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Responsibility will now be on employers to actively prevent sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and victimisation in the workplace, under new legislation introduced into parliament.

Minister for Women Katy Gallagher announced the Federal Government would table the Respect at Work bill, moving to implement seven recommendations made by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins in her landmark 2020 Respect@Work report.

In a statement with Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, Gallagher said the bill will move Australia forward in its efforts to prevent workplace sexual harassment from happening at all. Burke will seek to include a prohibition of sexual harassment in the Fair Work Act.

“Everyone has the right to a safe and respectful workplace and the fact that workplaces have not been safe or respectful for so many Australians is unacceptable,” Gallagher said.

“Over the past five years, one in three people experienced sexual harassment at work, with women experiencing higher rates of harassment than men.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with a disability and members of the LGBTQ+ community are also, on average, more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment.”

The changes, to be introduced under the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment, will include expressly prohibiting hostile conduct on the basis of sex, and employers will need to take “reasonable and proportionate” measures to eliminate these behaviours.

The Australia’s human rights watchdog will also be given new powers to enforce and assess compliance, and consequently issue notices if employers are not meeting obligations. Commonwealth public sector organisations will also be required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency on gender equality indicators.

Fay Calderone, Employment lawyer and partner at Hall & Wilcox Fay Calderone, Employment lawyer and partner at Hall & Wilcox

“It provides a fence at the top of the hill rather than an ambulance at the bottom and enables the regulator to intervene early before the catastrophic damage we know sexual harassment does to victims has been caused.”

Employment lawyer and partner at Hall & Wilcox, Fay Calderone has acted for employers for the last 20 years across a range of industries including professional services, manufacturing, sport, health, aged care, community services and local councils.

Calderone told LSJ the reforms are a “game changer” for the legal profession and workplaces broadly.

“It provides a fence at the top of the hill rather than an ambulance at the bottom and enables the regulator to intervene early before the catastrophic damage we know sexual harassment does to victims has been caused,” Calderone said.

“By doing so it seeks to create compliance and general deterrence rather than compensation for victims, which is never enough.”

When Jenkins released the results of her 18-month inquiry in March 2020, she noted a 2018 survey that found 39 per cent of Australian woman and 26 per cent of men had experienced sexual harassment in the previous five years.

Jenkins took to Twitter on Tuesday to welcome the milestone moment. “Today is a significant day for those who have experienced sexual harassment – acknowledging your harm by reforming our laws to improve prevention in our workplaces.”