Victoria announces sexual harassment task force aimed at making workplaces safer for women

The Victorian government will establish a task force into workplace sexual harassment, with a report due by the end of the year.

Employers would be forced to disclose incidents of sexual harassment to workplace authorities under reforms flagged by the Victorian government.

Employers would be forced to disclose incidents of sexual harassment to workplace authorities under reforms flagged by the Victorian government. Source: Getty Images AsiaPac

Employers would be forced to disclose incidents of sexual harassment to workplace authorities under reforms flagged by the Victorian government.

It's one of the changes to be looked at by a new task force aimed at making workplaces safer for women, Acting Premier James Merlino says.

"That would mean that an employer would be required to report to WorkSafe any incident of workplace sexual harassment," he told reporters on Monday, which marks International Women's Day.

"No one should be subject to the disrespect, the humiliation, the intimidation of sexual harassment. No one."
The task force is due to report back to the government by the end of the year, and will be co-chaired by MP Bronwyn Halfpenny and workplace injury lawyer Liberty Sanger.

It will work out the threshold for triggering a mandatory sexual harassment report and how this will be enforced.

The government says it does not want the task force to cut across police investigations into criminal allegations.

When asked whether the reforms would extend to cover parliament itself, Workplace Safety Minister Ingrid Stitt pointed to a possible code of conduct to govern MPs' behaviour.

"Every worker, regardless of where they work, deserves to work in an environment that's free of sexual harassment or any other form of intimidation," she said.
The task force will look at how to better prevent and respond to sexual harassment and protect complainants from adverse repercussions when they do come forward.

In Ms Stitt's experience, "it was not uncommon for the victims of this kind of behaviour to be the ones that had to actually change jobs or move departments or impact their careers".

Research from the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2018 showed one in three workers reported being sexually harassed at work during the previous five years.

The announcement about Victoria's task force comes amid the fallout from rape complaints at federal parliament.

If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence or sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit . In an emergency, call 000.

Readers seeking support with mental health can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. More information is available at supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.


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Published 8 March 2021 2:03pm
Updated 8 March 2021 2:31pm
Source: AAP, SBS



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