Sexual Harassment In The Australian Workplaces

Sexual harassment in the Australian workplaces is not evenly distributed, and knowing where it concentrates is more useful to an employer than any general statement about prevalence.

The conditions that raise risk are consistent. Young and inexperienced workers, particularly in a first job. Insecure employment, where hours are allocated week to week and refusing carries a cost. Steep power gradients with no route around the direct manager. Alcohol, at work or in customers. Isolated or lone work, and late shifts with thin staffing. Client and patient contact.

Hospitality, retail, health and care settings tend to combine several of these at once, which is why they appear repeatedly in reporting.

A risk assessment that maps those conditions across your own operation is the practical starting point, and it is what the positive duty expects.

The Australian Human Rights Commission publishes the standards. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s sexual harassment course and workplace compliance system.