Working without fear: workplace sexual harassment in 2012

In late October 2012, the Australian Human Rights Commission released its third report on workplace sexual harassmententitled Working Without Fear: Results of the 2012 Sexual Harassment National Telephone Survey. The Commission considered the prevalence, nature and reporting of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces since the survey was last conducted in 2008¹ and made several key findings on these issues based on the data obtained.

Summary

• Workplace sexual harassment damages workplace morale and can significantly affect performance and productivityin your organisation.
• The results of the 2012 survey show that sexual harassment is prevalent in Australian workplaces, male co-workers are most likely to be the perpetrators of harassment, and targets of harassment are less likely to report or complainabout sexual harassment.
• Despite legislative enactments, including changes to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) in 2011 to enhance safeguards around sexual harassment, levels of workplace sexual harassment have not fallen by any real or significant extent.
• To create workplaces that are safe, secure and free from all forms of sexual harassment, a holistic approach is needed involving leadership and commitment from the government, unions and employers across all industry sectors.
• Employers need to consider new and innovative ways of addressing workplace sexual harassment, including effective prevention strategies, educating and training employees at all levels, improving access to reporting mechanisms and encouraging reporting of sexual harassment. 

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