Leading property companies in Australia have made significant strides in increasing gender diversity in the sector while also developing methods to address sexual harassment in the workplace.
The Property Champions of Change – made up of 26 property industry leaders – each year, alongside the wider Champions of Change members report on their progress on gender equality in their workplaces, including sexual harassment in the annual Impact Report.
The recently released Champions of Change Coalition 2022 Impact Report revealed the initiatives of Property Champions of Change Members to advance gender equality and combat harassment, with 94.4 percent of workers believing their firm has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment.
The report, which includes the gender equality performance metrics and commentary from the 26 CEOs and board-level leaders in the Property Champions of Change, found that 92.4 per cent of women and 95.7 per cent of men working in organisations represented by the Property Group believe their organisation takes a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment.
Meanwhile, 83 per cent of women and 88 per cent of men believe it is safe to raise issues of sexual harassment without fear of victimisation or negative career impacts, at their organisation
Over the last year, the Property Champions of Change have increased their role, oversight, and accountability for sexual harassment prevention and response in their organisations.
The vast majority of Property Champions of Change members have completed or are in the process of updating their tools, education, and employee training. Similarly, the vast majority are examining their reporting options for impacted personnel and developing or advancing/enhancing internal assistance capabilities or growing links with external support providers.
Speaking to the Impact Report, Bob Johnston, Chair of the Property Champions of Change and CEO of The GPT Group said: “The Property Champions of Change are committed to providing safe, inclusive, collaborative and productive workplaces for all employees across the property industry. We take a zero-tolerance approach to any behaviour or action deemed as unfair treatment, discrimination or harassment, and promote ongoing accountability and change to remove instances of this from all workplaces.”
“It is pleasing the 2022 report has shown so many employees across the property industry believe their workplace has no tolerance for sexual harassment and that they feel safe to speak up about issues. This shows the initiatives of the Champions’ organisations are transpiring into real outcomes that make our workplaces safer, but also shows there is more work to be done across the board,” said Mr Johnston.
Advancing women’s representation in leadership
Gender balance was achieved across the group of 25 companies in women’s representation (48.8 per cent), women’s recruitment (51.9 per cent) and women’s promotions (51.1 per cent) – all up on the year before.
67.5 per cent of members achieved or moved closer to gender balance across 67.5 per cent of leadership categories in 2021.
Disrupting the System
During this year’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence campaign, the Property Champions of Change have been raising awareness of all forms of workplace gender-based violence, both within our individual organisations and collectively as a Coalition.
Last week, members of the Property Champions of Change lit up 73 buildings in purple across the country, shining a light on violence against women. An industry-wide livestream event was also held to focus on workplace responses to domestic and family violence.
Last week, Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, announced the findings of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 5th national survey of workplace sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, finding that 41 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men have been sexually harassed at work in the last five years. In her address to the National Press Club, Jenkins said: “It is unacceptable that so many Australian workers continue to experience sexual harassment.”
In 2022 the prevention of workplace sexual harassment continued to be at the forefront of conversations and organisation strategies. The newly elected Albanese government has endorsed all 55 recommendations from the Respect@Work report.
Many companies are undertaking cultural reviews, in private or in the public, offering the chance to learn and acknowledge harm and accountability.
The Property Champions of Change stand with over 230 other Members of the Champions of Change Coalition in taking a zero-tolerance approach to workplace sexual harassment. In 2020, the Champions of Change published Disrupting the System, which includes a framework of practical guidance and support for leaders and their workplaces across 5 key focus areas:
- Elevate the prevention of sexual harassment and early intervention as a leadership priority
- Address sexual harassment as a workplace health and safety issue
- Introduce new dynamics on confidentiality and transparency, with a particular focus on better management of high-profile cases
- Inform, empower and expect everyone to speak up and take action on sexual harassment in the workplace
- Listen to, empower, respect and support people impacted.