Workplace harassment remains one of Australia’s most persistent professional challenges, affecting thousands of workers across every industry imaginable.
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2018 Everyone’s Business report, 33% of people experienced sexual harassment at work in the previous five years.
But sexual harassment represents just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Understanding the various forms of workplace harassment isn’t just about ticking compliance boxes; it’s about creating workplaces where people can do their jobs without feeling intimidated, humiliated, or unsafe.
Whether you’re an employee wondering if what you’re experiencing constitutes harassment or an employer trying to build a healthier workplace culture, this comprehensive guide will walk you through the most common types of harassment Australian workers face.
Let’s dive into the reality of workplace harassment in Australia, complete with practical examples that’ll help you spot the warning signs before they escalate into serious problems.
What Actually Counts as Workplace Harassment in Australia?
Before we explore specific types, let’s establish what workplace harassment means under Australian law.
The Fair Work Commission defines harassment as behaviour that’s unwelcome, unsolicited, and that a reasonable person would recognise as likely to humiliate, intimidate, or offend.
Here’s the thing: harassment doesn’t require intent to harm.
Even if someone claims they were “just joking” or “didn’t mean anything by it,” their behaviour can still constitute harassment if it creates an uncomfortable or hostile environment.
Australian anti-discrimination laws, including the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and the Age Discrimination Act 2004, provide robust protections against harassment based on protected characteristics.
Employers have a legal obligation to prevent and address harassment and can be held liable for failing to fulfil this obligation.
1. Sexual Harassment: Still Australia’s Most Reported Problem
Sexual harassment remains disturbingly common in Australian workplaces. It takes various forms, each equally unacceptable.
1.1 Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment
This Latin phrase means “this for that,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when someone in authority offers employment benefits in exchange for sexual favours or threatens damaging consequences for refusal.
Real-world scenario: A manager tells their subordinate that they’ll recommend them for promotion if they go on a date.
Alternatively, a supervisor suggests that refusing their advances might result in poor performance reviews or being assigned to undesirable shifts.
This abuse of power creates an impossible situation for the victim, who must choose between their career advancement and their personal boundaries.
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, this form of harassment is particularly damaging because it explicitly links career outcomes to sexual compliance, creating a coercive environment that undermines workplace fairness.
1.2 Hostile Work Environment
A hostile work environment develops when sexual conduct becomes so pervasive or severe that it interferes with someone’s ability to perform their job.
Unlike quid pro quo harassment, this doesn’t necessarily involve someone in a position of authority.
Real-world scenario: A team regularly shares explicit jokes in the office group chat. Pornographic images appear on communal computers.
Colleagues make repeated comments about a coworker’s appearance or body. When the affected person complains, they’re told to “lighten up” or “not be so sensitive.”
The key here is that individual incidents might seem minor, but their cumulative effect creates an environment where the targeted person feels uncomfortable or unsafe coming to work.
1.3 Other Forms of Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment extends beyond these two categories. It includes:
- Unwelcome touching, hugging, or kissing
- Sexual comments about appearance, clothing, or body parts
- Requests for sexual favours
- Sexually suggestive texts, emails, or social media messages
- Staring or leering
- Displaying sexually explicit material
- Intrusive questions about someone’s sex life
Real-world scenario: A new graduate starts at an accounting firm. Within weeks, a senior colleague begins sending her after-hours messages with sexual innuendos, comments on her Instagram photos, and asks detailed questions about her dating life.
When she tries to keep conversations professional, he accuses her of being unfriendly and excludes her from team lunches.
2. Discriminatory Harassment: Targeting Protected Characteristics
Australian law recognises that harassment often targets people based on characteristics protected under anti-discrimination legislation.
Let’s explore each category.
2.1 Disability Harassment
This involves unwelcome conduct related to someone’s physical or mental disability, creating a hostile or intimidating environment.
Real-world scenario: An employee with epilepsy experiences regular “jokes” from colleagues about having seizures.
Coworkers imitate seizure movements during meetings, and someone nicknames him “Shaky.”
When he requests reasonable workplace adjustments, he’s told he’s “Asking for special treatment” and should “just deal with it like everyone else.”
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 requires employers to provide reasonable adjustments and protect employees from harassment based on disability.
2.2 Racial Harassment and Racial Hatred
Racial harassment targets someone’s race, colour, nationality, or ethnic background. It can range from offensive jokes to outright racial abuse.
Real-world scenario: An Australian Chinese accountant consistently has colleagues mispronouncing her name on purpose, making jokes about “where she’s really from,” and asking if she eats dogs.
During COVID-19, coworkers made comments blaming Chinese people for the pandemic and avoided sitting near her in the lunchroom.
According to the Diversity Council Australia’s Grit & Grace report, 31% of people from non-Anglo Celtic backgrounds have experienced racism at work.
2.3 Sexual Orientation Harassment
This targets someone based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation, whether they’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual.
Real-world scenario: After mentioning his husband in conversation, a teacher faces constant “jokes” from colleagues about his sexuality. Staff members make exaggerated effeminate gestures when he enters the staffroom, and someone circulates a rumour questioning whether he should teach younger students.
2.4 Gender Identity Harassment
Gender identity harassment targets someone for being transgender, gender diverse, or not conforming to gender stereotypes.
Real-world scenario: When a software developer transitions at work, colleagues deliberately use incorrect pronouns despite repeated corrections.
Someone leaves transphobic articles on her desk. She’s excluded from the women’s bathroom and questioned about which facilities she “should” use, creating constant stress and discomfort.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 explicitly protects against discrimination and harassment based on gender identity.
2.5 Age Harassment and Ageism
Age harassment targets workers based on their age, whether they’re considered “too young” or “too old.”
Real-world scenario: A 58-year-old marketing professional faces constant comments that she’s “past her use-by date” and should “make way for younger blood.”
Colleagues joke that she is a “dinosaur” who can’t understand social media. She has been systematically excluded from training opportunities and told that new campaigns need “fresh perspectives.”
Alternatively, a 23-year-old team leader hears repeated comments about being “just a kid” playing at management, with older colleagues undermining her authority and questioning her decisions based solely on age.
2.6 Religious Harassment
This involves unwelcome conduct related to someone’s religious beliefs, practices, or appearance.
Real-world scenario: A Muslim woman wearing a hijab faces daily comments about being “oppressed” or needing to “integrate properly.”
Colleagues schedule essential meetings during prayer times, despite her request for flexibility. Someone leaves anti-Islamic material on her desk, and coworkers make “jokes” about terrorism.
2.7 Pregnancy and Family Responsibility Harassment
This targets employees who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have caring responsibilities for others.
Real-world scenario: After announcing her pregnancy, a project manager suddenly finds herself removed from key projects because her boss assumes she’s “not committed anymore.”
Colleagues make comments about her “taking advantage” of maternity leave, and when she returns part-time to manage childcare, she’s passed over for promotion because she’s “not putting in the hours.”
Men aren’t immune either. A father requesting flexible working arrangements to handle school drop-offs faces jokes about being “hen-pecked” and comments suggesting his wife should “handle the home stuff.”
2.8 Marital or Relationship Status Harassment
This less-discussed category involves harassment based on someone’s marital status, whether they’re single, married, divorced, or in a de facto relationship.
Real-world scenario: A divorced woman constantly faces intrusive questions about her personal life, unsolicited dating advice, and assumptions that she’s available for after-hours socialising.
Colleagues make jokes about her failed marriage during meetings, and someone suggests she’s “desperate” or “on the hunt.”
3. Personal Harassment: When It Gets Personal
Personal harassment targets an individual based on personal traits, grudges, or interpersonal conflicts rather than protected characteristics.
While it might not fall under anti-discrimination laws, it’s still unacceptable and potentially unlawful under work health and safety legislation.
Real-world scenario: A competent employee becomes the target of a colleague’s vendetta after a professional disagreement.
The harasser spreads false rumours about the victim’s personal life, publicly humiliates them in meetings, makes snide comments about their work, and deliberately sabotages their projects.
The behaviour doesn’t relate to any protected characteristic; it’s targeted bullying based on personal animosity.
4. Physical Harassment: Crossing the Line
Physical harassment involves unwanted physical contact, threats of bodily harm, or intimidation through physical acts. It’s immediately recognisable as unacceptable, yet it still occurs.
Real-world scenario: A warehouse supervisor regularly invades workers’ personal space, standing uncomfortably close during conversations.
He pokes employees in the chest when emphasising points, grabs arms to get attention, and has pushed workers aside when he’s in a hurry.
When someone complains, he dismisses it as “just how I communicate.”
More serious examples include threatening physical violence, blocking someone’s path, throwing objects, or actual physical assault. These behaviours may also constitute criminal offences.
5. Verbal Harassment: Words That Wound
Verbal harassment encompasses offensive language, insults, slurs, aggressive speech, and derogatory comments.
Australian workplaces have thankfully moved away from accepting “rough language” as workplace culture, but verbal harassment persists.
Real-world scenario: A construction site supervisor regularly calls workers “useless,” “pathetic,” and worse.
He yells aggressively, uses profanity-laced tirades, and makes derogatory comments about workers’ intelligence, appearance, or backgrounds.
The constant verbal assault creates a toxic environment where everyone feels on edge.
6. Psychological Harassment: The Invisible Wounds
Psychological harassment uses emotional harm tactics like exclusion, excessive micromanagement, unreasonable demands, and reputation undermining.
It’s often more complicated to identify than physical or verbal harassment because it’s subtle and cumulative.
Real-world scenario: An experienced nurse finds herself systematically excluded from team communications.
Her manager assigns impossible workloads while giving other nurses lighter duties, questions every decision she makes, and spreads doubt about her competence to other staff members.
She is often excluded from social gatherings and professional development opportunities. The constant stress affects her mental health, but she struggles to pinpoint any single “harassment incident.”
7. Power Harassment: Abusing Authority
Power harassment involves someone in a position of authority abusing their hierarchical position. It overlaps with other types of harassment but involves the explicit misuse of workplace power dynamics.
Real-world scenario: A senior partner at a law firm demands associates be available 24/7, including weekends and holidays.
He sends work-related messages at 2 AM expecting immediate responses, assigns intentionally impossible deadlines, and publicly berates juniors for not achieving unrealistic targets.
He intrudes into associates’ personal lives, questioning their after-work activities and criticising their life choices. The power imbalance makes it nearly impossible for victims to push back without career consequences.
8. Online Harassment and Cyberbullying: The Digital Dimension
Workplace harassment has extended into the digital realm. Online harassment occurs via email, texting, social media, or other digital channels, and it can be just as damaging as in-person harassment.
Real-world scenario: After a workplace disagreement, an employee creates a fake social media account to post embarrassing photos and false information about a colleague.
The harasser sends threatening late-night texts, posts derogatory comments on the victim’s professional LinkedIn posts, and creates a group chat specifically to mock and exclude the targeted person.
According to research by the Australia Institute, workplace cyberbullying is increasingly common, particularly as remote and hybrid work arrangements blur the boundaries between professional and personal digital spaces.
9. Retaliation and Victimisation: Punished for Speaking Up
Victimisation occurs when someone faces negative treatment for making a harassment complaint, raising concerns, or participating in an investigation.
Australian law explicitly prohibits this retaliation.
Real-world scenario: An employee reports sexual harassment by a senior manager.
Shortly after, she’s moved to a less desirable role, excluded from important meetings, and receives her first negative performance review after years of excellent evaluations.
Colleagues who previously socialised with her suddenly keep their distance, clearly instructed to avoid her. The message is clear: speaking up has consequences.
The Fair Work Commission takes victimisation claims seriously, recognising that fear of retaliation prevents many people from reporting harassment.
10. Third-Party Harassment: When Outsiders Create Problems
Third-party harassment originates from individuals who aren’t direct coworkers, such as clients, customers, visitors, contractors, or suppliers.
Employers still have obligations to protect workers from this harassment.
Real-world scenario: A retail worker regularly faces sexual comments and inappropriate touching from customers.
When she reports it to management, she’s told, “That’s just part of customer service,” and advised to “smile more.”
Similarly, a tradesperson working on-site at a client’s premises faces racist comments and hostile treatment from the client’s staff. Still, her employer dismisses her concerns because “we need to keep that client happy.”
Research from the McKell Institute found that workers in customer-facing roles, particularly in hospitality and retail, experience high rates of third-party harassment.
11. Hostile Work Environment: The Cumulative Effect
A hostile work environment represents a broader pattern of harassment or discriminatory conduct that makes the workplace intimidating, offensive, or abusive.
It often combines multiple harassment types.
Real-world scenario: A workplace has pervasive sexist “banter,” displays of inappropriate material, discriminatory comments about various groups, and a culture of aggressive communication.
No single incident might seem severe enough to complain about, but collectively, they create an environment where certain people feel unwelcome, disrespected, or unsafe.
The hostility becomes normalised, and people who object are labelled as troublemakers or told they’re “Too sensitive.”
12. Bullying: The Overlapping Category
Workplace bullying deserves special mention because it overlaps significantly with harassment. Safe Work Australia defines bullying as repeated unreasonable behaviour directed toward a worker that creates a risk to health and safety.
Real-world scenario: A team leader systematically targets one employee, setting them up to fail with contradictory instructions, publicly criticising minor mistakes while ignoring others’ errors, spreading rumours, excluding them from necessary information, and creating a hostile environment.
The behaviour repeats over months, causing the victim significant stress, anxiety, and health problems.
While bullying and harassment are technically distinct under Australian law, they often occur together and are addressed through similar mechanisms.
What Should You Do If You’re Experiencing Workplace Harassment?
If you’re experiencing workplace harassment, you’re not powerless. Here are practical steps:
- Document everything. Keep detailed records of incidents, including dates, times, locations, what was said or done, and any witnesses.
- Review your workplace policies. Most organisations have harassment and bullying policies outlining reporting procedures and support available.
- Report the behaviour. Speak to your supervisor, HR department, or use your workplace’s formal complaint process. If the harasser is your supervisor, report to their manager or HR directly.
- Seek support. Talk to your union representative if you have one. Contact external support services, such as the Fair Work Commission or the Australian Human Rights Commission.
- Know your rights. You’re protected by law from harassment and from victimisation for making complaints. If your employer fails to address harassment properly, you may have grounds for legal action.
Creating Harassment-Free Workplaces: Everyone’s Responsibility
Addressing workplace harassment isn’t just about compliance; it’s about basic human decency and creating productive, respectful work environments.
Employers should implement clear policies, provide regular training, respond promptly to complaints, and foster cultures where harassment isn’t tolerated.
But employees play a role too. Bystanders who witness harassment should speak up, support victims, and report concerning behaviour.
Remaining silent perpetuates harmful cultures.
Australian workplaces have made progress, but we’ve still got work to do.
Understanding these various types of harassment helps us identify problems early, support affected colleagues, and build the respectful workplaces everyone deserves.
Remember: harassment is never acceptable, regardless of the circumstances or the excuse.
“Just joking” doesn’t make it okay. “Everyone does it” doesn’t make it right. “They’re too sensitive” doesn’t shift responsibility away from the harasser.
If you’re experiencing workplace harassment, take it seriously. Document it, report it, and seek support. You deserve a workplace where you can perform your job without fear, intimidation, or humiliation.
Sources:
- Australian Human Rights Commission, Everyone’s Business: Fourth National Survey on Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces (2018)
- Fair Work Commission, Workplace Bullying Guidelines
- Safe Work Australia, Guide for Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying
- Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)
- Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)
- Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
- Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth)
- Diversity Council Australia, Grit & Grace: The Lived Experience of Racism Report
- McKell Institute, Research on Workplace Harassment in Customer-Facing Roles
- Australia Institute, Studies on Workplace Cyberbullying
Read More About Sexual Harrassment:
- The Difference Between a Compliment and Sexual Harassment
- Understanding Workplace Sexual Harassment: What Constitutes Unacceptable Behaviour?
- 5 Things Highly Successful Businesses Do To Create A Better Workplace
- Understanding the Risks and Impacts of Workplace Sexual Harassment on Employees and Organisations
- Addressing Sexual Harassment In The Workplace: Statistics, Laws, Prevention, And Training
- Understanding Sex-Based Harassment: Definition, Key Components, Real-World Examples, and Prevention Training
