Respect@Work

Property Council Academy’s Respect@Work course has been developed in Collaboration with PeformHR.

The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 has commenced and implements legislative recommendations of the Respect@Work Report.

The Act strengthens the legal and regulatory frameworks relating to sex discrimination and shifts the system to focus more on preventative efforts to eliminate sexual harassment in Australian workplaces by creating safe, gender-equal and inclusive environments.

In order to imbed these changes, it will require transparency, accountability and leadership.

Respect At Work Legislation Amendment 

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work Report was published in 2020 and outlined 55 recommendations to eliminate workplace sexual harassment. In response late last year, the Federal Government passed the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022, resulting in the implementation of a further 7 of the 55 recommendations.

These reforms represent a significant change in the way sexual harassment in the workplace is treated.

The key reform is the introduction of a positive duty in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 that requires employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate certain forms of unlawful sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, as far as possible.

Four Major Changes:

1. The positive duty to prevent workplace sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation
2. Hostile work environments
3. The role of the Australian Human Rights Commission
4. Sharing of legal costs.

Next Steps:

Whilst employers already have obligations to ensure workers are not exposed to risk from sexual harassment, the recent amendment means that all workplaces should be acting now.

Consider sexual harassment as both a discrimination & WHS issue

• Sexual harassment in the workplace should be considered as both an employment/discrimination issue AND a WH&S issue, affecting ALL workers, including contractors & volunteers

Conduct a risk assessment

• Conduct a risk assessment, considering the drivers, to identify particular risk areas and workers at risk

Focus on prevention, not reaction

• Implement strong measures to not only respond to but PREVENT sexual harassment in the workplace. Updating policies and procedures is not enough

Monitor your work environment

• Sexual harassment is not behaviour targeting an individual, it can occur via workplace culture and “hostile work environments.” Culture must be inclusive and void of offensive, humiliating or sexist comments, behaviours, or jokes

Long-term planning

• Create a medium and long term plan on how these issues will be dealt with as opposed to having a short term and ‘reactive’ response when the issue arises.