORTING PORTAL] [ADD DETAILS OF SERVICE HERE]. Refer to our [INSERT NAME OF YOUR ORGANISATION’S POLICY / STANDARD AND LINK THROUGH TO IT].
  • Contact our employee assistance program for follow up support. [ADD CONTACT DETAILS FOR EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM]. The information you share in these sessions will remain confidential.
  • The policies and standards relating to the workplace behaviours we hold ourselves accountable to are available for review here [ADD LINK].

We regularly review our policies, standards, and reporting data to ensure we are making progress towards eliminating sexual harassment for good at [COMPANY NAME]. We will provide periodic refresher training and updates to all staff – [ADD DETAILS OF WHEN THE NEXT TRAINING IS OR WHO TO EXPECT FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS FROM].

We all have a role to play in creating and maintaining a safe and respectful culture. All managers will be speaking with their teams to explain the new federal positive duty and to emphasise that we do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or related inappropriate conduct. I suggest you read through our policies and feel free to ask your managers for clarification on any of the details.

If we are going to succeed in creating safe and respectful workplaces where sexual harassment is a thing of the past, we all need to work together and live our commitment to respect each other.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Kind regards,  

[name]

Chief Executive Officer

If you need support, please contact your EAP any time, or find below additional resources: 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
https://www.lifeline.org.au/
www.1800respect.org.au/
https://mensline.org.au/

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We need to set the tone and lead from the top. With this in mind, here are examples of some things we should never say or accept from others:

  • A bullying and harassment policy should be enough to deal with sexual harassment and related inappropriate conduct.
  • We have low report rates of sexual harassment and related inappropriate conduct, so it’s not a problem at this organisation.
  • We have a reporting hotline which is well publicised, but we don’t get many calls about sexual harassment or related inappropriate conduct, so it’s not an issue here.
  • I have been in this industry for decades and I have never seen it, so it mustn’t be happening.
  • That’s the remit of our HR team. If there were ever a big issue, they would escalate it to us.
  • Our staff engagement scores are terrific and there is no indication of there being a sexual harassment problem here. That means we’re doing enough.
 
Most cultural issues aren’t hiding in plain sight. Often, it’s the things that aren’t being talked about that we need to be concerned about. Research tells us that sexual harassment is common and that it’s significantly under reported. In fact, increased reporting can indicate greater psychological safety and a culture of trust that the organisation takes sexual harassment seriously. We have a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment and related inappropriate conduct, and to continuously assess and evaluate whether we are meeting the requirements of the duty. 
 

We need to ensure our people feel safe to come forward and report instances of sexual harassment or related inappropriate conduct in the workplace. The only way they’ll do this is if they can see that leadership takes this issue seriously.

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We take the health and wellbeing of our people very seriously. We work hard to improve our safety outcomes and reduce injuries, and overall we do a good job of preventing physical harm to our people.

As we have seen in many other organisations, sexual harassment is more prevalent than a lot of people think. This represents a real risk to keeping people safe in the workplace, and to our people’s wellbeing and productivity.

It can also cause significant damage to our reputation, our brand as an employer of choice, lost business, and to our corporate standing. If we fail to take steps to address this conduct, we may be subject to enforcement action and/or civil penalties. Our organisation may also be held liable for inappropriate conduct committed by our employees unless we took all reasonable steps to prevent the conduct occurring. 

We need to make it crystal clear to everyone in the organisation that we have zero tolerance for any form of sexual harassment. We will always take appropriate action when sexual harassment or related inappropriate conduct occurs. We seek to prevent these unlawful behaviours and to have a zero-harm workplace. We welcome the new Australian positive duty placed on organisations by the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 and commit to implementing its provisions in a timely fashion and demonstrating our leadership. 

We need to treat sexual harassment and related inappropriate conduct risks as we would any other physical or psychological risk in the workplace. We already have existing systems and processes in place for identifying and mitigating workplace health and safety risks and hazards, and for defining our desired safe and respectful culture. 

We need to embed these sexual harassment response frameworks into our existing risk reporting practices and organisational culture, so all forms of sexual harassment and related misconduct are eradicated.

We can’t afford to wait on this; we need to act urgently. 

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Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other conduct of a sexual nature. It’s not only a human rights issue, which is unlawful under the Sex Discrimination Act, but also a workplace health and safety (WHS) risk which can cause significant psychological, physical, reputational and financial harm.

Existing systems and processes for managing WHS risks and hazards should be used to eliminate the risks and control the likelihood of sexual harassment occurring in the workplace.

Board members and senior executives have a duty to address this. Everyone deserves to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive environment. Respect is everyone’s business.

Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other conduct of a sexual nature. It’s not only a human rights issue, which is unlawful under the Sex Discrimination Act, but also a workplace health and safety (WHS) risk which can cause significant psychological, physical, reputational and financial harm.

Existing systems and processes for managing WHS risks and hazards should be used to eliminate the risks and control the likelihood of sexual harassment occurring in the workplace.

Board members and senior executives have a duty to address this. Everyone deserves to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive environment. Respect is everyone’s business.