New Law – Respect at Work: A Positive Responsibility
The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 (the Bill) passed through Federal Parliament on 28 November 2022. It has been described as a milestone in addressing workplace sexual harassment in Australia.
The Bill implements seven of the fifty-five recommendations of the Respect@Work Report and significantly strengthens the legal and regulatory framework surrounding the prevention of sex discrimination in the workplace.
It includes a number of recommendations to improve responses to sexual harassment in the workplace. The Bill officially made sexual harassment a sackable offence introducing a positive duty on employers to take “reasonable and proportionate measures” to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination, including: sexual harassment, victimisation, and hostile work environments so far as possible, and made it clearer that harassing a person on the basis of sex is prohibited.
The National Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins has said: “The Respect@Work Bill is a major achievement that fundamentally changes how Australia protects people from workplace sexual harassment.
“It changes our settings from being reactive to also being proactive, so that employers are required to take meaningful action to prevent harassment from occurring. It shifts the emphasis from a complaints-based model to one where employers must take action, and continuously assess and evaluate whether they are meeting the requirements of the duty”.
The Commission, together with the Respect@Work Council, launched a new website, respectatwork.gov.au, providing comprehensive information and resources to help businesses fulfil their obligations and create respectful workplaces, free from harassment.
In considering whether an employer has taken “reasonable and proportionate” measures, matters such as the size, nature, and resources of that employer’s business or undertaking, as well as the practicability and cost of eliminating the conduct, will be taken into account.
What is plain, however, is that employers now positively shoulder the responsibility to ensure that these new requirements are met and that all employees are able to engage in a workplace that is free from sexual harassment.
Like to know more about the measures you should take to comply with the new workplace sexual harassment laws? Please call James Burke or Adam Stencel on (08) 8941 6355 or email james@bowden-mccormack.com.au or adam@bowden-mccormack.com.au