The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) has welcomed the acceptance of recommendations made in a report into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces but warns there’s much more to be done before it is stamped out.
Produced by the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, the report Respect@Work contains 55 recommendations which the Federal Government has noted or accepted in whole, in part, or in principle.
VEOHRC welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to implement some of the recommendations, including establishing an implementation taskforce; extending the application of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to Members of Parliament, judges and public servants; extending the time frame to make complaints; funding a nationally representative survey every four years; and delivering a range of preventative actions.
“One important recommendation that the Australian Government is yet to commit to is the incorporation of a ‘positive duty’ into the Sex Discrimination Act,” VEOHRC said.
“This positive duty would mean employers cannot sit back and wait for complaints of sexual harassment to occur; but must instead take proactive action to stop sexual harassment happening in the first place,” it said.
“Victoria is currently the only jurisdiction in Australia with this important preventative duty in our equal opportunity legislation.”
VEOHRC said the State’s equal opportunity legislation complimented the positive duty under Victoria’s workplace health and safety law and, together, created a legal framework under which employers must take reasonable and proportionate steps to eliminate sexual harassment, sex discrimination and victimisation.
“For too long Australia’s laws have placed the burden on victims of sexual harassment to come forward and seek redress – often at great risk to their safety, wellbeing, career and economic stability,” the Commission said.
“This needs to change.”
It said one way to make change was to ensure the country’s legal framework was as robust as possible at Federal and State and Territory levels.
VEOHRC said protection and enforcement powers under anti-discrimination law and workplace health and safety laws was also needed.
It said its recommendations were in its 2019 submission to the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment, which included a five-point plan for addressing sexual harassment.
VEOHRC’s 57-page submission to the National Inquiry can be accessed at this PS News link and its two-page five-point plan at this link.
