Employers put on notice to proactively manage workplace sexual harassment

• New onus on employers to proactively manage workplace sexual harassment
• Employers required to implement written sexual harassment prevention plans
• The new regulations in Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024 begin to take effect from September 2024.

Queensland employers will be required to proactively manage the risk of sexual harassment in the workplace from September in a nation-leading regulatory reform.

New regulations will also require employers to implement a written sexual harassment prevention plan to protect workers from early 2025.

The plans must state any identified risks, the control measures being implemented and the consultation undertaken to develop the plan.

The plans need to be easily understood and accessible to workers and contain:

• information on how people can make a complaint;
• how the complaint will be investigated;
• the processes that will be undertaken; and
• how relevant parties will be informed of results.

The reforms reflect a proactive approach to managing risks of workplace sexual harassment, a key recommendation from the 2020 Respect@Work Report. 

The Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024 will require employers to make tailored considerations of individual or workplace characteristics that may increase the risk of workplace sexual harassment, for example isolated and remote workplaces and workplaces lacking workplace diversity.

The Office of Industrial Relations is developing extensive guidance materials to support employers to meet these new obligations.

The government has consulted widely on these reforms, including with:

• the Commissioner for Equity and Diversity;
• the Queensland Human Rights Commission;
• the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission;
• the WHS Board;
• registered unions and employer organisations;
• as well as the women’s sector and the legal profession.

Sexual harassment risks can relate to a worker’s age, gender, sex, sexual orientation, cultural/linguistic or racial background, residency or visa status, disability, English literacy, level of seniority or employment security.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Industrial Relations, Grace Grace:

“Workplace sexual harassment has no place in Queensland which is why we’re addressing this scourge with the strongest regulations anywhere in Australia.

“It’s no longer enough for employers to just hope sexual harassment won’t happen in their workplace – they need a proactive written plan to prevent it.

"The plan needs to be understandable, clearly communicated and backed by processes to support those who experience it.

“The impact of workplace sexual harassment is wide-ranging and can have devastating effects on people’s physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

“We’ve consulted widely with stakeholders, including employers, on the reforms and we’re determined to ensure they make Queensland workplaces safer for all workers.”

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Women and Minister for Health and Mental Health Shannon Fentiman said:

“The statistics show that nearly every woman has reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace at some point in their lifetime.

“As the Minister for Women, this simply isn’t good enough and I am proud to be part of a government which is taking action.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and these rules will help ensure employers are doing everything they can to protect workers.”

ENDS

Media contact: Martin Philip 0407 675 008